Problem with Aeon i

[Jon Uno Iversen]

I have just bought my Aeon i's second hand. They are about 4 months old and therefore quite new. So I am a bit surprised to experience that they do not sound as I was expecting. The problem is that it is difficult to listen to these loundspeakers for more than 20 mins. I feel almost dizzy and have a slight ringingtone in my ears as if I have been to a metalconcert for several hours. Otherwise the sound is OK. I do not know if anyone else has been in this situasjon before. All the other conventional speakers I have had, has been smooth and mellow in comparison. Something is wrong here!
I have tried a different amplifier but without success.
The dealer suggested a problem with impedance?
As the rest of my stereosystem function quite well with my old speakers I have rouled out problems with them.

Any idea anyone?

 

[SugarMedia]

I have just bought my Aeon i's second hand. They are about 4 months old and therefore quite new. So I am a bit surprised to experience that they do not sound as I was expecting. The problem is that it is difficult to listen to these loundspeakers for more than 20 mins. I feel almost dizzy and have a slight ringingtone in my ears as if I have been to a metalconcert for several hours. Otherwise the sound is OK. I do not know if anyone else has been in this situasjon before. All the other conventional speakers I have had, has been smooth and mellow in comparison. Something is wrong here!
I have tried a different amplifier but without success.
The dealer suggested a problem with impedance?
As the rest of my stereosystem function quite well with my old speakers I have rouled out problems with them.

Any idea anyone?

I'm sure a few others will chime in but, it could honestly be a number of things:

• The placement from the side and rear walls
• Cables & interconnects
• dust on the panels? (unplug and vacuum)

 

[rynopr]

What is your other equipment?

 

[kach22i]

I wonder if someone in your building or neighborhood is polluting the power line with some kind of high frequency feedback.

It could be your own computer.

 

[Joey_V]

Is it the sound of the Aeon itself or something else - like a static or some sort of noise that bothers you?

You have private message.

 

[Reverb2009]

I have just bought my Aeon i's second hand. They are about 4 months old and therefore quite new. So I am a bit surprised to experience that they do not sound as I was expecting. The problem is that it is difficult to listen to these loundspeakers for more than 20 mins. I feel almost dizzy and have a slight ringingtone in my ears as if I have been to a metalconcert for several hours. Otherwise the sound is OK. I do not know if anyone else has been in this situasjon before. All the other conventional speakers I have had, has been smooth and mellow in comparison. Something is wrong here!
I have tried a different amplifier but without success.
The dealer suggested a problem with impedance?
As the rest of my stereosystem function quite well with my old speakers I have rouled out problems with them.

Any idea anyone?

I don't think its your speakers, it sounds like the Aeons don't like something in your system. It almost sounds like your over powering them?

Please list your system for us.

 

[attyonline]

No clue why you are dizzy but ringing ears indicate you are playing it too loud. Suggest you get a sound level meter and let us know your average level in dbs and your peak level too.

 

[dyazdani]

If you are getting some fatuguing high frequency stuff I would say it's a combination of two things.

1. Volume
2. A reflective room

If you have an untreated room, especially if you have bare walls, hardwood floor, etc - you need some sort of treatment. My suggestion would to invest in some first reflection absorbers.

Can you post a description of your room?

 

[kach22i]

If you are getting some fatuguing high frequency stuff I would say it's a combination of two things.

1. Volume
2. A reflective room

If you have an untreated room, especially if you have bare walls, hardwood floor, etc - you need some sort of treatment. My suggestion would to invest in some first reflection absorbers.

Can you post a description of your room?

Add to your list.......................

3. Amplifier

I wonder what the two amps used were, and what the pre-amp was for that matter.

A typical case of not enough information.

 

[Jon Uno Iversen]

The other components in my system consists of: Electrocompaniet emc1 cd player and 4.7 preamplifïer. My poweramplifier is a Meridian 557, 200w.

My room is quite "naked" and I too thought this was the reason for my problems. I have put a matress up on the wall, on the same side as the speakers and two quilts on the opposite wall without this helping very much. It might be that this is not sufficient but my other speakers are playing quite well without any problems i this room.

The speakers have also been tested in a different room with different equipment with more or less the same result.

 

[Craig]

I also have the same CD player and preamp as you and I don't have a problem with their sound on any of my speakers. I've never used that amp but it should be fine with logans. Your equipment shouldn't be the problem unless you have cable that is compatible or dirty power corrupting it all.

They are about 4 months old and therefore quite new.

These speakers are probably not broken in yet. I'm not saying that is the cause of your problem but keep in mind they take a lot of hours to break in. From my experience I've noticed a gradual 'mellowing' of overall sound with these speakers that takes at least 4 -8 months of break-in time. And that is playing at least an hour or two a day. My Summits are 4 months old now and I think they are just now getting to where the should be. One indication is that I now turn the bass much lower than the level I used to set it at.

I suspect it's your room. These speakers are less forgiving than conventional speakers and even less likely to sound mellow in a bright room especially since they are dipole speakers. They will likely sound somewhat harsh in a room that has a lot of reflecting surfaces and even more so when they are new. In a room with good acoustics meaning a balance of absorbtion and diffusion they will sing nicely.

