[Wags13604]

I bought some Cambridge S30's and put them on stands and have them powered by Onkyo TX-8050. They are in a medium sized bedroom. I got them set up yesterday and at first I was pretty happy but they are giving me the most terrible headache. I can't listen to them for long without getting a terrible earache. And at not even loud volumes. I don't know if they are too bright or if I'm not powering them correctly or don't have them set up in my room in the right place but I'm wondering if I maybe just have pathetic and sensitive ears because I understand these are quality speakers that don't distort or give out sound harsh on the ol' lobes.


What can be done? I feel like returning them.

 

[buzzy_]

1) What are you using as a source? That is, what's feeding signal into the reciever?


2) Are they close to hard surfaces - windows, walls?


Just as an experiment - if you pull them well away from the walls, so you're not hearing the room effects so much - does it help?


3) Nothing wrong with turning down the treble.

 

[Wags13604]



Quote:
Originally Posted by buzzy_  /t/1470425/what-did-i-do-wrongggg#post_23256252


1) What are you using as a source? That is, what's feeding signal into the reciever?


2) Are they close to hard surfaces - windows, walls?


Just as an experiment - if you pull them well away from the walls, so you're not hearing the room effects so much - does it help?


3) Nothing wrong with turning down the treble.

1. What is feeding the signal into the reciever? Um Spotify. through the network adapter. I think that's what you mean? I have Sptoify premium 320kbps.


2. Hm. The manual recommended about 8'' off the wall and that's about how I had them. I was about 5 feet away from them and 4 feet away from each other. I had them toe'd in slightly. I had my back to them as well. I am sitting at my desk at my pc. And the cambridge's were 5 feet behind me shooting at my back basically. I just got them yesterday so I just set them up where I had space.


3. Yeah man treble is down. If it goes down anymore it's like I can't appreciate the music. I will say even if treble drastically down that cymbal is still somewhat sharp and forward though everything else has largely faded away. I kinda have doubts about these tweeters. But the thing is they sound really enjoyable for first 20 minutes.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

MP3's, eh?


You need better source material than that. Even a regular CD sounds better. When they master these for compressed formats, they jack the treble and crush the dynamics.

 

[Wags13604]

I read the sound quality difference between 320kbps streamed music and CDs was not perceptible? Guess not.


I guess the mastering is a different story.

 

[astrallite]

Maybe these speakers just aren't for you.


It could be a combination of the 4.5" woofer and the type of music you listen to plus reflections off the table. A stand may help, but it's probably the speaker.


There is a crossover upgrade for the S30s you can buy from Dennis Murphy, from the looks of it the midrange got padded down a bit.

 

[67jason]

Ditch the Onkyo TX-8050 and get an avr with room correction. Should tame the treble peaks that your room is likely causing causing your headaches and discomfort.

 

[Nethawk]

AVS room correction isn't magic, it won't make a bright speaker warm. I'd be more inclined to observe the room for reflections than chase electronics.


I would return the speakers and be more critical of auditioning candidates specific to your use. It's not easy finding a speaker which works well that close to your ears. I'm sensitive of bright tweeters myself, I've been through this. In home auditions are necessary, the return shipping costs a small price to pay.

 

[67jason]

^^^ you are correct, RC is not magic, but the designers of these nifty programs do strive for the end product to be a flat in room frequency response. obviously something is causing his sound to be bright when heard through his speakers in his room....room correction can help.

 

[arnyk]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Wags13604  /t/1470425/what-did-i-do-wrongggg#post_23256243


I bought some Cambridge S30's and put them on stands and have them powered by Onkyo TX-8050. They are in a medium sized bedroom. I got them set up yesterday and at first I was pretty happy but they are giving me the most terrible headache. I can't listen to them for long without getting a terrible earache. And at not even loud volumes. I don't know if they are too bright or if I'm not powering them correctly or don't have them set up in my room in the right place but I'm wondering if I maybe just have pathetic and sensitive ears because I understand these are quality speakers that don't distort or give out sound harsh on the ol' lobes.


What can be done? I feel like returning them.

Fix the room and where you have the speakers in the room. Even the first reply you got has valuable suggestions in it.


Too bad you didn't explore other options to the 8050 and didn't get the usual 5.1 AVR automated system optimization facilities (Audyssey, YPAO, MCACC). My reading of the owner's manual finds not even a workable multiband equalizer.


Your most reasonable options in this area probably involve starting over with a modern 5.1 AVR. This would allow better matching your speakers to the room.


First off, carefully evaluate the speakers using the highest quality CDs of music that you like that you can find. Other sources of the same songs may have questionable sonics.


Secondly, study up on loudspeaker positioning and room acoustics by looking a the various threads and stickys on AVS.

 

[KidHorn]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Hitchman  /t/1470425/what-did-i-do-wrongggg#post_23256367


MP3's, eh?


You need better source material than that. Even a regular CD sounds better. When they master these for compressed formats, they jack the treble and crush the dynamics.

That's not always the case. I have some mp3's that sound great. Others are like you describe. Generally speaking, the larger the size of the mp3 file, the better it sounds.

 

[Nethawk]

If the master is compressed, so will the CD, FLAC, MP3, etc. from that master.


I stream spotify frequently to any of my three 2-channel systems. While the occasional dog stands out the quality is acceptable. Naturally I would prefer everything I listen to be in lossless format but I don't see that happening anytime soon.