Why am I experiencing listener's fatigue?

hey guys,

xxx I think you need to seek medical attention. Listening fatigue is usaully a mental state xxx

Yes the sympton is physical. It is tinnitus or tinnititus , however its spelt. It is not boredom or irritation or something emotional as a result of listening to music.

....But if the higher frequencies are bright doesnt that "fry" your ears with prolonged listening? Isnt it a sliding scale. "Perfect treble" is sweet and enjoyable and probably more tolerable at certain volume than a less perfect treble at the same decibal level.... but nevertheless even perfect treble if played at very loud levels will make your ears ring.

No, no light switch dimmers.

xxxx you are damaging your ears and it is irreversable... xxxxx

yes i know. I did have a hearing test about 3 weeks ago cause i was worried and she said my hearing tested normal.

About toe in and set up i used the forum advice and set up example in the following thread

http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/26/t/000990.html

The xa777es is really good, probably more neutral than it is romantic and maybe the golden cross ic will warm things up and help a bit. How many hours can you guys listen for without any bad effects? 2, 4, 6?

Well, FWIW, I have mild tinitus and I can't abide any irregularity or excessive brightness in my audio. This has driven me to pay close attention to eliminating these problems. The result is I can listen for hours w/out difficulty. In fact in tuning my system as I have, it invites listening at loud level just because the extra volume can expose more detail and draw you further into the music, without 'hardening' the upper frequencies. And in my room with my stuff, I have excellent soundstaging including depth of image, a hallmark of good resolution so I'm not just rolling off the high end to get a dullish result. Its really about removing or reducing distortions from room/set up and your equipment.

I have done this by using tubes in all my equipment except my tuner so I can tailor components output to fit my needs. It is just amazing the difference tubes can make, its not minor at all. I'm not suggesting that the tubes in your Manley are your problem, not at all! In fact it could be something a simple as the output taps you are using on your Manley.

Interestingly, I recently acquired some efficient speakers with a nominal impedence of 4 ohms, a minimum impedence of 3.5 ohms which sound much better off the 8 ohm taps on 4 different amps. Who would have thought! Took me a couple of months to figure that out - I was blaming everything else for a problem that this change solved.

Re tubes for example, I tried a pair of tubes in the input stage of an amp. The tubes initially sounded full and detailed, until I played a recorder track on a test disc. A tough instrument. In its highest registers it caused a resonance in the tube which caused a very unpleasant (unlistenable) band of distortion. When I listened more closely I could hear this distortion to a much lesser degree on normal highs from music other than a recorder and it was just unplesant, but much harder to identify. Put in a different tube - resonance and unpleasant sound gone. Don't write off the effect the different tubes can make for the better or worse.

Another thing to consider is whether or not your amp and your speakers are a good match. Once again, considering my amps which range from 35 to 160 wts, the 35 watt amp is competent on paper to drive my speakers, however at loud levels (90+ db's) the upper mids and highs harden up and it becomes unpleasant. Not a problem in the 80+db range. Not a problem with my other amps.

Another thing to consider - its easy to overdrive a room the size of yours. If your equipment is the source of your problem you should hear the problems at medium volumes. If you only hear the problems at high levels you could well be overdriving your room - you have those high frequencies endlessly bouncing around. Room treatments can help with that problem to some degree.

Lastly, humor me for a minute. Try crossing the axis of your speakers well in front of your listening position and see what happens. Some interesting things go on when you do this, not all of them bad! You can get a more focused center image, a wider sweet spot, and minimal first reflections from the side wall.

Just some food for thought. Hope it might help you a bit.

I'm with Goinbroke. Too much toe in. Try none and work in from there. Many speakers are designed and voiced for no toe in, and it is only used to ameliorate side wall issues when room treatments are not an option.

Have you tried to bi-wire the speakers with a different bi-wire speaker cable instead of running single with jumpers?
I have N803 and they are pretty bad when used with single run sp cable. I tried with different single run and bi-wire sp cable and with speakers on single run sp cable, I get tired really quick. I since have them bi-wired and no problems. I think B&Ws like to be bi-wired, regardless of the model. The jumpers they include with their speakers are nothing to write home about either. Also I have my speakers toed in so that tweete axis meets about 1 foot in front of me. I also listen near field, so that may be an option as well. FWIW. good luck

Yes, that is what i remember learning a long time ago but just forgot about. I was reading up on the bi wire sinlge strand debate and had decided from what i gleaned that bi wiring was the better way. I think i'll do that. Can you hear an audible difference or is it that you can just listen longer. It is very possible that the difference is inaudible and unfatiguing.Good tip. Your speakers point to a space one foot in front of you? Really. Hmmm. Interesting. I think i will bi wire sometime soon. I have gone to a doctor who now is sending me to specialist to check my ears. What a kaffufle! I hope i'm ok.