2. speakers
  3. 165237-156677

Tinnitus sufferer: is it the speakers or the 24bits/192kHz

I have tinitus and have had it for 30+ years.  There is no cure and I know the best way to handle it is to ignore it.  But lately my tinnitus has been going off the scale.  The "lately" seems to have coincided with streaming Qobuz Hi-Res and listening on a PS Audio DirectStream DAC and pulling my Magnepan 1.6 out of storage.  Now I have been known to play too loud on "A" song- but by and large the volume is down to where I could easily speak to somone in the room.

I have thought about maybe changing to to Harbeth, Dyn, Sonus Faber or other speakers more focused on midrange.  But have also wondered if it is the high quality of sound that I am listening to that is perhaps stimulating my very high pitch ringing?

So, any fellow tinnitus folks out there with an opinion on this? 
mocktender
gbartolo's avatar
gbartolo
7 posts
 
My tinnitus bugs me every time I listen to my system. I sold my Maggie’s and purchased some PMC twenty 23’s which have soft domes. I try to listen at low volumes to not cause issues. But no go I limit my listening sessions as well. Maybe buy a pair of Harbeth’s maybe Sonus Fabers? Might sell it all and call it a journey. 
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,130 posts
 
I too have had tinitus off and on from the service, and younger days at loud concerts, and ,loud rock& roll at home ,
I have found the refinement of the speakers ,dac ,electronics as well as cables help you to keep the pesky ness of the tinitus in check ,a tweeter more smooth ,and a R2R type dac,or tubes somewhere in the circuit. Your audio cables too can Taylor certain 
frequencies ,myself I rebuild my speakers Xovers for that being the heart of your speakers ,most speakers use what I consider average at best capacitors ,resistors and you want copper gold connectors most use cheap   brass which is on the brighter side in the upper frequencies. It has taken me well over a year to get the system synergy and mods  I am satisfied with.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
condosound
127 posts
 
I have some tinnitus at a high frequency, and the only thing in audio that bothers me are horn tweeters. I have no problem with ribbon/AMT type tweeters or soft domes. So my tendency is to believe the problem is with your speakers...but maggies?, that doesn't compute. It seems like you need to continue to investigate.
Post removed 
jbmac75
193 posts
 
Very informative. Appreciate the several early posts from seasoned Audiogoners. I have that too. Drove me crazy at first, like 10 yrs ago, now I accept it but as I can still discern what works for me. Even if that is more limited that 20 yrs ago.
More to discover