Blonde on Blonde... on Blonde

Ovenmitt

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Nov 21, 2017
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Ovenmitt,

congrats on the beautiful wood plinths, and the whole sense of aesthetic and musical embrace your system projects. got be a satisfying feeling and fabulous place to sit back and enjoy the music. love it!

i can relate on a number of aspects on your efforts; the Blond on Blond theme relates to my whole room being either solid maple finish or finish grade maple ply, i use to have both a 301 (and really miss it.....hence the Saskia) and SP-10 Mk3, and your whole multiple arm/tt direction. i can also relate to your identifying the characteristics of each tt/arm/cart combo and finding the musical/mood match. now that things are finally settled in that area i'm going down that same road. of course; i'm a Bruce Lee fan and us Seattle-ites view him as our guy.

Bravo!!!

Thanks Mike,

I've followed your comments on the Saskia with a lot of interest for a while now - I'm typically more of a lurker than poster, is suppose. I wonder if you've experimented with any Ortofon SPU's, EMT's or similar cartridges in your turntable wonderings?

And yes to maple
 

Ovenmitt

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Nov 21, 2017
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I initially missed the lovely rack. Thank you for bringing it up in your post. Can ovenmitt Tell us a bit more about the rack? Materials, design philosophy?

Yes, I built the rack too. More maple, more soapstone... I went to the very large I-beam store and had them chop two pieces for me and then welded spikes to the bottom. They are bolted together by lengths of two inch stainless steel tubing that I've filled with lead shot - these run under the shelving. The bottom two shelves are two-inch cherry that's wrapped in maple. The top shelf is a sandwich of hard maple, panzerholz, and birch ply, with soapstone on the top.... It's a very good thing that my floors are concrete slab because this thing must weigh a ton ;)

Rack-2.jpg
 

Ovenmitt

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Nov 21, 2017
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Watching the world through my windshield - our city is now on lockdown. I hope that you all are safe and well.... IMG_2358.jpg IMG_2362.jpg
 

Ovenmitt

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Nov 21, 2017
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Under construction....

SP103-plinth-inprogress-shop-beauty4.JPEG SP10-Pearl-plinth-inprogress-shop-money.JPEG SP3-plinth-inprgress-studio-beauty1.JPEG
 

tima

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Mar 3, 2014
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Yes, I built the rack too. More maple, more soapstone... I went to the very large I-beam store and had them chop two pieces for me and then welded spikes to the bottom. They are bolted together by lengths of two inch stainless steel tubing that I've filled with lead shot - these run under the shelving. The bottom two shelves are two-inch cherry that's wrapped in maple. The top shelf is a sandwich of hard maple, panzerholz, and birch ply, with soapstone on the top.... It's a very good thing that my floors are concrete slab because this thing must weigh a ton ;)

View attachment 63108

Thanks for posting. You are very talented in woodworking and plinth building - your room looks lovely.

Not a criticism - I canna help but ask - do you hear your guitars, banjo, etc. when you play music?
 
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Mobiusman

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May 24, 2010
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Hi Tang,

Yes, the EMT is really a fantastic piece. It is a very fine tool that lets me shape and refine the sound to the music being played and whatever cartridge/TT combo I plug into it. I’ve been thinking about getting an EMT pickup head (maybe a mono?) to try with it - seems silly not to experiment with that combo

* I love that you noticed the wool ’Stones in the corner...... we affectionately call them Mick, Charlie, and Keef.
The three stones are amazing and a wonderful compliment to so much visual stimulation. I was wondering about their impact on the sound --smoother perhaps???

Bravo and humbling
 
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remdeck

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Apr 10, 2018
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Overmitt, you have really a incredible room and the view out is amazing too!
You're a master of taste, lovely!!
Lovely speakers you have there, here is my room:
2020-01-30 20.56.08.jpg

2020-02-27 22.36.14.jpg

Mine are Unos from 2004. Only updates I did till now is damping of the tubes the drivers are in and changed the internal wiring to 99,999% silver core wire. Love those speakers but hopefully I can stretch to Duo Mezzo once.
Now being just 2,8m in front of the Uno, we're building a new bigger room which will get ready this year hopefully.

