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Confused Musical Presentation

Disclaimer!.... I have neurological auditory damage from exposure to military ordinance without hearing protection and therefore wear hearing aids. I have suffered a considerable amount of hearing loss above 3000Hz. The effect is similar to a treble tone control turned all the way down! However, I've been a music lover and audiophile since the early 80s and have enjoyed a lot of different systems over those years. My present system consists of Wilson Sophia 1, Quicksilver V4 (KT150), BAT 32SE, Cary DMC 600SE, and analog front end is driven by AVID Pulsus and ZYX 4D. Cables are Analysis Plus all around. I have minimal room treatment in 17 x 28 dedicated listening room. 

My  Problem: Listening to small group jazz (90%), typical audiophile fare, and solo instrumental and vocal music is simply breathtaking even at higher volume levels.  (My max on the volume is 80 out of 140 on BAT) No issues at all. However, when the music gets complicated/complex everything goes to crap! Soundstage collapses, music is jumbled together. There is the same effect even at moderate listening levels. Any suggestions to remedy this would be greatly appreciated.

Mike
Ag insider logo xs@2xcommunique1

Showing 1 response by lowrider57

lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,393 posts
 
I doubt this is a case of hyperacusis. As a longtime sufferer, the symptoms are sensitivity to sound pressure levels resulting in pain. The OP, and myself, would not be able to continue listening to music once this condition kicks in.
With hyperacusis, the pain occurs when presented with loudness or high frequency spikes or transients. Due to the OP’s upper frequency hearing loss, now corrected by the use of hearing aids, this condition would be immediately apparent.

I suspect the room needs to be further treated to increase the focus in the midrange and improve the imaging. This is assuming the OP can hear this frequency range clearly.
And communique1...
Thank you for your service.


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