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Listening Fatigue & Speakers in Small Room

The main components of my system are B&W N804s, a MF A300cr power amp (225 wpc), a BAT VK-3i, and a MF Nu Vista CD. All cabling is Cardas Golden Reference. I had this set up in my old, 20x24 condo dining room/living room with no problems. Now, I have a house with a dedicated listening room of approximately 10x10x8, and am experiencing listening fatigue. After a little while, the outside of my ears start to hurt. Recently, I have treated the room with GIK bass traps and spot panels which have made the quality of the sound much, much better, but my ears continue to hurt. I'm thinking that maybe the B&Ws are just too big for the room, and that I may need to go to monitors with a sub. Am I on the right track, or could another component may be the culprit? Thanks for your help.
rlb61
tboooe's avatar
tboooe
1,009 posts
 
Rlb61, my room is very similar in size to yours except that the wall behind the listening position is only 3" tall. Behind that is my family room and kitchen. I use monitors and will adding a sub soon. I am in the process of treating my room. So far I added Vicoustic absorption panels on the front wall between my speakers. My next move is to add RealTraps Mondo Traps in the corners for bass trapping. My last move will be to add panels on side walls and ceiling to deal with 1st reflection points.

When I had fatigue it was definitely due to reflections. For me toeing in helped to tame the 1st reflections.

As for what monitor you will get a ton of advice. What's your budget and what kind of sound do you like and what kind of music do you listen to?
rlb61 OP
362 posts
 
Tboooe ... As a trained musician, I have eclectic musical
tastes. Everything from classical, metal, reggae, punk, jazz,
folk, r&b, southern rock, and all things in between. Not easy,
I know. If I were to get new speakers, I would sell the N804s
and put that dough toward the purchase price. My budget is
somewhere between $3,500 and $5,000; so, with the offset in
the purchase price from the N804s, the net layout becomes
less. I think I would be best off with a speaker having a
ribbon or soft dome tweeter.
philb7777
401 posts
 
Best monitors I have heard for the price are the Evolution Acoustics MMMicro Ones. I think they retail for around $4500 with stands. They have ribbon tweets. I don't have any affiliation with Evolution, and don't even own their other speakers, just a fan of those monitors.
daverz
477 posts
 
I also suspect the speakers, but I'd try some tube rolling first. Maybe some current stock Gold Lion 6922s. For the 6V6, maybe some Pope NOS or the current stock Tung Sols.
rlb61 OP
362 posts
 
Currently using Platinum Grade Russian 6H23s (the BAT LOVES these) and Visseaux 6v6GT. Ordered some Pope 6v6GTs from Upscale.
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