Can certain types of speaker cause ear pain? (1 Viewer)

[Garrett V]

I have been on the speaker purchase circuit and noticed my ears hurting. Granted the volume has been turned up and down to test the speakers but is their a certain speaker design/material that might make the sound coming out more sensitive to ones hearing than others??

I though I read somewhere that aluminim cones can cause this. Any truth to this? Thanks.

 

[WayneO]

Yes, there a plenty of people that find metal tweeters grating, fatigueing or peircing. You might ask to demo some "warmer" speakers and equipment and see if they still bother you. It could be your ears or the speakers your demoing.

 

[DonnyD]

I've been around a LOT of systems in my time and I like it loud.......and the only system I ever heard that caused me ear pain was Klipsch on a Sunfire amp........way too bright......my son and I RAN from the room..........
In the next room was a Proceed amp driving James speakers.......... now we're talking GREAT..........!

 

[Stephen Weller]

No. The discomfort (pain) is caused by excessive (S)ound (P)ressure (L)evels.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

I think a Paradigm Atom can cause extreme ear pain if you throw it hard enough.

 

[Evan M.]

Garrett, if the speakers are played very loud than it is very common to have ear pain. It may depend on the cone in may not. I will say though that when you audition, YOU should be in control of the audition. If you do not listen to the speakers that loud normaly that have him turn it down. Take it from me...ear problems SUCK!! I have tinitus (permanent high pitched ringing of the ear) and it is not cool. If you are having ear pain than I would either have them turn it down for a more "real world" audition or look at a speaker in that line that has a different tweeter like someone already said.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

I’d tend to agree with Stephen. Just how loud are you playing it, Garrett?

Aside from that, speakers that are “peaky” in the 4-6kHz range will definitely cause ear fatigue at higher volumes. Once again that tweeter thing.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Travis R.]

Hello Garret, basically sound is a bunch of frequencies that the human ear picks up and translates to the brain what these frequencies are. You have an outer, middle and inner ear. The ear drum is inside your middle ear and is controlled by a mechanism (hammer, anvil and stapes) that adjusts the vibrations that occur on the ear drum. Your inner ear is a fluid filled area that involves the translation of the frequencies from the ear drum to nerve endings that transmits it to the brain. The area of your brain that translates this information tells you if it is 20hz or 20000hz depending on what nerve endings in your inner ear (cochlea) are stimulated by the sound. Sorry for the quick anatomy lesson but there is a point. You here about listener fatigue and basically what happens is the muscles that control the hammer, anvil and stapes fatigue and therefore the eardrum flaps more loosely sending confusing vibrations into the inner ear causing a lesser quality sound interpretation by the brain. Now this is the crutx of it, everybody doesn't hear the same. Some people have more sensitive ears then others and therefore different speakers may cause listening irritation. Sound is a very subjective creature and some people prefer a type of sound and others do not. Usually when your ears hurt it could be that the volume you are listening to music is too loud and henceforth causing damage to the inner ear or you could be irritated by the sound because sound does produce an emotional affect as well but I will not get into that. As I'm sure you have read and has been suggested already try other speakers and find a pair that YOU find enjoyable.

Hope this makes sense and I didn't bore you.

Travis

 

[Ryan Tsang]

I'm not familiar with the how's and why's of listener fatigue. I used to own a pair of Paradigm Ref Studio 60s v1. There were times when even when not playing loud, I felt the highs were just irritating. I would describe it as an annoying, "getting-in-your-head" sound, as if music was playing AT you instead of FOR you. I have now settled on a pair pf Hales Rev Twos and I haven't experienced fatigue since, playing loud or soft.

 

[Stephen Weller]

There are (at least) two different kinds of distortion, too. Harmonic distortion (THD) is something you can hear, while intermodulation distortion (IMD) is something you can feel and can, over time, wear you out; making you feel tired.

Sadly, the FTC must've given up on trying to force manufacturers to be truthful about distortion specs. IMD just doesn't appear in the equipment specs any more. :frowning: