Dedicated audio room build thread aka The Big Dig

[ACHiPo]

Thank you Evan, cool Sound Labs would love to hear them.

You have an open invitation to listen to them whenever you’re in the Bay Area.

 

[schlager]

What an incredible room you have build. Giving the playback system optimal conditions is very inspirational. Such rooms are rare indeed, so for educationally (my own) purposes, are you willing to provide more measurements of the room. The 291 post only reveal a short glimpse and I believe you mentioned REW measurements were taken. From those measurements a lot of things can be studied, not to nitpick flaws, in case they exist, but to learn what is possible in a large well treated room.

Regards Sebastian

 

[HughP3]

What an incredible room you have build. Giving the playback system optimal conditions is very inspirational. Such rooms are rare indeed, so for educationally (my own) purposes, are you willing to provide more measurements of the room. The 291 post only reveal a short glimpse and I believe you mentioned REW measurements were taken. From those measurements a lot of things can be studied, not to nitpick flaws, in case they exist, but to learn what is possible in a large well treated room.

Regards Sebastian

Hello Sebastian, right now i don’t have any more measurements and my old system is gone. I will get more data from the setup guru Jim Smith when the new system is installed later this month. as in any room, I am sure there will be some surprises. Will see how Jim feels about it.

 

[PeterA]

Hello Sebastian, right now i don’t have any more measurements and my old system is gone. I will get more data from the setup guru Jim Smith when the new system is installed later this month. as in any room, I am sure there will be some surprises. Will see how Jim feels about it.

Hugh, I must have missed you selling your old system. Can you talk about your new system or provide a link to a discussion about it? That sounds exciting.

 

[Paret]

Hugh, I must have missed you selling your old system. Can you talk about your new system or provide a link to a discussion about it? That sounds exciting.

Check #322.

Congratulations Hugh!

 

[HughP3]

Check #322.

Congratulations Hugh!

Thank you Paret. New system install is now scheduled on March 16-18! Will have quite the crowd with Joe Cali, Rune, Jakob, Anthony Chiarella, and Lee Scoggins videoing. Jim Smith may come then or he may wait until he has the room to himself.

 

[PeterA]

Check #322.

Congratulations Hugh!

Wow, it is all there in #322. Thank you Paret. Those are great photos too. Hugh, you must be really excited. I look forward to reading all about it, and about Jim's subsequent visit.

 

[HughP3]

Wow, it is all there in #322. Thank you Paret. Those are great photos too. Hugh, you must be really excited. I look forward to reading all about it, and about Jim's subsequent visit.

Thanks Peter, i really miss having a system but the light is shining in the tunnel now. Its all coming air freight so no cargo ship mishaps at least.

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

I have been looking into the next speaker evolution of my system starting back in March of 2021. I decided on 3 systems to audition. 1.) MBL 101 X-Treme 2.) Wilson XVX 3.) Gryphon Kodo. I know there are other top echelon systems but these 3 intrigued me the most. Before I get into the specifics, I don’t think there are any wrong choices here. Its like hi performance automotive, GT3, 488, AMG etc. all excel and speak to your listening (ie driving) styles in different ways.

My audition music was a plethora of tracks from Miles Davis, Anette Askvik, Michele Petrucciani, Al Di Meola, Gentle Giant, Hugh Masekela, Trondheimsolistine, Flim and the BB’s, Little Feet, Brian Bromberg, Aaron Copland etc…

First was a visit to 3MA in Houston TX for the MBL Xtremes. Spent a few hours at this wonderful store. They were most gracious to open a bit early for my wife and I. The venue was an older converted 2 story home with various audio rooms. The system was in the largest area of the house which was the entry way into the main lobby/great room area. Ceilings appeared to be less than 9 feet. It was a lot of system for that room. There was some room correction but not much. First most noticeable was the bass. It was literally house shaking, no fault of the speakers just a bit much for the old house. So switched tracks to Michele Petrucciani. His piano was wonderful and life like, crisp but in this room it lacked the 3d imaging I had hoped for. I was able to discern information I had never heard before which was exciting. After 2+ hours of demo I never felt the system was overly bight nor fatiguing. In the end, I felt the system was only showing maybe 70% of its potential due to the room. Per MBL and at the time this was the only Xtreme system available in the US.

