Hiring an external professional to tweak/optimize our audio systems?

[Elliot G.]

I engaged Stirling to set up my system in London...the results are beyond my expectations. I have Magico S7s in a smallish room and they now almost disappear. The improvements Stirling has wrought from my system exceed what I have been able to achieve from (expensive) component upgrades...quite simply if you have invested significantly in a system you owe it to yourself to engage a professional like Stirling to ensure it is properly set up...I wish I had come across him years ago

As I said before
You don't know what you don't know!
I am glad you experienced what a proper set up does. Seems there are a lot of non believer/experts who don't know that they don't know
I'm sure I will get some hate but its just sad but true.

 

[kswanson27]

Stirling was here for two and a half days and the results exceeded my expectations. Day one was only half a day because of the simplicity of my system but--call it reverse expectation bias--I expected nothing from the housekeeping process but it yielded an improvement in clarity and focus. The next day and a half was spent on the speakers and the result was dramatic with a wider and more focused soundstage than I thought possible in my difficult room. As an added bonus during a half hour break, while the gardeners were leaf blowing the property, Stirling shared dozens of pics on his laptop of the rooms he's done around the world and the stories that went with them. Bottom line is I didn't have a clue how to set my system up and Stirling did.

 

[astrotoy]

Stirling has been my phono tech for many years. He has a great set of ears and is very methodical about doing his set ups. He documents everything, so when he is finished you can see all the results. He also takes the time to educate the client on what to listen for. For example, setting VTA. He is great!! Larry

 

[Sunny]

When customers purchase systems, they are not usually broken in. Giving about 150-200 hours it's time to reconfigure your setup. What Stirling does, usually can take 2 days. THIS IS HIS JOB. All he does is constantly think of every minuscule detail, he asks questions, listens, asks more questions looks for what he hears, he has an uncanny talent to break down exactly what you want to accomplish, then he goes to work and crushes your expectations. This comes from years of dedication. I would like to do a seminar with Stirling soon at my store.

 

[Sunny]

Stirling Trayle brought me into this business. I have spent numerous hours over the years setting up systems of all kinds be it mid-fi or ultra uber high end. One thing remains constant with this man. Its practice, dedication to this art, tools and techniques used in other industrial applications that he figures he can use, his tool kit and specialty products on hand. For instance he gave me screws to use on my new headshell on a cartridge that's only 1K. I did the switch and voila it improved the performance of my whole KIT. 2 freakin screws. Now I only use these in my installs. This man spends days at home practicing setup. It's an obsession leading to compulsive habits that keep you on track to achieve small goals that then snap in place. Every single step in the process has meaning, a reaction that will show up as an improvement in the end result. NO ONE is that screwed up in life that I have ever met that goes to these levels..and this is a compliment guys. The funny thing is that you cannot put a price to his services. There is no rational way to say that if he did not do these steps that I could be OK with it. There is simply no short cuts. He works sometimes 10-11 hours straight, totally focused, lost in this system, totally in control, completely happy with each step. If you have a 25K to 30K system and you want to improve it or if its 1.5 million, you will see a marked improvement with Stirling optimizing this system to your taste. Every single thought process is with you in mind. It's your system that's dialed in for you. Just genius...My personal system was optimized by Stirling.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Sterling truly is an audio industry treasure.

 

[Kingrex]

I believe a room acoustic engineer is invaluable. One of the best assets you could invest into your system. The only issue I see is setting up a system right in your living room probably means changing the room from its intended purpose, a living room, to a listening room. And when you go and buy something new, or you move stuff around to live in the room, you may have just tossed out the investment.

 

[Jon]

I had the pleasure of having Stirling Trayle set up my system (Soundlabs, Berning, Spiral Groove table, Spectral CD player) moments before the pandemic hit full force. Everything you read in prior posts about Stirling is spot on. His process is fascinating, if you have the time to observe you will definitely enjoy. He works tirelessly, and is a gentleman. What changes did I notice after optimization? I turned into an avid classical music listener because its presentation became more believable. I am now trying to catch up on lifetimes of lost pleasures, and enjoying every second. My wife is listening to music on my system now, she NEVER did that before. That says it all. I you have any feeling that your system isn’t giving you all that it is capable of give Stirling a call. It will be money well spent.