BFlowers Listening Room

BFlowers

Well-Known Member
Apr 23, 2010
103
15
923
Westlake Texas
I have finally gotten some time to post what has been a fun, interesting and at times exasperating journey toward creating my new listening room. For years I have enjoyed a wonderful system that grew out of what was originally constructed to be a home theater. A few years ago we decided to build an addition onto our home which afforded me the opportunity to build a dedicated listening room. The design and build ultimately took almost two years which was completed about 2 months ago. I decided that I would try to tackle all of the relevant aspects of having a quality listening room, all the while having to manage some budgetary constraints. I must start by saying that I have had valuable assistance from many people (Steve Williams and Marty Wax to name two that are familiar to all on this forum), and countless other audiophiles, dealers, manufacturers, acousticians, power consultants, etc. I owe them all a great debt of gratitude and may mention them by name at a later time. First came the room design and construction. I had worked with Doug Greenlee of Soundkinetics in Denver on the retrofitted acoustic design of my previous room. That room sounded and measured very well, thus I enlisted him on the new project. I also found his pricing to be reasonable. I wanted a large room and also wanted a secondary room behind the front wall to hold equipment and provide rear access to my components (something I thought was a great design feature of Marty's room). The final room dimensions are 32x20x11. The side walls are tapered from 18.5 ft in the front of the room, to 20 ft in the rear. I had no choice but to put the room on the second floor, so the floor is reinforced with steel framing elements, and a 1.5 inch layer of concrete. There are a combination of covered and exposed diffusors as well as selective absorption, including bass traps in all four corners, covered in acoustically transparent fabric. I was looking for a classic, but slightly modern aesthetic (think Peninsula Hotels in Hong Hong and Shanghai, or Tom Ford stores). Overall the room sounds pretty neutral, and I enjoy the look and functionality of the space. I have photos during the construction phase and well as acoustic design drawings I can post at another time.

Next I addressed the power. To isolation transformer or not isolation transformer...that is the question! Many people I highly respect had vastly differing opinions on this matter. I went to listen to a system that was designed by a person I was considering using, to see if I heard any of the negatives that people were describing. Ultimately, I decided to enlist Arthur Kelm (with an assist from Nyal Mellor) and install an isolation transformer. Again, I will post the details and measurements of what we did in a separate post. The unit is a 10KvA triple shielded K-rated industrial transformer from Controlled Power that feeds a custom panel with bolt in breakers. Ten and 12 gauge twisted wire was used throughout. Isolated grounds were utilized as well. As you will see from the measurements, there is plenty of headroom.

