Ear Pain from ESL's.

[ejspain]

Hello all, more than a year from my original post. My older dog required a lot of care so I had to step away for a while. Sadly we had to put her to sleep. The worst thing to ever go through.

I sit here writing this with my ears partially clogged from watching movies two days in a row. I’ve taken a lot of the room correction advice (thank you!); building acoustic panels behind the left ESL, and to the right of the right ESL. Also bought Auralex pads for under the ESLC, covered the glass table with a thick blanket, and even moved the L&R speaker forward so they’re on the rug during use. Subwoofer was placed on a thick rug and staked pillows into the left corner of the room and behind the subwoofer.

The pain and discomfort persist even at low volume. I wouldn’t far even approach reference volume.

I was reading some of the later posts and really wonder now if my amp is indeed the culprit by not meeting the ohm/impedance needs of the ESL? Here is what I pulled up from the manual, and thanks again in advance for the wealth of advice and experience:

Sorry for the lost pup

 

[Scorpio1951]

Have you considered seeing an ear, nose, and throat specialist? I have similar symptoms and was diagnosed almost two years ago with hyperacusis. Since then, no music, and listen to the television volume at low listening levels. I hope it's your amp and not an ear problem

 

[Robert D]

Have you considered seeing an ear, nose, and throat specialist? I have similar symptoms and was diagnosed almost two years ago with hyperacusis. Since then, no music, and listen to the television volume at low listening levels. I hope it's your amp and not an ear problem

That's my thought too. How about other people, do they also find the sound from the speakers as being painful?

I've got tinnitus, but luckily no hyperacusis. I went to a good ENT for advice. My wife was convinced I needed hearing aids! He said no, not yet.

 

[hwoarang]

Thanks everyone. Regarding the sub, I still have the issue with the sub unplugged and crossover on the MLs set to 80hz. So it doesn’t seem to be that.

As far as an ENT, I did see the specialist at UCLA where they did a rudimentary button pressing test for audible frequencies. I really had to push for more thorough testing, but ultimately tests showed not much more than than a drop off on one particular frequency.

Does anyone have any feedback on the photo of my Outlaw amps capabilities and how they match with ESLs? Ironically a ML member on a FB forum recommended it.

 

[JonFo]

Does anyone have any feedback on the photo of my Outlaw amps capabilities and how they match with ESLs?

The specs show it does not double the output at half the impedance, so it likely can't drive the lower impedance in the higher frequencies well. Possibly even going into distortion modes.
Distortion in the higher frequencies can be damaging and painful.

But most ESL 'listening fatigue' is caused by the distortions induced by the room. Once the room is well treated, then paying attention to amps and such would be the next thing to tackle.

I'll also point out that a lack of output in critical ranges leads to playing the system too loud. Whether that lack is from room modes, speaker power curve or excess treatment in a given range is what needs to be figured out.

Most ESL (and other line array dipoles) tend to lack output below 400Hz down to around 160Hz simply due to the dipole cancellation effect. There is usually further weakening of output in the bass due to the placement in the room, as several feet out from boundaries leads to zero reinforcement in the low end. Turning up the volume to compensate for that lack of bass and dynamics leads to the panel generating way too much output at frequencies we find fatiguing. And worse, exacerbating room ringing artifacts (unless you have a lot of treatments).

In my room, even after extensive treatments, I still lacked mid-bass and played the system too loudly. My fix allowed me to lower the overall playback levels by 4 to 5dB, which is a significant amount. Details in this thread on MBM Deployment

 

[ttocs]

Does anyone have any feedback on the photo of my Outlaw amps capabilities and how they match with ESLs? Ironically a ML member on a FB forum recommended it.

So sorry for your loss. It's a very difficult and painful decision to have to make. My sympathies.

I second everything JonFo said above.

What does the system sound like without Audyssy engaged? Maybe try setting the speakers up as Large, and no correction.