speakers for listener with Tinnitus
Have you tried any that work to a greater or lesser degree. "musical" speakers seem like ones you might want to listen too. What is your budget? Vandersteens, Harbeths etc.. might be the direction to head for. I would guess that a cloth tweeter might be helpful in most designs.. Another approach are headphones of various design. |
"Vandersteens, Harbeths etc.. might be the direction to head for." Vandersteen's are very revealing overall and they use aluminium tweeters. I don't think they would be a good choice, in this case. Here's a few speakers that have a very forgiving top end: Origional Mirage M series, Meadowlark, Mission, Older model Energy's that use the camel hair tweeter, possibly Martin Logan, Spendor. If I can think of more, I'll post them. |
I also suffer from tinnitus on and off. Despite this my hearing is still pretty good. A speaker system I found easy on the ears is Sonus Faber. Most any of their speakers lack HF fatigue so as not to aggravate tinnitus. If you're like me, headphones are a no-no at any volume above a whisper. Just do a little home work and you can enjoy this great hobby of ours as well as anyone else. Good luck. |
I am blessed with Tinnitus but don't think that accounts for all the horrible sounds that todays speaker manufactures are hyping as the " Best Speaker" ever made. On the elevator at the RMAF two guys were in my opinion correctly defining the sounds of most rooms as " Forward and Thin " to which I would add "Way Too Loud" I really liked the Chapman Audio Room. You would love those speakers. A nice soft dome tweeter. Oh yes... |
I also have tinnitus and find headphone listening therapeutic, as long as I don't listen too loudly. It actually seems to lessen my tinnitus. As for speakers, for years I was using a pair of Meadowlark Audio Kestrels. About a year ago though I bought a pair of Thiel CS1.6s at a great price. My original intention was to flip the Thiels as I feared the metal tweeter. Now although the 1.6s have more treble energy than the Kestrels, the treble is so clean it doesn't seem to irritate my tinnitus. Using cloth tweeters was one of those "truths" I adhered to for years. Not any longer. Good luck. |
First you would need to understand your tinnitus. The frequency screaming in your ear is not the same for everyone. Identify your frequency peak....Then If you can biamp,triamp,etc. your best bet is to use a dsp... eq your room by channel and account for the hearing loss/peak on that channel. The mini dsp starts at a bit over $100. with this, you can change your world and would end up with good results. I hope this helps, |
Syntax, I own Magico S5's but wouldn't say they fit Kitegod's sound description. I would 2nd earlier suggestions for Harbeth (especially with Leben) and Chario. I'd also recommend Living Voice and Daedalus (especially with Modwright) all of which should be enjoyable to listen to. Upstream I would go for tubes or tube-like amps. |
"Now although the 1.6s have more treble energy than the Kestrels, the treble is so clean it doesn't seem to irritate my tinnitus." What do you mean by that? Can you give an example of what happens when you irritate your tinnitus? For me, a little background noise helps. It "covers it up" enough to where I'm not too distracted to it. |
What do you mean by that? Can you give an example of what happens when you irritate your tinnitus? For me, a little background noise helps. It "covers it up" enough to where I'm not too distracted to it. When I listen to high frequency audio with noise or distortion it aggravates my tinnitus. A couple examples include, talking on a cell phone or watching tv with the volume too loud. I now only use my cell phone on speaker so I don't have it pressed to my ear. Not sure why, but the cell phone really bothers my ears. The thing about the Thiel's metal tweeter is it is very clean, no distortion. My ear seems to be extremely sensitive too this noise. |