What I noticed on your pics is that you have the tonearm on a seperate pod besides the plinth. Hopefully your plinths are ridig to the board, so chassis and arm are on the same rigid space. This is what I understand: spindle-platter-arm should be rigid.

Regards, Remco
 

Ovenmitt

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Nov 21, 2017
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Thanks for posting. You are very talented in woodworking and plinth building - your room looks lovely.

Not a criticism - I canna help but ask - do you hear your guitars, banjo, etc. when you play music?

Hi Tima,

Yes, the guitars definitely resonate and “sing” along with the music being played - whether it‘s over the stereo, or when me and friends are playing music live, in the room. It’s not something you can hear but you certainly feel them vibrate if you touch them..... actually, if you talk into the soundhole of an acoustic guitar it will “talk back” - I.e., it will resonate, back at you, along with the frequency of your voice. IMHO, you can judge the quality and personality of a guitar by how well it does this “talking back”.

I have listened a lot with and without guitars on the wall and always prefer with.... then again, my guitars always sing in tune ;)
 
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Ovenmitt

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Nov 21, 2017
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The three stones are amazing and a wonderful compliment to so much visual stimulation. I was wondering about their impact on the sound --smoother perhaps???

Bravo and humbling

Hi Mobiusman,

Thank you for the wonderful compliments!

I honestly have not done any acoustic measurements of stones vs. no-stones. I do notice a bit wider soundstage when they’re in place. My guess is that they add some upper-mid — lower-high frequency diffusion (say 1.5 - 4k). I am all about diffusion!... they also make very nice floor pillows when guests visit too:)
 

Solypsa

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Jun 7, 2017
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Hi Tima,

Yes, the guitars definitely resonate and “sing” along with the music being played - whether it‘s over the stereo, or when me and friends are playing music live, in the room. It’s not something you can necessarily hear but you certainly feel them vibrate.... actually, if you talk into the soundhole of an acoustic guitar it will “talk back” - I.e., it will resonate, back at you, along with the frequency of your voice. IMHO, you can judge the quality and personality of a guitar by how well it does this “talking back”.

I have listened a lot with and without guitars on the wall and always prefer with.... then again, my guitars always sing in tune ;)
Some people have rear firing drivers, you have guitars ;)
 
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Ovenmitt

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Nov 21, 2017
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Overmitt, you have really a incredible room and the view out is amazing too!
You're a master of taste, lovely!!
Lovely speakers you have there, here is my room:
View attachment 63163

View attachment 63167

Mine are Unos from 2004. Only updates I did till now is damping of the tubes the drivers are in and changed the internal wiring to 99,999% silver core wire. Love those speakers but hopefully I can stretch to Duo Mezzo once.
Now being just 2,8m in front of the Uno, we're building a new bigger room which will get ready this year hopefully.

What I noticed on your pics is that you have the tonearm on a seperate pod besides the plinth. Hopefully your plinths are ridig to the board, so chassis and arm are on the same rigid space. This is what I understand: spindle-platter-arm should be rigid.

Regards, Remco

Hi Rem,

Thanks a lot for your compliments. I really like your room too. Can I ask where you live - it doesn't look like USA from what I can see on how your walls, etc. are constructed.

I really love my AVG Duo's too. They just sound better and better with every system change I make - although, building a new purpose built room was by far the biggest upgrade I've ever made.

I bought my Duo's as dealer demo's, from my local guy, who was once an AVG distributor with Jim Smith, here in the USA. They have some interesting differences from stock - all wiring and binding posts is Cardas. They have Black Diamond cones and disks for bottom spikes, and the PC's are Cardas as well.

I've thought about adding some sort of damping material (Dynamat?) to the tubes, but have never gotten that one together. have you noticed much of a difference with your from this?

I dream of Trio's some day :)
 
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CKKeung

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Jun 17, 2011
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Ovenmitt

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Nov 21, 2017
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Hello Ovenmitt,
I can see from the photo : there is a purposedly-built wine cellar with many bottles inside ...
:D

Ha! Yes, that’s how the party really gets going....
 

remdeck

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Apr 10, 2018
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Hi Rem,

Thanks a lot for your compliments. I really like your room too. Can I ask where you live - it doesn't look like USA from what I can see on how your walls, etc. are constructed.