Toeing in the speakers will help smooth them out a little (warmer sound) and improve imaging. Toeing straight ahead or out a little will expand the soundstage. Moving them away from the front wall changes bass response and opens up the sound from the panels. Moving them away from the sidewalls avoids early reflections. Early reflections cause you to hear an echo in microseconds that distort the sound. This is why diffusion or absorption on the sidewalls usually help. However, don't place the speaker equidistant from the sidewalls and front wall.

Experiment with placement to find what works best for you. Your ML manual that came with your speakers may explain speaker setup and room acoustics better. It's available for downloading on the ML website if you don't have one.

Room acoustics play a major role in a system's sound quality. The room will always have it's own sonic character and each room is unique. Tuning a room is tricky but can somtimes make a drastic improvement. Where are your speakers placed in the room? How close are they to the front wall and side walls? Is your room a square, rectangle or other? The room being "naked" will certainly contribute to a "bright" or "harsh" sound. Try the system in a very different room if it isn't too much trouble.

 

[attyonline]

I continue to be curious about your volume level in decibels. A mattress on the front wall should have a substantial effect on sibilance in any room. If it did not for you, the only other viable cause I know of is too high volume. Logans are inherently low in distortion which encourages people to turn up the volume more and more. Persistently high volume levels can easily lead to ear ringing and headaches even with great equipment. Live music is consistently lower in volume than we expect. People tend to play their music louder to make up for the "live factor." BTW, I have the Aeon i speakers and my experience is nothing like yours. In fact, I have never heard of your experience with these speakers from any other listener, unless there were room problems as noted earlier in this thread. One last suggestion: Put the mattress behind you and see if that changes the sound.

 

[Jon Uno Iversen]

Aeon problems

The problems does not seem to have much to do with the volume I am playing at. There are still fatigue problems.

 

[roberto]

The problems does not seem to have much to do with the volume I am playing at. There are still fatigue problems.

Hola...I think that you must look in your system. Why? All electrostatic speakers, no matter the brand or the model, have the ability to produce no distortion. They are free of distortion and produces the cleanest sound available. Your new Aeons i (which I think were discontinued model by the factory in 1999) are a super good, well balanced sound, from top to bottom speaker. The ears fatigue only could be produced by distortion, heavy SPL or a high frequency oscillation (HFO). If you changed the room, and still the problem remains, try to change the amplifier. Sometimes, there is a HFO, usually from the amp. and the frequency is so high that our ears do not detect it, but it is there, and we do sense it, causing the ears fatigue. With the help of an oscilloscope, measure right at the amplifier´s speaker´s connector and watch, without playing any music, if this oscillation is present. Your Aerius i have a diaphragm so light that weights less than the air that it moves...there is no mass at all. Only ML gives you this fast and accurate driver. Hope that this could help in your problem´s search. Again, as the other members said, we don´t think that the problem is produced by your Aerius...the less thing that you get from any ML model is ear fatigue...and it is a very unusual and very interesting problem. Happy listening,
Pura vida,
Roberto.

 

[Andre]

I guess what you are experiencing is speaker beaming, ie dipoles, being more or less a line source, tend to do that and you are directly in the path. Try these:
1. Move speakers further apart, but not too close to side wall
2. If speakers are toed-in, try toeing them out incrementally
3. Try different listening positions
3. Damp hard surfaces such as floor back-wall, ceiling, side-walls when you feel that the reflected sound is too strong.
Cheers...
Andre

Wadia 8/Benchmark DAC-1/AR SP-14/AR D-300/Aerius-i

 

[kach22i]

speaker beaming

Yep, that is another possibility. You may really notice this when playing loudly over long periods of time. Overdriving solid-state amplifiers not up to the task compounds most of that kind of acoustic problem.

 

[Jon Uno Iversen]

It is not a quite a noice. I just experience listeningfatigue like "cotton in ears" and a ringing sound in my head. It takes a couple of days to loose the sound again.
It is now for me not possible to listen to the speakers.

 

[kach22i]

It is not a quite a noice. I just experience listeningfatigue like "cotton in ears" and a ringing sound in my head. It takes a couple of days to loose the sound again.
It is now for me not possible to listen to the speakers.

The speakers must be picking up a flaw further up in the line or equipment source. This is not good for you or the equipment, get things checked out one item at a time.

 

[roberto]

It is not a quite a noice. I just experience listeningfatigue like "cotton in ears" and a ringing sound in my head. It takes a couple of days to loose the sound again.
It is now for me not possible to listen to the speakers.

Hola Jon Uno Iversen...I have with ML CO. since 1987 and your complaint is the very first to say that ML Aerius i gives you ear fatigue!...this is not a problem of you speakers, I am sure of it...it is something regarding your system...there must be a high frequency oscillation that causes you and to your ears that problem. You perhaps, could not hear this high frecuenqy, but your brain does...check your amp. with an oscilloscope at the speakers connectors an without any music, the trace must be clean up to 10mVs...more, could tell an amplifier problem. The speakers can not produce your problem...they only reproduce what you applied to them...if the signal is contaminated, then you might get your ears problem. It is impossible to a such light diaphragm to cause you ear fatigue...this is not normal. Think why you are the only one that have that!!!, because what we, the others, what we have is only joy and pleasure of the wonderful sound of ML...hope this can help...happy listening,
Pura vida,
Roberto.