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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
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
1,123 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.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
4,163 posts
 
Vertigo, please explain what you mean by "listener's fatigue". What exactly are the symptoms? How far away is the listening position from the speakers? Are the speakers toed-in? Are you on the vertical access of the tweeter? Do you experience fatigue every time you listen or only occasionally? Does it occur during specific recordings, or at random? I don't think you've given anywhere near enough info to adequately address your question.

Someone named Vertigo asking about fatigue -- there's a joke in there somewhere.
ncarv
974 posts
 
Sorry to throw this in the mix . . . try vinyl.
theo's avatar
theo
2,331 posts
 
Try toeing out the speakers a few degrees to where they are not firing directly at you. And maybe try a different CD player with a warmer sound.
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