Harbeth, model matched to your listening room size (except the HL5; supertweeters are superfluous if you don't have hi frequency hearing preserved Generally speaking under 30 years old) The RADIAL woofer is known for providing good detail at low listening volumes. It is one of the main reasons with extensive research that I chose Harbeth. A rebuilt QUAD 57 is a good choice also, but the bass is suboptimal (Pun intended) Magico was mentioned and I wonder whether that might not in fact be true. They are one of the lowest distortion speakers on the market if not the lowest. They generate exceptional detail (I have heard the Q5) That should enable one to listen and be satisfied at low volumes. I'm going to do an audition in a month or so with the S1s to check exactly that characteristic. I am listening to an audition play list over and over to be able to accurately compare to my Harbeth compact 7s. Alan Shaw does not believe a fabric tweeter is any easier on the ear. He has stated in the Harbeth Users Group that it is the crossover that determines how the tweeter will sound primarily. I would recommend downloading an app for your iPhone or iPad that measures decibels.I use "Decimal 10th." I generally listen at about 60 dB with peaks no more than 70 dB. I find that when I listen if anything beyond that, I have increased tinnitus afterwards. The research is equivocal, but vitamin B complex and ginkgo biloba taken daily may be helpful. You can do your own research and draw your own conclusions. Having an audiologist make multiple pairs custom hearing protectors, with varying degrees of decibel attenuation is a good idea when you're going to be in loud environments. Check out "westone." I definitely use them if I go to concerts.I think every audiophile should havethem to protect their hearing. Most smart professional musicians are using custom earpieces to hear music as they to protect their hearing. I use a non-oversampling (Metrum Octave with Empirical Audio Pace Car; The Metrum modified with better transformer, BNC Input and silver fuse)which sounds more natural to me. In addition, one of the supposed drawback of non-oversampling digital to analog converter is a slight rolloff in the high frequencies. That is an advantage if you have tinnitus. High frequencies are high energy and more likely to cause hearing damage in the first place, and are more likely to cause exacerbations of tinnitus. Tinnitus is a scourge to audiophiles non-audiophiles alike. I think you're very wise to be asking this question.attending rock concerts in my youth with no protection is one of my regrets in life. There are many professional musicians trying to get the word out to young people, among them Pete Townsend of the Who. |
I respectfully disagree with the choice of Vienna Acoustics. If they still use polypropylene drivers, BBC research demonstrated that with polypropylene, sound energy is converted to heat and detail is lost. Typically audiophiles increase the volume to gain detail. Harbeth used to this research to develop their RADIAL driver. If I sound like a member of the Harbeth cult... it is because I am. |
There is no cure for tinnitus. Try googling tinnitus and Johns Hopkins or Mayo Clinic. Mechans is asking a question many other audiophiles should be asking themselves. Tinnitus can permanently worsen with repeated excessive exposure. My personal experience is that it is worse for a day or so if I listen at average 75 dB for an hour or two. OSHA recommends no more than 2 hours exposure over 85dB daily, or permanently hearing loss may occur. Richard Vandersteen wisely warns listeners not to listen at high volumes. Choosing a speaker that is detailed at low volumes is smart. Many folks have posted that Harbeth is such a speaker, but is certainly not the only choice. My experience in this regard has been extremely positive with Harbeth, and I have two pairs. Harbeths are sometimes criticized for not being designed to handle 100dB or more, which is find disturbing as those sound pressure levels repeatedly and sustained inevitably damage the hair cells causing hearing loss. |
I think that Tompoodie is on the right track. You want a speaker that sounds good at lower db levels. Since I recently developed tinnitus in my right ear, I'm very interested in this topic. IÂm also finding that I have a heightened sensitivity to noise in that ear. Being around loud conversation for example is much less tolerable. I'll also say that the "metal dome tweeters are harsh" generalization isn't true (anymore). The BE tweeters on my Reference 3A De Capo's are smooth as silk. |
Hi, I've been exploring this same thing. I listened to the Magnepan .7 and they felt like beautiful, soft sounds that enveloped my ears. No aggressiveness. No ringing. Last week I had an amazing experience hearing the super tiny Boenicke W5. I still can't believe it. Unfortunately, at present, $5,000+ is too steep for me. Bruce |
Harbeth are very smooth. I agree about human voices as well, voices sound as realistic as it gets. I found that to be true with the early original monitors up to more current. Celestion SL600 are very easy on ears. I found they can be a tad rolled off and sold mine. As with everything results vary more of less from one person's ears to another's. Mission is another speaker that is musical and smooth. |
