• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Colds, allergies, and our low-freq. hearing

F

forzaroma

Super Member
Banned
Last week I was going a little nuts trying to figure out what happened to the bass response in my system. I sounded considerably weaker, distant, and fuzzy.

Since I did some rewiring, I thought I connected something out of phase. Checked, rechecked, but everything was as it should be. I checked even the phase in the AC plugs. Everything checked out, but no bass.

I checked my other system and heard (or not heard) the same. Where's the heck is the bass.

Since I've had allergies + a cold last week (and it's still lingering) I am wondering if my sense of low-frequency hearing has been somewhat compromised (hopefully temporarily). I am used to colds and allergies affecting the higher frequencies, but I had never noticed them affecting the bass.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? I am listening to my range speakers (the Quad 22Ls not the SF Cremona listed below) right now and it sounds like the woofers have been disconnected (or equalized 10db lower than where they should be.)

ForzaRoma
 
Register to hide this ad
You sound fine to me

forzaroma said:
I sounded considerably weaker, distant, and fuzzy.
Click to expand...

You did? Who told you, your wife? :D

Seriously, I can see how allergies, colds etc would affect the high frequencies, but NFI how they could change the bass. That's the part of the audio spectrum you can feel, sometimes even through a concrete wall.

In fact, it's what I hear first from the young man in our neighbourhood that has one of those gazillion-watt "kaboom-thump" stereos in his car. I can hear the bass from blocks away, way before I hear anything else.

I've suffered from allergies since the age of 10, and that's what I've noticed. Your mileage may vary, as they say...
 
Aage said:
You did? Who told you, your wife? :D

Seriously, I can see how allergies, colds etc would affect the high frequencies, but NFI how they could change the bass ...
Click to expand...

Yup, that's why I am asking the forum. I should also add that I am not talking about the deep-deep-deep bass (say 40hz and below) but mid-bass (<300-400Hz) - the kind of bass that warms-up the sound.
 
forzaroma said:
Yup, that's why I am asking the forum. I should also add that I am not talking about the deep-deep-deep bass (say 40hz and below) but mid-bass (<300-400Hz) - the kind of bass that warms-up the sound.
Click to expand...

You missed your typo, the subject of Aage's little joke :)
 
yup i have done exactly the same in the past...home sick,figuring since i had the time,it would be good to make the best of it and just listen to some tunes,only to find something somehow amiss..

i spent much time,adjusting the position of the speakers,even cleaning connections trying to find the sound i was used too,frustrated and not being able to figure out what was wrong with my system...the problem was not my system at all,but me.it's not just your nose and sinus's that get gooped up with a cold...your ears are affected as well,tho you may not notice until you try to really use them,the effect is almost similar to what happens in an airplane,tho it's not as easy to get them to "pop" and clear..you gotta wait till the cold and your head clears
 
Oh, boy! They are back. Spring used to be far and away my fave time of the year. The spring greens of the trees leafing out, the grass coming to life, the sounds of the birds! About the time I turned 40 ( I turn 50 in a month), I started getting two really bad colds per year -- spring and autumn. Took me about three years to figure out it was ALLERGIES.
And they hit last night. Eyes are watering, nose is running, throat aches, ears hurt. Started taking Claritin, but no relief so far. And yes, the allergens ATTACK my ears. Try swim-ear. It moderates the symptoms and seems to "kill" the allergens, which in my case are apparently pollens in a big way.
 
I've become very allergic to dust in my house the last couple of years. Couldn't figure out why when I sat at the computer in the morning I'd start sneezing and my nose would start running. Spent time with an allergist and ENT only to be told I was allergic to everything.

Vacuum out the computer and it's surroundings and my head would be OK. Keep the dust pretty well down in the house and it's also much better. Pretty hard to do in Vermont with a warm air system though. It didn't make sense that it was dust because even in the summer I was afflicted. Started to think about it and the furnace fan runs all summer with the central A/C. Duhh.....

I also use what amounts to a nasal irrigator. You just mix up some saline with the warm water in the bottle and squirt it up your nose. Takes anything in there and flushes it out. Works well at keeping your sinus' hydrated as well. You can find these at any drug store.

As to the bass frequencies, I don't notice them but am constantly adjusting to my ears and sinus' being plugged. Very seldom do things sound perfect.
 
-- Bump --

My right ear is clogged-up :grumpy:

Seasonal allergy thing... Yup , Springtime in SoCal

The balance on my main stereo system has been off since Sunday :D Everything is hard left. I almost started checking and shaking the ICs & wires

Going to play Mono LPs tonight and see if that helps :music:
 
Pinch your nose close your mouth and use your breath to pop your ears the way you would in an aeroplane.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom