Aggrivated tinnitus from speakers?


Hi,

I'm new to the forum and was looking for some advice. I recently put together a system comprised of a McIntosh MA6900 + a pair of KEF R7s.

I've always had hearing sensitive to high frequencies, and have a very high frequency tinnitus at 18,000k. That's why I went with the Mac, as everyone talks about how smooth and musical it is. When I was shopping for speakers, I was doing a lot of research but then the KEF R7's went on crazy sale and I was able to pick up a pair for under 2k. It seemed like too much of a deal to pass up, especially with all of the glowing reviews, but maybe that was a mistake on my part...

I'm noticing when I listen to the system, my tinnitus activates at a lower frequency for several hours afterwards. I notice this most on FLAC / MQA - quality tracks on Tidal (via WIIM w/ integrated DAC, at very reasonable volumes - <85db ) It seems to happen less when I listen to vinyl or CD-Quality tracks, but it still happens.

It's driving me crazy and I'm so disappointed as I thought this was going to be my ultimate setup and I dropped a lot of $. The Mac has just been to an auth service center for new lamps and was bench tested and given a perfect bill of health after a small bias adjustment, so I don't think it's the problem.

I decided to use some headphones to see if I experienced the same thing... Senn. HD650's let me listen for long periods without problems. HD660S2s seem to give me maybe a little sensitivity after awhile, but the sensitivity I get from the KEF's is totally different.

I realize I should have demoed the speakers, but I just jumped on the deal - partially on their reputation and also because their narrow, tall size was ideal for the room layout.

Any advice on how to get to the bottom of this? Do I need to test different speakers or do I need to treat the room? I'd hate to give up the Master level recordings because I mentally swim in the detail and love it. I just hate the thought of not being able to enjoy the system properly, but I'm not sure where to start on making  it work for me.

 

 

128x128omegaman79

Showing 1 response by retiredfarmer

You have what they used to call a bright system.  Brightness is elevated  by hard walls.  Glass and brick. Some wire also leads to more high frequency  output. Interesting  you find the streaming worse than cd or lp. That tells you your streamer is bright. What do you have for a cd player? Turntable? Cartridge? Personally  I like walls treated with refraction  and only a wee bit of absorbsion. A thin curtain  a sheer on the wall behind the speakers  will help. Just for a try grab some bath towels and tape them on the walls at the first reflection  points. Find those with a mirror. Sit in you chair have someone  else hold a mirror along the wall and move back and forth  till you can see the center of the speaker. Hand the towel up at that point. The second  reflection  point is where you can see the opposite  side speaker hang another towel there. Listen  and see what you think. Then if you like that the quest becomes finding  the right material  that is even better and looks decent.  Before you spend anything  you cam try it  and see what you think. 

 

Regards.