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Listening fatigue

This may be low-brow for Audiogon folks due to the nature of the gear, but here goes: I have a pair of Totem Mites driven by an NAD 326BEE, with an NAD 345BEE disc player and a Velodyne SPL-800 in my master bedroom (carpeted, basically about 15X20 with a small entry hall). The problem is fatigue – if the volume goes up, it gets to be too much very quickly. I've tried different speaker locations and padding on the first points of reflection, but it hasn't helped much. I'm using 12 gauge wire, but would an upgrade here help? Or is it an unfortunate component combo? Any suggestions would be appreciated ... thanks.
128x128jeddythree
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,807 posts
 
Harri009 makes a very good point!
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,216 posts
 
Agree that clipping is a likely significant factor with most any SS amp of that power rating and most better modern smaller speakers.
mihorn
508 posts
 
The sound travel 1000 feet per second. You can hear the sound from speakers for 4th of a second and the sound will travel 250 feet. Your room is 15 x 20. Every sounds from speakers will bounce walls and hit your ears more than 10 times. That's no good! I don’t know if your room is sonically live or dead. If it’s live, you need to tame your room. You need to reduce the sound reflection.

I recommend 1) Madisound Dampers: Felt Defraction Ring for Tweeters. Put these $2/each felt ring on tweeters of Mites. These dampers will reduce some early reflection sound from speaker cabinets. 2) If the room is live, put some Auralex or sound absorbers on walls. If possible put some damper on the ceiling too. If your wife think they are ugly, put some pretty curtains on walls instead. Good luck!
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,807 posts
 
If you get rid of early reflections, some imaging information will seem to be lost. This is because the ear/brain system uses early reflections to assist in image location.
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