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Tubes, SS and your hearing. Whens it Time ?


joessportster

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I am at a point in life / age where hearing is obviously not what it once was. I have not had a hearing test or anything like that its just the realization that I can not hear the differences in gear as I once could. Factor that with a lack of the patience required to ferret out system noise's that Tube gear can often introduce for various reasons. I am finding myself considering going to a SS setup.  I have a decent sound using my Dac connected directly to my Marchand xm9 crossover  high and lows sent to my pair of crown XLS1002 amps. The speakers are Open Baffle with 2 Emminence Alpha 15.s per side and an 8 inch full range driver centered between the 15's

 

I am honestly thinking Tubes are more a point of nostalgia than fidelity with my hearing. Its hard to admit when we start lacking the faculties we once had.  Its certainly a much shorter chain of a system ran as it is mentioned above. its also dead quiet 

 

Anyone else coming to a realization concerning  Audio, compared to Age and Hearing

 

Im dont think I am ready to liquidate all my tube gear but its coming I fear

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Same deal - different concerns. My new wife of 3 years brought into the household a Bose wave radio. We use it in the garage where we have our stained glass workshop. Essentially it’s a background sound source. But I own amps and other source equipment that is not in use........   but I do not own any speakers worth setting up when I consider where it’s deployed and my ‘elderly’ hearing. Periodically I browse around for used speakers but just can’t justify getting anything nice for the prices asked when it is just a garage system and I can’t hear all that we’ll anyway. I’ve got 2 wonderful systems indoors so there’s no shortage of excellent sound where it matters most.

 

Get your hearing checked. Knowing is better than not knowing and you’ll have baseline data to track future needs.

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To the point I set up the SS short chain today, I robbed the 1 crown XLS1002 from my 2.2 HT setup I put it in place and immediately knew I had forgot to reset the onboard  crossover function to no crossover.  2 hours of listening later and I try my channel check files and things sound like its out of phase. Look at all the wiring everything is good, swap sides to see if the amp or dac is screwing up no still the same.  I had the amp in bridged mode so the right channel was MUCH lower in output than the left. How does one miss that for at least 2 hours of music playing ?

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it's funny that you bring this subject up. I have broached this idea of hearing loss with myself before, but I can still discern very small nuances and very small changes in sound as they correlate with changes in equipment or differences between records of the same subject matter.

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Same here.

 

20 years pased since I tested my hearing professionally.

Have 30% damage on one ear.

Tried to run frequency sweeps on youtube with my Beyerdynamic headphones. I don't now how accurate that is, but it seems I do not hear above 15kHz.

I can easily hear nuances in sounds between various speaker systems.

 

Btw, Joe are you satisfied with Crown? Do you use it on high freq drivers?

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I had my hearing tested a year ago, and it shows a pretty severe drop off over 10K. I have tinnitus so bad with constant ringing. The quieter it is, the louder the ringing. I said all that to say this-I still love my tube amps, and I swear I can still hear subtle differences in my system. I read somewhere that your brain will compensate a lot as far as what it hears. I don't know what is going on, but I'm not feeling that I'm missing enough sonically to throw in any towels yet. BTW, I'm 64

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Most people over 40 have hearing loss to about 15Khz. It's not due to over exposure, it's just age. I recently found I have extra hearing loss in my right ear. I had been trying like crazy to fix what I thought was a lower volume right channel. I went over my amp and preamp and did a bunch of tube swapping. Then I had the crazy idea to turn my back to my speakers and listen. The lowered volume was now in the left channel. 

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11 hours ago, Jeffrey D. Medwin said:

 

 

We hear the resultants from above 10K, down into the midrange.  I think Joe needs to go get a test, I did last year. With a prescription from your MD Medicare allows one per year.

 

I have hearing loss, at age 75, equal in both ears, which I am trying to cure naturally  but I am in the similar boat as kevinmi.

 

I'd be highly dis-satisfied if I went to solid state, VS what I can and do build.  

