Bass Attenuation - best approach

"11-13-14: Martykl
If you haven't tried it yet, you might experiment with room placement. A lot of the bass you hear is coming off the walls, so pulling the speakers out may reduce the overall bass a bit. As you get closer to/further from the walls, the frequency range that is being boosted by room reinforcement will change, as well. Simply shifting this frequency may also help with your issue. The results can be quite significant."

He's right. There are places in a room that will help boost bass, but there are also places that can weaken it. If you try some different locations, its very possible that you can fix the problem without spending any money.

A couple of other things you may want to look into, is changing your seating position, as well. Sometimes, if you move your head closer to the wall behind you, it gives you the same effect as cupping your hands like you would do if you were trying to hear something. Another similar option would be to use room tuning devices that better reflect, or enhance the mids and highs. Basically do just the opposite of bass traps do. I'm just guessing, but it sounds like that may be a better option for you. Based on the info you provided, it sounds like you are having more trouble hearing the upper frequencies, as opposed to too much bass being the cause.

Have you tried headphones? That could be another possible solution.

These are all good suggestions but my limitations are fairly significant when it comes to room placement. The configuration of the room, although furnishings have had a few changes, has been the same for 37 years. I'm a little reluctant to spend a lot of money on electronic fixes (passive or active) or new panels even though it may be advisable, because what may be necessary in the end is new speakers.

The first thing I'll try, then, because it's cheap is add a 4 ohm resister in series in the woofer wire. Here is how I plan to do it and where I need more input. I'll remove the jumper between the high and low frequency speaker connections and replace it with a resistor. This is where I need some advice and won't even try it until someone with pertinent experience reassures me that this won't cause further problems. It makes sense to me but could use some hand holding here.

For some reason Audiogon doesn't allow me to submit a post except on an occasional basis and then, only if I tinker around with signing in for awhile and if I start a new thread instead of continuing with my existing one. The original thread solicited advice regarding attenuation of bass for my Martin Logan Odysseys that I've owned since new many years ago.

I received several pertinent comments but decided that if I considered all the possible causes of this real or perceived issue of exaggerated bass I could spend a lot of time and money chasing a solution so decided to change speakers instead. In Over 50 years of using many different and several types of speaker, although I don't claim them to be the best speaker type for everyone, I've become habituated to electrostats having used them primarily for 30+ years. I decided, then, to look at newer models and, because of their exceptional customer service, chose to stay with Martin Logan.

I auditioned the Theos primarily because of its price, and was thoroughly impressed with reproduction in the upper mid frequencies, which is where much of my age related hearing issues occur. I was going to order them but decided on the Ethos instead; it uses a powered instead of a passive woofer section giving it the capability of somewhat lower frequencies for those occasional movie watching times when I would like deeper bass. I also bought their small Dynamo 500 sub. Because I'll be using the LFE connection I will not have control of crossover points on the subwoofer which may be another issue altogether. I'll report on the results of this new setup in a few weeks; I won't take delivery of the new speakers until December first.

BTW, my current system is Shanling CD100 CD player or Apple TV using ALAC files as source, Peachtree Audio Nova as preamp, Peachtree Audio 220 power amp and Martin Logan Odyssey speakers.

Measure the woofer resistance with an ohm meter to see if it is 4 ohm or 8 ohm. It likely is one of the 2. Then purchase an L-Pad from Parts Express in the right resistance. This will keep your crossover working at the right point, just hook the l-pad right before the woofer. Use wire that lets it sit outside the speaker, right behind it, for convenience. Dial away to the point you like!

I would second the Lpad idea, there is a Radio shack in wall volume control with transformers.