Bob's New Listening Room and System
- Thread starter Bobvin
- Start date
Finally getting the room together. I placed the speakers in similar position to what they were before the remodel... a little further apart, similarly tucked in the corner. My Wilson dealer will be down in a couple weeks to do final setup/voicing. I spent a couple hours listening last night and I have to say the room sounds fantastic. I'll leave it to the Wilson rep to get the voicing just right, while I got the imaging dialed in the coherence top to bottom isn't quite right. Still, what I was hearing has me very excited for whats to come.
As a reminder of where it all started, here's a couple before and after pics.
When we moved in, it was all "Man Cave" setup.
I installed some nice wool carpet, cut like a giant area rug, and assembled the rig. Speakers were fairly deep in the corners, but sounded very good. Several buddies claimed it was the best they'd heard the Alexias.
The sun was shining in this morning so I had to pump up the lights in order to get a photo. My new vinyl cabinet is to be delivered this week, then the boxes will get off the floor over on the right side of the room.
And the rear of the room. (Wine cellar on the other side of the curtains!)
As a reminder of where it all started, here's a couple before and after pics.
When we moved in, it was all "Man Cave" setup.
I installed some nice wool carpet, cut like a giant area rug, and assembled the rig. Speakers were fairly deep in the corners, but sounded very good. Several buddies claimed it was the best they'd heard the Alexias.
The sun was shining in this morning so I had to pump up the lights in order to get a photo. My new vinyl cabinet is to be delivered this week, then the boxes will get off the floor over on the right side of the room.
And the rear of the room. (Wine cellar on the other side of the curtains!)
Congratulations - it looks really fantastic. Moving the system to the side was a really great idea - it seems to make the room much larger and IMHO helps a lot to create a believable soundstage.
Congratulations, Bob! It does indeed look fantastic!
I showed my wife and she really likes it! (I told her that mine is not going to look nearly as professional and polished as yours.)
I like your Ekornes Reno chairs, too!
I showed my wife and she really likes it! (I told her that mine is not going to look nearly as professional and polished as yours.)
I like your Ekornes Reno chairs, too!
Wow, room looks to be coming along very nice. WRT the holes and 1" rigid fiberglass, I did something similar to create 2 treatments for the dead center front wall. Essentially it's a BAD panel, yours has a variation in hole size the BADs are 5/8" (if I recall) holes only
I have one Stressless Ambassador - LARGE CONSUL chair in my room and have noticed that when I sit up in the chair properly, my ears are well above the back of the chair. The image is much more real that way. My chair lacks the wings that you have.
How did you get the measurements that you showed?
I would urge you to try putting your cables off the floor on only one porcelain isolator. If needed put it on a narrow box. This is to keep any static electricity away from the cables.
Do you hear quite a difference with the blinds open or raised than with them down?
How did you get the measurements that you showed?
I would urge you to try putting your cables off the floor on only one porcelain isolator. If needed put it on a narrow box. This is to keep any static electricity away from the cables.
Do you hear quite a difference with the blinds open or raised than with them down?
Did you mean to post this in the 'perfect listening chair' thread? I have not posted anything with respect to measurements, but there is a frequency response trace in that thread with respect to the effect of a chair.
As for my old setup with the blinds, the effects the blinds had was never much, but anytime you put even a thin fabric over a highly reflective surface you'll tame a wee-little-bit of excess energy. The new space has curtains with an acoustic liner that should have more significant sonic results. I've not spent much time listening yet as my speaker setup is not yet optimized.
It was not me. Sbo6 is the user who provided the freq. response curve in the listening chair thread.
Now with the Alexias in the proper position and the album cabinet installed. We moved some glass vases from a local artist down into the room, and they fit in great. Now I just need a little more art, more vinyl, maybe a streamer, maybe a bit more power in the amplification department... but for now I wish to just work my way through my music library and get to know this new room's sonic attributes. Already with loud volume I find the music stays tightly focused, big orchestral climaxes remain focused and coherent.
And my cat gives his approval!
And my cat gives his approval!
With the new HM chair and no headrest to deal with I place the mic at ear level and positioning. I've since made further seat placement and sub settings changes for further improvements. I'll never go back to a low back chair for listening.
Wonderful looking room Bob! I know its taken a while to get here but I'm glad you are happy with the results.
