Tweeter trouble?

[msrance]

Friends, I had bought this low budget special sort of equipment about 6 months back. I have a Yamaha 596AX integrated amp @ 100W/C which drives as the "A Speakers" a pair of Sonodyne Sonus 1601 floor standers rated at 80W @ 4 Ohms. As the "B Speakers" I run a pair of DIY 8 Ohms speakers @ 120W.

All was fine till sometime back. It sounded sweet and it was good fun listening to music at mind blowing SPL. But of late I have started finding a very bright edge to the music - almost bordering on harshness - if pushed beyond 10 o clock position of the volume dial. Its worse with the Sonodyne speakers than with the DIYs.

It is still fun listening to good rock at decent volumes - but extreme rock at insane volumes hurts your ears. What do you guys think could be the problem here?

I want to know could this be a sign of my HF drivers - the tweeters giving way? what does it sound like when your tweeters blow themselves in a covert operation - I know how they sound when blown apart evidently - but is this the first sign of tweeter trouble for me?

How do I handle this and whats the best solution for future use? Thanks a ton in advance! expect some enlightning replies.

[skeptic]

The problem is not your speakers, it is you ears. You have sustained severe damage to your hearing. You should first visit an audiologist to have your hearing tested to find out what kind of damage you have done and whether you would be a good candidate for a hearing aid. Then visit a psychiatrist to find out why you didn't turn it off or at least down when it started to hurt. Didn't you know that pain is your body's well of warning you something is very wrong. One good thing to come out of this is that anyone who lives near you, your family and your neighbors will be pleased at the peace and quiet they will enjoy. Your rock n' roll days are over. You'll be lucky to hear normal conversation or someone talking on the other end of the phone. You will learn to appreciate the chirping of birds on a quiet summer day if you can still hear them at all. You got exactly what you deserved.

[msrance]

The problem is not your speakers, it is you ears. You have sustained severe damage to your hearing. You should first visit an audiologist to have your hearing tested to find out what kind of damage you have done and whether you would be a good candidate for a hearing aid. Then visit a psychiatrist to find out why you didn't turn it off or at least down when it started to hurt. Didn't you know that pain is your body's well of warning you something is very wrong. One good thing to come out of this is that anyone who lives near you, your family and your neighbors will be pleased at the peace and quiet they will enjoy. Your rock n' roll days are over. You'll be lucky to hear normal conversation or someone talking on the other end of the phone. You will learn to appreciate the chirping of birds on a quiet summer day if you can still hear them at all. You got exactly what you deserved.

My good friend, The skeptic, please dont loose your cool and dont get so panicky about the whole situation. I really havent been listening to the point where your ears hurt. Besides let me tell you that I am a doctor by profession - would know the symptoms when I have them myself. Though an audiometry would not do me any harm - specially when I dont have to pay for it.

This Psychiatrist business though does get a bit out of hand. I must see one of them too - and maybe he can help me find the reason why I ever posted a querry like this in this forum? Where people can get so cynical about mundane things.

I guess I will be able to appreciate the chirping of birds for some good time to come - though I would anyday prefer Kurt Cobain chirping.

Anyways, this distinct harshness - or overbrightness - or whatever you might call it - that developed after some months of use of equipment - does bother me. If anyone else has better ideas than my wellwisher and good friend, Skeptic, please do let me know.

[This Guy]

It's your amp. The amp is meant to play 8 ohm speakers, and here you are playing a pair of 4 ohms, and 8 ohms off the same amp. If I'm correct, that would be around a 2 ohm load you're giving the amp. Choose one pair over the other, preferably the 8 ohm ones.

-Joey