Hey everybody, Have had Tinnitus for 35+ years, I found that good room treatments, I had cork wall paper installed, cuts down on refection and gives more of a "comfortable" soundstage. This is my opinion but I think that the situation might be a little different. The sensitivity of the ear at those high frequencies can be altered by basically tricking your mind and hearing to listen to other frequencies in the spectrum. Martin Logans I think are spectacular for the situation because you have one panel dedicated to the midrange and up. I can say that fatigue happens I about 2-3 hours, unless the Bourbon is out! |
Erik makes a great point. Don't worry about what you would have looked for in years past, look for something that is just enjoyable to you. I bet the speakers you would have had will be different from what you will want now. Personally, I wouldn't look at the EQ first, only because you MAY be able to find the right speaker first and if so, you won't need the EQ right away. Maybe in time you will, but strip it down to see if you can find anything that you love. If not, then you can start to match amplification, source and then EQ. I think I'd also just stick with one of the cables that are highly neutral and not try to 'tune' in that way. I'd go Erik's route at that point and go EQ. Cardas and Audioquest copper based cables will be easy to find and very neutral. Any dealer should be able to help you out in this situation and it's where they will be worth their money. You'll want to take everything home and set it up in YOUR room (one of the posters mentioned your own room tuning) and in this case, it's paramount. Some gear will just sound different at your place than in their's so you'd want to make sure that you love it in YOUR environment. In regards to chasing a speaker, I'd personally start off with this in mind. Look for a speaker with pistonic tweeter and a clean waterfall plot and listen at lower levels. Alloy tweeters properly designed with an acoustic damper (in a few examples not just a finger guard) will always be lower in distortion and therefore less likely to bother one who has tinnitus. There are plenty of companies who claim to be more pistonic than others, but sometimes just aren't. I'd also do searching to find out which companies tip their upper end a bit to make them sound more dynamic or exciting. I'd personally stay away from that as it's not doing to be right for you. Many of the top brands discussed on the boards have always done this. I don't think in the long run you will be happy with any of those. What is your price point for new system? Again, I'd personally do even more listening than usual and do it as a full system and not as changing speakers. Nothing wrong with blowing things up and starting over if you are financially able to. If not, try to bring your gear into the store if needed to audition some speakers all in a day or two (if you are close you can go back to back days if needed). There will most probably be a few speakers that will be pistonic in nature and enjoyable to you, especially if you have the help of a great dealer who knows what gear goes best together. |
Guys, the biggest things to remember are implementation. I have owned many silk domes and loved them, but I've also heard many that were tipped up on top would not be the right choice for him. That's one reason I mentioned speakers that have pistonic drivers and for the reasons stated above. bottom line is that you will really need to listen to them and keep in mind your room also. |
I am not sure I understand the question. Tinnitus typically, is experienced as high frequency ringing, mine is, but it can cover any frequency. For most of us, it is related to high frequency hearing loss and is thus, a high frequency experience, but it can be any frequency. Work related tinnitus, typically is at a lower frequency. The main issue is noise exposure, which will worsen hearing loss and tinnitus. This would not normally be from using one's system, it is from loud concerts. I always told my kids, that if you left a concert with a couple of days of temporary tinnitus, you have permanently degraded your hearing. So, I agree with those who have suggested, that looking for speakers that sound good at low volume, is the key. Beyond that, if you are buying new, I would always listen to speakers in your own system, before purchasing. On the question of Headphones, it is commonly understood that it is easier to play at hearing damage levels on Headphones, than with speakers. One of the commonest causes of hearing damage now, is Personal Stereo, amongst the young. , |
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