The most fun part of this journey was my quest for the equipment that I would use in the new room. The idea was that I would audition the best gear I could and ultimately choose my winners. I tried to be as open minded as I could, considering tube, solid state, hybrid, whatever made the best sound. Everything was on the table to be changed including speakers, amplifier, pre-amp, and source. I don't have unlimited resources, so I am sensitive to price. If possible, I would prefer to change as little as possible. My previous system was Wilson Alexandria X2S2, Boulder 2010 pre, Boulder 2060 amplifier, DCS Vivaldi full stack, a Goodwin's Silent server, and a smattering of Transparent Opus and Tara Labs cables. I started my audio quest with a trip to hear Steve Williams system again, but this time in his new room. This a state of the art system with Lamm ML3s at the heart with the reference Lamm pre and the same speakers that I own. Suffice it to say, the system is magnificent. I then boarded a red-eye to hear the Boulder 2110 and 3060 on Alexandria X2S2s at a dealer's home in Miami. I had been to the Boulder factory to hear the 2110 and 2050 and 3060 previously on Focal Grande Utopias. In the interest of brevity, I will simply list all of the noteworthy set-ups I heard along the way. Spectral DMA-400 amp and DMC 30ss preamp on Rockport Altairs at Goodwins in Boston. Ypsilon SET 100 amp and PST 100 pre on Wilson XLF at Jacob Heilbrun's home. Dartzeel NHB-18 pre and 108 amplifier YG Sonja's or Hailey's (don't remember which) at Scott Warren's home. Wilson XLF with D'agostino Momentum pre and monos, and Boulder 2110 and 2050 at Audio Concepts Dallas. Soulution 725 pre and 711 stereo on Focal Stella Utopia's at my old friend and audio dealer's Carl Jarretts' home in Denver. I also had home auditions of Soulution 725 pre and 701 monos, and dartzeel NHB-18 pre and 458 monos. Spent some time with Albert Porter's Focal Grande Utopias and Allnic System. I've heard many other things recently that I have seriously considered including VTL Seigfrieds, Nagra, and Audio Research (but never the ref 610s). I've been to CES and RMAF multiple times and heard many other systems. I even went to Jack's house in the Philippines and heard his Lamm hybrid based system (great time!). Many of these systems I enjoyed immensely and are truly state of the art. In the end, these choices come down to taste...and budget! I would be happy to answer any questions about what I heard along the way. Ultimately, I decided to keep my speakers (for now) and my digital front end. I chose the Boulder 2110 preamp and the 3060 amplifier. These pieces are truly special. Once you have heard a well set up Boulder system, it's hard to go back as some of the information always disappears from the recording. These electronics allow you to hear everything! That suits my tastes. They can be frustrating for the same reason. It takes a while to get them to perform their best because they will expose every weakness in one's system. The full system has been in place for about 6 weeks now. Coming along very well, but the speakers are still on their casters! For fun I added a Studer A820. I'm on the road now, and will post pictures when able.
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
2,509
1,448
Definitely posting here...if only to ensure i automatically get the updates to this thread which has extremely high hopes of being extraordinarily fun.

Congrats, and look forward to reading more. you've surely done your homework, circumnavigating the globe in the search of highest-end audio...Ferdinand Magellan would be proud!
I look forward to reading about your NEW system as much as the many magnificent systems you own.

To the extent that you can...and no doubt as diplomatically as you can, it would also be fun to hear how some of these systems shared both similarities and had differences from each other. (Perhaps an emphasis on differences rather than 'better or worse' just to ensure we maintain civility?) It is always fun to read about SOTA systems, but even more fun to understand how they compared (and by system, i include not just equipment of course, but room, setup...everything...how did the 'system' sound). thanks!
 

jfrech

VIP/Donor
Sep 3, 2012
2,152
749
1,160
Austin
Awesome story. Can't wait to see the pics ! Next time I'm in Dallas, I'll see if it's ok to stop by...

Congrats !
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
2,509
1,448
S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G!!! Congrats!!!
 

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
16,017
13,347
2,665
Beverly Hills, CA
What an absolutely beautiful room! Congratulations! I think a separate equipment room is a very elegant way to go!
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
Man that is one serious looking room focused on audio and nothing but audio! :) Congratulations and great to see some of our early members posting again.
 

microstrip

VIP/Donor
May 30, 2010
20,806
4,698
2,790
Portugal
Great looking listening room! I am sure that the "turtles" feel at home with the beautiful wood decor!
 

jfrech

VIP/Donor
Sep 3, 2012
2,152
749
1,160
Austin
I LOVE how you hid some of the equipment behind the smoked glass.

Congratulations !!! Impressive !!!
 

BFlowers

Well-Known Member
Apr 23, 2010
103
15
923
Westlake Texas
IMG_1293 (1).jpg IMG_1314 (1).jpg IMG_1315 (1).jpg Shows glass doors opened. Equipment room behind accessed by the mostly hidden door on the left wall behind the speakers. Having some technical difficulties. Will get some better photos!
 

BFlowers

Well-Known Member
Apr 23, 2010
103
15
923
Westlake Texas
IMG_1279.jpg IMG_1281 (1).jpg IMG_1287.jpg IMG_1289 (1).jpg Thought I would include some photos of the Studer which currently is located in the equipment room visible through the hidden door. Also a photo of the gorgeous 3060.
 

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