Yes, valid points on the room layout and its importance, no doubt. After the criticism was made, plus the comments, as I stated before, I took his comments in good faith and addressed the issues with a team of people who understand open plan living rooms, and how it would interact with normal speakers. Then addressed the challenges faced with dipoles and their positive attributes, taking into consideration the near field listening approach, which worked wonders!
Overall, we managed to establish a listening position of 9ft away, with a width of 7ft apart for the CLX's. A few more adjustments made on the angle inwards, back wall distance, reducing the rake angle as well on theCLX's, and setting the internal bass switches back to normal.
This was all adjusted over a period of 3 days without the monoblocks, rather it was the big SS amp MF2550SE. Whiles it was easier to assess and adjust, turning on & off repeatedly for fine tuning to address the bass switches, now the monoblocks are back! With these in place, the improvements went up several notches further, and I'm overwhelmed by the significant changes it has brought. Not only is the depth in soundstage superb but also that purity in the 3D holographic imaging was what I was after, within this 9ft triangle sort of setup. The level of improvement is an outstanding margin of resolution for which every minute detail is very well presented.
The balance is right, although initially there were some room modes in the LF regarding the right channel, since it was closer towards a more open space, rather than compared to the left channel. This was also addressed by careful placement and further tweaking, what we didn't want was over-blown bass or diffused bass...
With regards to installing systems in the kitchen, and once again addressing this for the 100th time, since that person seems to have a comprehension problem...
I have always had our personal reference systems installed in living rooms, regardless of what that space may be. The purpose is to enjoy it during all times, entertaining guests, get togethers with fellow music lovers, and sitting around with good mates and enjoying "the music."
If I was planning to sell the gear, then I would have this set up in a dedicated room, where I would solely focus on a proper demo in order to close a sale. This I/we used to do during our dealership years but now I've sold that business since 2004 and moved on. Therefore, my systems will always be installed in our living area for all family members to enjoy, not a one person type of installation... I'm not interested in such a setup. So with that said, I sincerely hope and believe these points get across to the very person who continues to cast comments regardless of me trying my best to explain things.
And, yes the overall presentation is very realistic, as it should be. Couldn't be more pleased with the level of transparency and finer detail, especially that midrange, there's nothing quite like it when it's dialed in right.
On this Wed, two chaps are arriving from a reputed electrical company who also understand normal electrical works in line with high end audio gear. So, the purpose of this visit is to further isolate the front end from the monoblocks, dedicated wiring for the amplifiers and set up on separate CB's to the mains board. Good stuff, as this will further eliminate any unwanted hum, RFI pick up, static and pops, which do happen once in a while, where we may not notice simply because we're too caught up in the fine tunes!
It's always a great learning curve, and I've certainly embraced all comments with much positivity as possible. Sometimes it's definitely frustrating when that one person doesn't seem to get nor even wants to try to understand what the rationale behind is. Anyway, I've done my best trying to explain.
Cheers to all, and most of all, enjoy those fine tunes! Big woof! RJ