Next up was a visit with Lee Scoggins to Larry Marcus at Paragon Site & Sound in Ann Arbor MI to audition the Wilson XVX. Larry is the consummate professional, such a depth of knowledge along with a great personality. We hit it off. His room was immaculate with 16 foot ceilings that did justice to the XVX system. Ancillary equipment was top echelon. Full dCS Vivaldi stack, our choice of either Burmester 909 MK5 or Dagastino Relentless monos /pre. 4 plus hour demo bless his soul. The Brian Bromberg “Wood” album was the best standup bass I have ever heard, really spectacular. The system did everything well. the thwack of a snare was especially realistic. Now the however, I prefer the Mundorf AMT tweeter on the Gryphons. Not to say piano sparkle was lacking to me ears on the Wilsons. I just prefer the AMT sound. In the end the XVX was a convincing audition that I could see coming to my Barn, but I was not done yet.

My last trip was this October with Joe Cali and his lovely wife Lori Lieberman to Ry Denmark to audition the Kodo system. Since it was such a long trip for us we had some nice site seeing before the factory visit. Copenhagen is simply lovely and so were the gracious Danes. Our demo was at the new sound room on campus. Rune Skov and Jakob Odgaard were there to greet us. First item of the visit was to sign an NDA. Yes we were the first visitors to hear the new Apex prototype amp and Commander pre, hooked up the absolutely massive Kodo system. We spent 5 hours on day 1 there and 2 hours on day 2. The experience was existential. My tastes are a bit biased since I own Gryphon components but that does not mean anything if I did not like what I heard and I liked the XVX system it was the front runner. But only 30 minutes into the demo I swooned. What power and what incredible definition. On the Anette Askvik track Liberty I knew that she herself harmonized but I heard her second voice as distinctly as her first about 2 feet over and said who is that singing. It was a wow moment. Lori never ever sits with Joe for these demos, we played her on the system and we were all transfixed, she was there in front of us. She never left the room even for very loud rock (concert level dynamics).

I am extremely excited to have placed an order in November for the Kodo’s + Apex Stereo amp + Commander Pre. Side panels with be painted Porsche Arena red. Hope to take delivery in late February or March. I would do the monos but Rune said that was not needed with the woofer towers active (1000 watt class a/b) and the mid range towers at 96db efficiency. While I am spending my life away I will also be upgrading to an MSB Select II. I feel like I have finally finished climbing Everest.

Congratulations!
I must say however in the one picture its pretty impressive when an amplifier makes behemoth tower speakers look small...

Looking forward to the install!

 

[HughP3]

Congratulations!
I must say however in the one picture its pretty impressive when an amplifier makes behemoth tower speakers look small...

Looking forward to the install!

Thank you and yes the amp is shockingly huge however i think 2 Mephisto monos weigh about the same as the Apex stereo. Glad no stairs involved

 

[LL21]

Thank you and yes the amp is shockingly huge however i think 2 Mephisto monos weigh about the same as the Apex stereo. Glad no stairs involved

I have carried the Mephisto down the street with another moderately built audio dealer. That was a workout...brings a whole new level of meaning to 'dead weight' when you not only have to keep carrying it further and further to the car without stopping...but you also cannot drop the weight on the floor with even the slightest bump (let alone your own toe!) (Could not roll because sidewalk too bumpy and did not want to jiggle all the electronic circuitry either)...

...but that Apex is a whole other level and class of weight...and no doubt, so too is its performance!

 

[schlager]

OMG Hugh, you just upped the ante with your new Gryphon purchase. Me and The Danish people thank you
Jokes aside, it will be very interesting to hear your report on the upgrade, not that your previous system was lacking in any way.

 

[sbo6]

Congratulation! I bet you simply can't wait to take possession of those beautiful towers. They probably would be my end game speakers. Enjoy!