 

But Joe has a Marchand xm9 crossover, which obscures due to the looses of an extra active amplifying stage, added to the chain. The system lacks the possible fidelity of a SIMPLE audio path / chain . So likely, it really doesn't matter in his case, what he does.  Have fun Joe, just do what you want to.

 

Jeff 

I will have fun, I always try to.   

 

But you  brought it up so I will bite. Have you  ever  heard a Marschand Active Crossover ?  I have heard more than 1 system using a Marschand , I have heard them with folks  having what is called golden ears. I had a blind friend that could hear well above anyone I ever met and he heard  my system using a Marschand crossover. He called it the best system he had  ever heard  Edgar horn Titans  swapped out Bruces 350  hz  in favor of Oris Orphean  110db  with seismic subs all tube except the Marschand. You are the first person I have ever heard call a Marschand X-Over  "Obscure causing Loss"   

 

Your beliefs in audio are  simply a matter of YOUR OPINION  they are only  FACTS  to your ears .  Out of a morbid sense of self deprivation I must ask  what crossover  "does not" affect sound ?  You must have one I recall your pics of various parts in a speaker you claimed was gods gift. My memory  being what it  is  today I  somewhat recall  a crossover that  brought on some discussion about  your beliefs  in using gobs of solder and very heavy wire.     

 

I think you get some perverse  joy out of conflict. You make  these wild statements  hoping to start a  ruckus. 

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I’m with you Joe, I have a Marchand x/o and could not be happier. 
I know a guy that felt like you did that everything was starting to sound somewhat the same and started attributing it to hearing loss. He had some “busy life time” come up and had not listened to his system for a few months. When he did finally sit down for a listen he marveled at how beautiful the music was. He said he didn’t plan the break but felt like it was just what he needed. Not saying you need a break, just sharing a fellow audiophiles life experience. 
I have enjoyed reading many of your post and wish only the best for you in your musical enjoyment. 

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On 3/12/2020 at 10:48 AM, kevinmi said:

I had my hearing tested a year ago, and it shows a pretty severe drop off over 10K. I have tinnitus so bad with constant ringing. The quieter it is, the louder the ringing. I said all that to say this-I still love my tube amps, and I swear I can still hear subtle differences in my system. I read somewhere that your brain will compensate a lot as far as what it hears. I don't know what is going on, but I'm not feeling that I'm missing enough sonically to throw in any towels yet. BTW, I'm 64

 

Sorry to hear your tinnitus is so bad.  I have a bit of it myself, but it’s not so loud as to bug me all that much.  However, there is a temporary cure.  

 

Tinnitus is actually “amplifier noise” generated by your brain.  For most of your life, your hearing has probably had near-flat frequency response, and your brain got used to that.  However, as you start to lose hearing with age or over-exposure to loud noises, especially at the high frequencies, your brain wonders why there’s now such a roll-off on the high end.  In response, it turns up the gain at the high frequencies, until you start to hear some hissing.  In a way, it’s like switching you system to an inactive source, like Phono when you want Tuner.  You may wonder why there’s no sound, so you crank the volume up, until finally you start to hear a hissing noise through the speakers, which is coming from the amp.

 

So, what you want to do is reset your brain.  You do this by giving it the high-frequency sound it’s been missing.  You can get one of those white noise machines, or, you can simply tune your bedside radio between stations so it hisses.  Set the volume so it’s not so high that it keeps you awake, and go to sleep.  Do this for several nights, and you’ll likely find that the volume of the tinnitus is lower, hopefully lower enough that it’s less irritating or distracting.

 

This is temporary, and it may not work for everyone, but it costs nothing to try, and you can repeat it as needed.  Hope this is helpful.

 

 

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I’m with you Joe, I have a Marchand x/o and could not be happier. 
I know a guy that felt like you did that everything was starting to sound somewhat the same and started attributing it to hearing loss. He had some “busy life time” come up and had not listened to his system for a few months. When he did finally sit down for a listen he marveled at how beautiful the music was. He said he didn’t plan the break but felt like it was just what he needed. Not saying you need a break, just sharing a fellow audiophiles life experience. 
I have enjoyed reading many of your post and wish only the best for you in your musical enjoyment. 

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