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Why am I experiencing listener's fatigue?

My system is as follows. All thoughts and opinions are welcomed and appreciated.

B&w nautilus 805 speakers with jumpers ,
tweeter/driver grilles removed/tweeters at ear height
Cardas cross single wire speaker cables
Cardas golden reference interconnect
cardas golden power cord
Monster hts 2000 power bar/conditioner
Manley stingray (2 mullard 12at7's and 8 Ei el84's)
sony xa 777es cd/sacd player
7 inch diameter by 18 inches high concrete speaker
stands
blu tac between the speakers and stands
Particle board equipment stand
14 inch (1/4 filled)innertube under the sony
No DIY or professional room treatments at the moment
Stock sony power cord
vertigo
james50
40 posts
 
You might also look at what you've got supporting your Manley. Possibly resonances affecting your tube integrated?Tubes tend to amplify resonances in addition to the signal. You might want to consider how much toe-in your B&W 805s have. Depending on your room, pointing the tweeter directly at the listening position might be too much, as Newbee alluded to. Good luck.
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,305 posts
 
I think Cardas wire is boring to listen to and might lead to fatigue. Also I am not the biggest fan of the B&W sound, I think they can be dry and wooden, not the most expressive speaker. How are the tubes in the Manley? I really love the Stingray, it is a great piece...
eldarado
381 posts
 
I agree with Phil. IMO B&W's can be dry and border on bright. I did listen to the new diamond series by B&W and was very impressed. It did not sound like B&W, in a good way. Room treatments can help quite a bit. You might try a vinyl setup :). If it were me I would look at replacing the speakers, just my opinion. Good luck.
g_m_c
443 posts
 
Yep, I was diving some 805's with tubed pre, amps, and vinyl through a tubed phono pre and still struggled a bit with the b&w's dry and edgy honesty. I was in a pretty hard room though.
jtinn
1,124 posts
 
The problem as Philjolet and Eldarado elude to is probably your B&W speakers. I have found them to fatiguing due to the upper frequencies.

I disagree that the Cardas are contributing to fatigue. They are incredibly laid back.
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