Hi Chris, I wonder if we have some individual unit differences? I ask, because on my pair the cymbals sound pretty good - slight sheen to them, but in no way the tizz you're describing, and the decay is pretty good too (red and grey filters).

I agree with you to a certain extent with the blue/black filters - cymbals (especially crash cymbals and hi-hats) have a bit of edge to them - but that appears to be more the fundamentals (upper mid-range) being too accentuated. Dial those back a bit, and they sound a lot better. But I don't think it has much to do with upper treble.

@Brooko

Hi Paul,

I don't think so since both of our graphs show the 8 and 12 kHz peak (the one above that on mine might be mine or your calibration).

No, it's definitely the area between shortly before 8 and 14 kHz that is responsible for the way I perceive the A5's cymbal reproduction (I don't have a problem with the upper midrange lift).
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It's not the upper treble's brightness per se that I see as a flaw (it really isn't) and that it therefore naturally highlights cymbals (which alone is no problem at all), but it's that the ~12 and ~14 kHz peaks I hear on a sine generator make for example cymbals appear more spread and sizzling than to the point because their overtones and decay are highlighted. [...]