 

[HughP3]

OMG Hugh, you just upped the ante with your new Gryphon purchase. Me and The Danish people thank you
Jokes aside, it will be very interesting to hear your report on the upgrade, not that your previous system was lacking in any way.

Lol thank you! So excited.

 

[HughP3]

Congratulation! I bet you simply can't wait to take possession of those beautiful towers. They probably would be my end game speakers. Enjoy!

Thank you!

 

[HughP3]

I have carried the Mephisto down the street with another moderately built audio dealer. That was a workout...brings a whole new level of meaning to 'dead weight' when you not only have to keep carrying it further and further to the car without stopping...but you also cannot drop the weight on the floor with even the slightest bump (let alone your own toe!) (Could not roll because sidewalk too bumpy and did not want to jiggle all the electronic circuitry either)...

...but that Apex is a whole other level and class of weight...and no doubt, so too is its performance!

Carry vs cart is hard to imagine! Thank you for the kind words

 

[John T]

Thank You for sharing the pics. The APEX is Massive! It makes the Mephisto look somewhat normal in size. I can't imagine a carry of the Mephisto for any distance. I have 2 steps onto the front porch, a short distance into the house, and that was intense! Putting those speakers together doesn't look like an easy chore either. Good luck with everything, your in store for some fun times! Enjoy...

 

[LenWhite]

Congratulations Hugh. The Gryphon Kodo looks like the ultimate speaker system, especially placed in your incredible acoustic listing room. Please keep posting on your installation and setup.

Back in the late 80's I owned the Infinity Beta system with separate bass towers with crossover, but unfortunately without an appropriately sized acoustic listening space. Today I do have a very good acoustic room albeit not the size of your room. I'm using Raidho D3s with a JL Audio CR1/F212v2 active crossover and subwoofer sourced from the EMM Labs DV2. It produces phenomenal macro and micro dynamics, but surely pales in comparison to your new setup, especially in soundstage scale. My current system has convinced me speaker systems must have separate bass enclosures to be able to really experience the entire musical spectrum as the designer intended. The great thing subs do beyond the low bass, is allow the high bass, midrange, and highs to excel. Especially if one is not able to have one of the ultimate music systems like you.

I can only imagine how magical music will sound in your room when complete. Hopefully I'll get a chance to visit later this year. I'm in awe of your commitment to high end sound.

 

[Alrainbow]

When do we see pics of room done
next some videos please

 

[HughP3]

Congratulations Hugh. The Gryphon Kodo looks like the ultimate speaker system, especially placed in your incredible acoustic listing room. Please keep posting on your installation and setup.

Back in the late 80's I owned the Infinity Beta system with separate bass towers with crossover, but unfortunately without an appropriately sized acoustic listening space. Today I do have a very good acoustic room albeit not the size of your room. I'm using Raidho D3s with a JL Audio CR1/F212v2 active crossover and subwoofer sourced from the EMM Labs DV2. It produces phenomenal macro and micro dynamics, but surely pales in comparison to your new setup, especially in soundstage scale. My current system has convinced me speaker systems must have separate bass enclosures to be able to really experience the entire musical spectrum as the designer intended. The great thing subs do beyond the low bass, is allow the high bass, midrange, and highs to excel. Especially if one is not able to have one of the ultimate music systems like you.

I can only imagine how magical music will sound in your room when complete. Hopefully I'll get a chance to visit later this year. I'm in awe of your commitment to high end sound.

Thank you for the encouraging words. Even with the Tridents i was thinking about adding subs. I bet the D3’s with the sub(s) sound amazing. I have not had the privilege of hearing the infinity betas though I imagine they sounded incredible even compared to what’s available today. Even with the Kodo woofer towers i could still make a leap that really good subs could bolster them. More Measurements will need to be done to see just how this room responds. Jim Smith has been over and really liked the sound but thought subs with the Tridents was needed.
Anyhow cheers and Please come by if you can.

ps. Just saw the url on your room. Looks terrific congats!