I really love my AVG Duo's too. They just sound better and better with every system change I make - although, building a new purpose built room was by far the biggest upgrade I've ever made.

I bought my Duo's as dealer demo's, from my local guy, who was once an AVG distributor with Jim Smith, here in the USA. They have some interesting differences from stock - all wiring and binding posts is Cardas. They have Black Diamond cones and disks for bottom spikes, and the PC's are Cardas as well.

I've thought about adding some sort of damping material (Dynamat?) to the tubes, but have never gotten that one together. have you noticed much of a difference with your from this?

I dream of Trio's some day :)

Yes, this is in Germany. The house is partly timberframe from 1740 and in 1911 its got an enlargement with massive stonebricks but still a lot of wood on the inside. (can post a pic if you want, it's quite funny to look at)
It's also very small, the Avantgardes are just under 3m from the listening position. It's intimidating, beeing so close to the speakers :oops:
This is also the reason we're building on the attic, where our livingroom /musicroom will be in the future. It will be around 35m² and it wil be 4,2m in height. Hopefully it sounds even better there. Intergration should be a lot better. Bass is great now, as the speakers are in the middle of the room now and have no roommodes.
I've bought my Uno's second hand in a beautyshop in Berlin, where I saw them 3 weeks in a row, as I was in Berlin for work. I eventually contacted the owner of the shop and because she didn't use the speakers, she sold them to me, as she wanted them to be in good hands :cool:
The price I payed will not be told, as it was so incredibly dirt cheap....and these speakers were new, as she only used them 2-3 days per year!

I've dampend the tubes of the Uno with Reckhorn ABX, which did help the sound to become more neutral, as I could easilly hear the resonances from the tubes. It helped cleanup the mids and the treble was more even. As I also changed the internal cabling, these effects go hand in hand. But the silver cable needed some 100 hours to break in...
2019-06-18 14.44.51-2.jpg
Oh I forgot that I also use Soundcare spikes under the Unos as these are a good upgrade over the original ones on my bouncy wooden floor.

In your room you could enjoy Trios as it is big enough. My new room would not be big enough for them. My wife and I were at the first clubmeeting at Avantgarde Acoustics HQ in november. last year We had a factory tour and listened to the big Trio with 6 basshorns....incredible!!! My wife asked me if we could buy them:p She was very disappointed that they won't fit (physically and moneywise) :(

Regards, Remco
 
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soliver

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Apr 11, 2017
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Austin, TX
Here are some shots of the party we have had in the past there. Chris has an amazing wine and whiskey collection, though a lot of the whiskey bottles in these particular pics were provided by me, got to thank Chris for hosting somehow.

I love Chris's system, it has evolved to the point where it is so easy to forget about everything and just relish in the great music. Initially it was changes to the room acoustics, and over the past year it was upgrades on the equipment side, but partaking of great booze while there doesn't hurt either. 45707315_10215719679139413_4744674191779823616_o.jpg IMG_2458.jpg
 

remdeck

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Apr 10, 2018
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@Ovenmitt
I have 2 guitars in my room too and I damp them with socks as I can't stand the decaying tones coming from them.
I also have a high quality German tune fork (see picture where it is not damped) and I have it damped when I listen to music as the 440hz resonate for several minutes and that's not what I want
 

Ovenmitt

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Nov 21, 2017
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@Ovenmitt
I have 2 guitars in my room too and I damp them with socks as I can't stand the decaying tones coming from them.
I also have a high quality German tune fork (see picture where it is not damped) and I have it damped when I listen to music as the 440hz resonate for several minutes and that's not what I want

@remdeck
.

it is interesting about the guitars. I don’t notice them as obtrusive at all while I’m listening to music, although I do know they ring. It might be because they hang on a large stone wall that is very diffussive.I told my acoustician what I was going to do and he made a face.... he didn’t stop me though ;)
 

remdeck

Well-Known Member
Apr 10, 2018
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@Ovenmitt The resonating soudns would drive me mad. But as you have so many, your right that it is a very diffuse sound coming at you.
But why burder with acoustics when you have 15 other "speakers" in your room? :D
Your acousticians face I would like to have seen :eek:o_O

Just use something to dampen the strings and you can still have a look at your beautiful collection of very fine guitars!
 

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