Roksan Kandy 2 AMP 'To Bright'

hi fi newbie:

Sorry to sound like a broken record but it's apples and oranges when comparing the volume dials of different amplifiers. Having made an A-B test between NAD C352 and Roksan Kandy K2, it's apparent that you need to turn the volume to at least 12 on the roksan to get around the same volume output as you do when turning the NAD C352 to just before 10 o clock. Even then really you need to turn the roksan a little further.

Point well taken hi fi newbie. The point is though if something sounds ear-piercing at high volume it maybe perhaps because it is simply too loud rather than bright (especially in a normal-sized room). No way of being sure what OP is experiencing but this is another opinion.ÿ

hi fi newbie:

Sorry to sound like a broken record but it's apples and oranges when comparing the volume dials of different amplifiers. Having made an A-B test between NAD C352 and Roksan Kandy K2, it's apparent that you need to turn the volume to at least 12 on the roksan to get around the same volume output as you do when turning the NAD C352 to just before 10 o clock. Even then really you need to turn the roksan a little further.

I'm looking forward to what the OP posts on here tonight after his demo day.Will it be Bowers, MA or KEF. MS list Canterbury HiFi as a stockist but the Canterbury website does not mention MS. He may come back with a Marantz amp?

Lost Angeles:

I'm looking forward to what the OP posts on here tonight after his demo day.Will it be Bowers, MA or KEF. MS list Canterbury HiFi as a stockist but the Canterbury website does not mention MS. He may come back with a Marantz amp?

Are you taking bets now?

Interesting thread. I do feel for the OP though. At least he's received plenty of attention and advice. I hope it wasn't too much advice for him in the end...

Hi,

I'm a bit late on this thread (which is an understatement), but don't usually read too much on these forums.

I have the Rokasn Kandy K2 cd player and amp. I use PMC GB1i speakers, qed silver anniversary xt cable (which i'll prob upgrade soon to chord odessey bi-wire) and a van den hull d-102 III interconnect.

I find the sound is really detailed and clear, the spekers did make a huge difference tho, but I went from some 7 year old Acoustic energy AE309's (£160 off ebay) to some £1400 PMC's

When first auditioning systems, I listed to a few but the ones that stood out were: The K2 cos it sounded by far the best at price range, and a cheap in comparison NAD system and the Cambridge audio 8 series (with the pre and power amp through mezzo 6 speakers) - the reason these last two stood out was because the cambrige audo with mezzos was around the £2k + mark and the NAD was about £500 - and I thought they were pretty similar - with the Roksan in a different league.

If I play music through my computer.. I have a high end pc sound card and a Marantz sr5003 AV receiver that takes an optical input from my pc and pre-outs the left and right to the bypass input of the kandy k2 - still sounds good, but not as good as from the cd player.

I find that mostly with reviews you need to use them as a rough guide only, as weather the sound it good or not is down to the opinion, hearing ability and musical taste of the listner and the music being played on the system (also usually the speakers they will use to test an amp will be as good as possibly so they can fully test what the amp can do). Also some people that write the reviews usually have a few other products waiting to be reviewed from the same manufacturer, so there goning to try and find possitive points, in the hope of keeping the job for the other few products.

Personally I think your problem is most likely a combination of the source, dac and wanting to listen to it really loud with the source and dac combo. If improving the source isn't an option then maybe it would be worth while going for a better dac, like a lavry engineering DA11 or benchmark dac-1.

This is just my opinion tho so please don't take offence (mostly to the cambridge audio and mezzo 6 lovers ).

Hope this helps in some way. I'm interested tp know the outcome of what you decide to do, and what you find works best for you.

So you've combined a whole group of components known to be on the shiny side of neutral, then you're complaining about brightness and a piercing, headache inducing treble.   Doh!

Maybe consider swapping the speakers for something like the B&W 685's.  If they don't appeal then maybe PMC DB1i's.  Then perhaps the speaker cables for Chords.  I wouldn't change the Roksan as it's rated highly in most areas.  It would be a shame to downgrade the sound in other respects just to achieve some tonal balance.    

Hi,

I was having a look around, as this was still puzzling me.

I managed to find that all technical specs of the Mezzo-6 say the impedence is between 4 and 8 ohms.

In this article I found where they were testing the mezzo 6's they found that the impedence got down to just over 4 ohms.

artilce link: http://www.hometheatermag.com/floorloudspeakers/908mor/index2.html

I was thinking about this because, my speakers have an impedence of 8 ohms and are rated to 150W.

the mezzos are rated to 150W also.

But at an impedence of 4ohms they will be drawing 190W from the kandy K2 which is more than they can handle and so this must be why you are experiencing the distortion (you are calling brightness).

The way that Gain works in an amp means that once you turn the volume to around the 2-o-clock mark it will be producing close to it's full power.

I hope this is useful info for you. I would suggest emailing MS and possible Roksan and ask them about it, see what they say.

Have you considered your room acoustics?  Laminate flooring/carpeted floor?  Lots of reflective surfaces?

Just read through this thread......I have the Kandy K2 with Mezzo 6's, using a NAD 545Bee CDP as my source, speaker cable is Chord Carnival Silver Screen Biwire( I have the Kandy biwired into the Mezzos.....and yes I can hear a difference); interconnect used is the Chord Cobra 3......and it sounds amazing. I will admit it was a little bright when first set up, but now after a couple of months run in it sounds great to my ears. The Mezzos especially have gotten much better with running in bass is much deeper and cleaner, treble just sounds natural and crisp definitely not shrill. I have real wood floors with a small 'coffee table sized' rug.....

hi all,

bought a k2 recently and using AE neo 3 v2 speakers and having problems with the harsh brightness...

I was using it with chord carnival speaker cables and basically it was hurting my ears, now I received Chord epic twins for trial, but it has the similiar bright harshness but more deep sounds. I know I should run it for 100 hrs at elast, but will the too much brightness go away? 

I had a teac ah 500 before k2 and never heard this bright sound...

should i try  copper speake cables like Tellirum Q Black? its a similiar price range, or just replace the amp for rega brio-r or marantz pm7004?

really unlucky I am..... 

thanks

Richard

Nope, don't change cables... yet.

I would also suggest the Kandy K2 isn't a bright amp. A few months ago WHFI, in their 'best ever speakers' section, claimed that a pair of AEs were "ideal for a clinical sound", or something on those lines. IMO it is a synergy issue...

BTW, what source do you use?

I agree with PP.

TQ Black is only a cable to get if if you love your system to start with, due to their revealing, neutral nature. Far from masking the problem, it could well exacerbate it.

cd is marantz 6004 with chord cobra plus ic.

but it bright with pc input, sky etc...not warm really..

with the teac  it was not bright at all.  I guess k2 has to do with this brightness...

try black rhodium opus speaker cable which should tone it down a bit

what happened to the topic owner? what component did he changed?