Reviewer rooms

[DaveyF]

The thing that acousticians and and everyone in the industry preaches to us is symmetry in a room. You can certainly see that in pictures. If you don't have this to begin with, then everything else is just a band-aid.

And about recording/mixing in a room... the reason you listen in the nearfield to be begin with is to take the room out of the equation!

I would agree with this. Although I recently was made more aware of another factor, this from an a'phile friend, and that is the volume of the room.
My room, which has smaller wall dimensions, has due to its high vaulted ceiling, a decent volume. This factor certainly seems to work greatly in its favor. Listening in the near field certainly does minimize the wall interactions.
I used to believe that optimizing a small room was much more difficult than optimizing a large room...I'm not so sure anymore.

 

[Rodney Gold]

Hi

IN the beginning reviewers had access to the kind of gears that we could only dream about. This has changed in a big way .. Many here have rooms and gears that surpass most reviewers'. Some audiophiles here and elsewhere have taken the notion of a dedicated room to its ultimate expression ... As can be seen from these pictures, those reviewers have not followed suit. Knowing what we know now about rooms we can only wish their rooms is decent sounding ... Those with great rooms know the care, time, knowledge and pain that must be taken to bring a room to its ultimate. They also know what a great room brings to the reproduction of music in their listening place. It also happens that many of these people are gentlemen and humble souls .. Thus the warnings about not being quick to judge a room just on looks alone and they have a point ... a very small point.. Some rooms in spite of their odd to unappealing appearances may sound decent but how many on the WBF are willing to bet that the rooms we see in these pictures will bring the best from serious speakers as well as the listening rooms of people like Jack D201, MikeL, Rodney Gold, Steve Williams and others? Not many ...

I think FranzM's post nailed it.

A small room is far easier to treat than a big one in terms of the physical amount of treatment needed.
EG ..Im changing my bass trapping to tube traps and the minimum I need is 24 x 3ft x 16" traps

 

[JackD201]

The thing that acousticians and and everyone in the industry preaches to us is symmetry in a room. You can certainly see that in pictures. If you don't have this to begin with, then everything else is just a band-aid.

And about recording/mixing in a room... the reason you listen in the nearfield to be begin with is to take the room out of the equation!

Indeed Bruce. The big soffits however are usually used for the guys that sign the checks. The output has still got to translate.

 

[stehno]

Please explain why not.
Who determines what dimensions are considered small?
Who determines what dimensions make a speaker big?

To the contrary. One can easily obtain superior sound from reasonably big speakers in reasonably small rooms. If one knows what they're doing. Reasonably being a keyword here.

 

[Jazzhead]

This is more like it ...... http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/state-of-the-art-in-dc/ ...... Jacob Heilbrunn 's room .

 

[bonzo75]

This is more like it ...... http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/state-of-the-art-in-dc/ ...... Jacob Heilbrunn 's room .

Nice

 

[853guy]

Indeed Bruce. The big soffits however are usually used for the guys that sign the checks. The output has still got to translate.

So true.

 

[FrantzM]

This is more like it ...... http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/state-of-the-art-in-dc/ ...... Jacob Heilbrunn 's room .

That is how it should be done if you are to review High Performance Audio gears ... A Ferrari shouldn't be tested on an unpaved road ..

 

[bonzo75]

That is how it should be done if you are to review High Performance Audio gears ... A Ferrari shouldn't be tested on an unpaved road ..

+1 - everytime someone drives a Ferrari in central London or Mumbai, it makes awful sounds roaring away standstill in the traffic jam.

 

[Rodney Gold]

This is more like it ...... http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/state-of-the-art-in-dc/ ...... Jacob Heilbrunn 's room .

I built my room using the same principles and then some .. I would expect any serious reviewer to have a similar room. When there is nothing playing , my room is 19dba .. dont underestimate the value of a quiet room.

 

[microstrip]

This is more like it ...... http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/state-of-the-art-in-dc/ ...... Jacob Heilbrunn 's room .

It is not only the room - Jacob Heilbrunn supplies very nice readings. I have pointed it several times.

 

[bonzo75]

It is not only the room - Jacob Heilbrunn supplies very nice readings. I have pointed it several times.

He hasn't written anything on Ypsilon yet that I could find?

 

[microstrip]

That is how it should be done if you are to review High Performance Audio gears ... A Ferrari shouldn't be tested on an unpaved road ..

Frantz,

Just one small detail. Jacob Heilbrunn onws XLF's and comparing them to a Ferrari can be misleading. Contrary to a Ferrari, its performance, even in medium-small spaces (30 square meter) can be great. BTW, I am sure you were happy when you saw Jacob uses a pair of Thor subs with the XLF's!

One of the reasons I like Wilson speakers is that I have found that they can sound great in common, untreated rooms. They need careful placement, but once there they sound natural and music flows.

 

[microstrip]

He hasn't written anything on Ypsilon yet that I could find?

You can use this link and look for his articles on Ypsilon matters http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/?authors=21
Although I do not remember of a formal Ypsilon review, he owns them and his articles have many references to its performance.

 

[Jazzhead]

It is not only the room - Jacob Heilbrunn supplies very nice readings. I have pointed it several times.

Loved his take on the Jadis DA88S , could relate to it and brought back memories of what a great amp it was .Regret selling it !

 

[bonzo75]

Need to try a Jadis on a horn

 

[Bruce B]

I built my room using the same principles and then some .. I would expect any serious reviewer to have a similar room. When there is nothing playing , my room is 19dba .. dont underestimate the value of a quiet room.

As did I... I've had my room measured at 17dB and believe me, if something is amiss, you can certainly hear it!

 

[JackD201]

As did I... I've had my room measured at 17dB and believe me, if something is amiss, you can certainly hear it!

17dB and you can hear an ant fart!

 

[Steve williams]

I just measured mine and am 14 Db

 

[ddk]

I just measured mine and am 14 Db

Be careful not to let any of Jack's ants in !

david