I have the GoldenEar Triton 3+ speakers and the McIntosh MA252 integrated amp that you are considering. I also added two 12 inch subwoofers, but you probably won't need subs with your Triton 2.

I really liked the sound quality I was getting with this system for the past 18 months, except for one annoying problem. With vocals in a very small number of tracks I was hearing sibilance that sounded exaggerated and unnatural. I tried several changes to try to address the problem, but here is what actually works:

1) Moved speakers 25 inches from the wall (25 inches from the back of the speakers to the wall behind them). I had them at just one foot from the wall, but that was not good. The speakers are now 9 feet from my listening seat.

2) Reduced volume 2 percentage points with my music software, JRiver. So I am hearing music now at the same decibels as before I moved the speakers closer to my recliner (sitting closer to speakers is louder, of course). This change created more headroom in JRiver.

3) Removed the short IsoAcoustics stands I had put under the speakers. The short stands had made the sound brighter, which did not help with sibilance.

4) Added acoustic panels to the walls behind the speakers and behind my recliner.

These changes worked so well that I now have the speakers toed in so that they aim at me. No need to fire the speakers straight ahead. Note that I had to do all of these things to get the sound I wanted. There is no single silver bullet.

These changes reduced the sibilance to normal and made it sound natural, even with music that other people (with different speakers and amps) complain about such as the old Simon & Garfunkel albums from the 1960s, two of Gillian Welch's recent Boots albums, etc. Now I am a happy camper with 100 percent of the more than 9,000 tracks I have, and I listen around 10 hours a day. I don't think it would be possible to get much better sound quality, no matter how much I spent.

I had tried using in JRiver its EQ, parametric EQ, EQ shelving, etc., to reduce the sibilance, but that introduced other problems and was a hassle to enable and disable with different music. I am not using any EQ or other DSP now, as it is not needed. I am sending a "bitperfect" signal now. Nice!

The only thing I have under each one of my speakers now is a "Subdude" platform, which is just an 18" wide MDF board with an inch of foam under it. It provides a stable platform, as I have carpet and so I needed something as I did not want to use spikes. I still have the small rubber feet that came with the Triton speakers in place.

I do not recommend using any IsoAcoustic products with the Triton speakers. Using its feet, pucks, stands, etc. makes the Tritons sound too bright with some vocals. And the Tritons sound great without them. This surprised me, as IsoAcoustics stands work well with a small pair of speakers for my TV.

I would also advise caution about using expensive silver cables for power, interconnects, speakers, etc., as they often just make the speakers sound brighter, and with that brightness can come sibilance or other harshness. I am using Audioquest Rocket 33 speaker cables, which are known for helping a little bit to tame a bright system. I also swapped the preamp tubes in the MA252 for some NOS Mullards.

I absolutely love the balance between clarity and tone that I hear with my system, and I expect that you will, too. I get chills and smiles every day listening to my Tritons and McIntosh! I just spent the last two hours listening to Bob Dylan, and I had no idea he sounds so good until now!

Gaia’s also made my system sound brighter and thinner that’s why I sent them back .
McIntosh ma352 would be better because it has 5-band tone control but almost double the price of ma252

I'm using Gaia ii as Gaia iii was borderline from manufacturer calculation. In my room, Gaia ii actually help with images and reduced booming effect from low end. I have a really difficult room. Rear wall is slanted so right speaker is about 3.5 feet away and to an opening area on the side, where left speaker 2.5 feet away from the wall and less than 0.5 feet to the side wall. Therefore I need all the help I can get to balance the sound which I needed not only room acoustics (working on it as we speak) and DSP, otherwise I would've gone with ma252. However M100 is quite good and I believe its par with ma252 but different presentation. You can't go wrong with either of them with GE speakers.

I thought I was finished getting rid of harsh sibilance, but then I realized that I needed to do more. So, I recently added some additional steps with my system:

a) I added six skyline diffusion panels.

b) I moved my Triton 3+ towers closer to the wall so that the back of each speaker is 20 inches from the front wall.

c) I am using extreme toe in so that the sound intersects 33" or so in front of my ears. This made the biggest difference. Has anyone else tried this?

Each one of the steps made a noticeable difference. The sibilance is well under control without any noticeable harm to the sound. I can play Patricia Barber, Gillian Welch's Boots albums, Simon and Garfunkel's old albums, etc. without any excessive or harsh sibilance.

Hi Wilderness, and welcome.

You have a large amount of toe in, which will tend to reduce treble energy, both directly and from sidewall reflections. In my setup, the tweeter axes cross a little behind my head, but I have a relatively dead room. Certainly, a live room with hard surfaces (including the floor) will tend to bounce around the sound and can cause problems with resolution of detail.

Moving your speakers closer to the wall as you did does tend to increase bass energy because of boundary reinforcement, and that would affect perceived treble balance.

There are other things to consider. Besides damping reflective surfaces, insufficent amplifier power can cause distortion at higher listening levels. And cabling can make a difference too. As you are discovering, there are a lot of variables to play with!

Charlie

Hi Wilderness,

Thank you so much for the tips, with Gaia under my triton, I personally thinks it's quite an improvement to my ear and in my system. Last week I started trial version of Dirac Live, and still playing with the measurement. Currently I'm playing with 2 filters generated by Dirac Live. I can say for sure Dirac Live reduce echo effect, tighten the voice, and everything just bit more balanced. I have a really difficult room and try to juggle between Triton 2 and Martin Logan ESL is not an easy task. But at least I get a good workout.