Fatigue Subjective???

Fatigue has a lot to do with the recording itself. I've been able to listen hours of music at high volume and never have a problem. Slip in a specific disc and i've got a headache after about 10 - 15 minutes.

I also think that our AC system affects what we hear and how we perceive what we are listening to a LOT more than we think it does. As i've commented before, i can quite easily hear a change in my systems as the night goes on. This usually takes place somewhere between 1 - 2 AM. There will be one specific point where, and this happens quite suddenly, the music becomes FAR more liquid and coherent sounding. It is as if a layer of "grit" is removed. This happens regardless of the source selected i.e vinyl, cd or FM. It is so apparent that it is almost like someone flipped a switch. I think that the only way to get around this is to have your own personal generator housed out on the back 40 or run gear that is all battery powered. Sean
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Hi Robert and all:

I think "fatigue" is used in many different ways. Some may be subjective. One example for a speaker is aluminum dome tweeters, which are often said to cause fatigue. Some are not very well implimented and a peek at certain frequencies after an hour or so of listening is about as subjective as a kick in the head if you ask me.

This does not mean that all aluminum tweeters are poor. Some, however, could be said to cause fatigue.

TWL: Do those Lowthers still sound so good after a couple days? No fatigue setting in?

I'll try to describe the "fatigue" more, and I probably won't do a very good job. Almost immediately with the NAIM system, I wanted to turn it down, and turn it off. It had something in the treble, I would guess, that was very uncomfortable to my ears. I get this from my factory car stereo sometimes, especially if I'm listening to CD patched through the headphone jack of my discman - and in the car it's not a high res situation. I play the thiels with a mccormack amp, and SS ARC preamp, and I have to stop and reset my ears. If I use the mccormack and a passive control unit, it's much more bearable. If I use a golden tube power amp, I can use the ARC SS preamp with no problem. So, I feel there are alot of factors - preamp, power amp and the source (digital). Maybe it's just the digital thing - I've heard many converters produce some nasty odd order harmonic distortion. The levinson setup did not make me want to turn it down, but it did not have alot of the spatial info the Naim setup had. If it's a software issue, one problem is that alot of good music is not that well recorded, so I don't want to paint myself into a corner with just a few listenable CD's.

I thank you all for your comments.

Robert

Listener fatigue is sujective and very real. I'll tell you a little secret, I find it often happens sooner at live musice performances than on good "systems". I find many live performances unnecessiarily and/or over ampilified. Sean is right on about how sound quailty seems to vary with ac and time of the day. As I've previously posted, I used to live in an apartment in New York that was across the streeet from a high school computer lab. With in hours of the school's closing, the sound of my system would improve. Upon the school's reopening the grundge would return. The Thiels aside from the low impedance, usually provide an easy load for amplifiers. I don't believe them to be bright, just not rolled off, as such they will show up componenet colorizations quite easily. You seem to have identified these coloriztions quickly. That's probably a very good thing. As there is no such thing as a completely neutral componenet, one has to find ones that have a balance that works for you. May I suggest you try the Thiels with Pass, Krell or the high current Conrad-Johnson (2300 or 2500 series) amps. There are other's that come to mind but I have not heared them with the Thiels, so I'm hestitant to recommend them. Good luck.