BTW, I'm packing up my system next weekend and it will be in storage until our new home is finished in Sarasota, FL. I'll have a wait time of approximately 6 more months.
Mike
BTW, I'm packing up my system next weekend and it will be in storage until our new home is finished in Sarasota, FL. I'll have a wait time of approximately 6 more months.
Mike
I've been living with the new room now for a couple of months, listening for a hour or two at a time as my schedule would allow. Speakers have not moved since they were setup & voiced by my Wilson rep, but I did move the gear rack about 6 inches toward the front of the room—mostly for aesthetics, but also so my power cables would reach the Shunyata conditioner.
Last night I had a few audiophiles over for a "debut'' of the new space. A few comments are listed below:
I have to say it is comforting to have some folks who are true audiophiles offer positive comments. While I have been saying to my wife how much better the room sounds, there has been that nagging voice in my head that says maybe its all just expectation bias.
Last night I had a few audiophiles over for a "debut'' of the new space. A few comments are listed below:
Leo said:
"There's such a big difference in the bass! And in the overall acoustics of the room. I'd say it's a big success."
Mike said:
"Bob, very impressed with the outcome. Excellent soundstage, pinpoint positioning of instruments, vocalists are there in the room. You can hear the emotion in their voices. Nice bass, tuned, balanced and deep. Tonal balance is good throughout. Please don't try and tweak, just let your soul enjoy the good music you've collected."
George said:
Thanks for having us over and for the excellent wine. First the room looks really great, dedicated listing room for sure. I thought the prior room was great, this is even better. Also love the wine cellar. As for sound, definitely a step or two better, except for the bass, that is a quantum leap better. Amazing how much better the bass became without losing the detail yet increasing the soundstage. Great investment and worth the time spent.
"There's such a big difference in the bass! And in the overall acoustics of the room. I'd say it's a big success."
Mike said:
"Bob, very impressed with the outcome. Excellent soundstage, pinpoint positioning of instruments, vocalists are there in the room. You can hear the emotion in their voices. Nice bass, tuned, balanced and deep. Tonal balance is good throughout. Please don't try and tweak, just let your soul enjoy the good music you've collected."
George said:
Thanks for having us over and for the excellent wine. First the room looks really great, dedicated listing room for sure. I thought the prior room was great, this is even better. Also love the wine cellar. As for sound, definitely a step or two better, except for the bass, that is a quantum leap better. Amazing how much better the bass became without losing the detail yet increasing the soundstage. Great investment and worth the time spent.
I have to say it is comforting to have some folks who are true audiophiles offer positive comments. While I have been saying to my wife how much better the room sounds, there has been that nagging voice in my head that says maybe its all just expectation bias.
Love it. Congratulations. This is what system threads are all about: sharing the process, gear and listening impressions. I agree with Mike, just enjoy your music for a while. Lovely room. Was the good wine served before or after their compliments? Just kidding.
Took delivery of the new Rossini DAC yesterday... my dealer came down from Seattle to setup and make sure everything was right. We also installed a Roon ROCK, several Audioquest Jitterbugs throughout the house, and swapped my amp/speaker taps from the 4 ohm tap to the 8 ohm.
Initial impression... overall so much more natural flow to the music, and I was able to listen for hours without digital fatique, which has been something that has generally kept me away from spending to much time/money/energy on my digital source. My old ARC DAC8 had been a loyal performer for many years, but this, oh my, this is something altogether different. There is just so much more continuity to how the sound is presented, where in comparison other digital I've heard has always had a certain glare and edge to it. Which I think is why, if I started a listening session with digital, it wasn't long I'd turn to spinning an LP. And if I started with vinyl, I seldom would switch to digital.
I have to send in my pair of interconnects (Transparent Ref XL mm2) to be tuned for the low impedance of the Rossini. I moved the low-z cables from my phono-pre to the Rossini for now and the sound improved, so I'll listen to the DAC exclusively for a few weeks until I get the re-tuned cables.
My wife is wonderful—what a terrific present.
Congrats on the dCS Rossini and on your system and room development over the past 18 or so months. I have the Rossini dac and clock combo used primarily with Roon source of a Nuc running ROCK. extremely good sounding and a great value. enjoy.....
Congrats! DCS makes some great digital components. Overall digital is making leaps and bounds year over year and offers paramount sonic $ for your audio $ over anything else IMO. Enjoy!
