Ron’s New System
- Thread starter Ron Resnick
- Start date
Oh! No, no early Christmas presents.Aries Cerat Ianus Essentia monos for example
Ron, given the recent thrust of the discussion on your system thread, what is your current thinking about the primacy of amplifier choice versus speaker choice? Do you think one should build his system around one or the other, or should they be considered and purchased together?
There is no rule of general applicability which will work for every audiophile.
I personally find loudspeakers to be the most fascinating component. So I naturally gravitate to selecting the loudspeaker first. There is no "should" in this implied for anyone else.
For me the Pendragons are keepers. (The room has been the biggest frustration. So if anything I would like to replace the room with a new construction, dedicated 25' wide, 40' long and 15' high listening room. But that is never going to happen.) I am enjoying researching amplifiers and trying different amplifiers and selecting a target for my "alternative fantasy amp." Currently this target is Wavac HE-833v2. (Michael Fremer's 2004 review of the Wavac SH-833 from 2004 helps explain why. See https://www.stereophile.com/tubepoweramps/704wavac/index.html)
I respect the approach of identifying one's favorite amplifier, and then selecting the loudspeaker one thinks is the best match for that particular amplifier given one's preferences, budget and room circumstances.
It's great if an audiophile finds it fun to audition a bunch of amplifiers with his/her selected loudspeakers, and choose one of the amp contenders.
It's great if an audiophile doesn't want to bother with serial amplifier comparisons, and hears a demo in which he/she is happy with a particular loudspeaker/amplifier combination.
While I personally find loudspeakers to be the most interesting component, simply selecting one's loudspeaker and amplifier doesn't solve the equation for the sound of the system overall. For example, I think for vinyl playback cartridges have a significant impact on the overall sound. So even if one purchases a selected loudspeaker/amp combination, there still is a lot of selecting to do and there still are a lot of decisions to make.
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I am listening to The Carpenters The Singles on tape. We Eva Cassidy devotees should not forget about Karen Carpenter. I actually think Karen has a more impressive voice than Eva.
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Unfortunately your video doesn't capture her voice well. With better recording gear you achieve something like this:
I think it is hard for any system video to compete with a live voice. Do you think with better recording gear, Ron’s system video of some pop vocal recording will sound as convincing as this live woman’s voice?
I thought so too. I went that route a few months ago. I have a nice Shure MV-88+ external mic which materially increases transparency.
But the members here who are into videos seem to request iPhone only for consistency.
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I do think that is true for some of us and I get that point of view but also some seem to think any stray video that they put up is somehow a valid or meaningful comparison.
I’m among those who only ever watch in room videos for a combination of reasons… it all gets very wobbly as any kind of comparison after that when we have people using such a complete diversity of recording devices and context of recordings and avoiding like for like and even swapping over to recording line outputs to compare with in room recordings.
The other thing I have found of interest in the past is when some put up videos of really interesting systems or when some videos seem to be unusually sonically engaging… mostly for me that they display a great tone, or cohesion, or apparent dynamic contrast and can portray great flow and or angularity in the music’s presentation and point to a great piece of music or performance. Nothing conclusive out of these but at least in ways interesting and entertaining.
Each to their own but at least when someone uses a video with a valid control like using the same system being recorded but with some identifiable change but using the same recording setup and process there is some potential comparative value. Lately some are plastering up completely disconnected videos and using them to just pointedly analyse the hell out of things. It’s fine but I’m among those who don’t get caught up in watching those.
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True but Rons system recording is competing with a youtube recording of a live voice.
Had Ron used similar recording gear, I'm sure Karen Carpenter's voice would come through much better and be more representative of his in-room sound.
I've never seen a more stunning room / system then Ron's .
True endgame stuff
True endgame stuff
Ron, I notice that you keep adding carpeting around the speakers and acoustic treatments to the walls and will add some new panels up high shortly. Have you been in touch with Bonnie whom you consulted early on in the project for her current thoughts and advice?
Thank you for the kind words. But I see more stunning rooms on WBF all the time.
I think my walnut hardwood paneling is pretty, but all of the acoustic panels just leaning against the walls make the place look like a hot mess, compared to rooms where the acoustic treatment is integrated as part of a holistic interior design, such as Steve Williams, MikeL, Bobvin, Jeff1225, JackD201, audioquattr, Vinyl_Mike, Jacob Heilbrunn, Brad225, ADGold, sbnx, HughP3, hessec, to name a few just off the top of my head. But when I was redoing the walls of the room I just could not wrap my head around baking in a lot of acoustic treatment in advance, without knowing how the speakers will interact with the room.
(What I am enjoying is the spaciousness of the three separate areas, comprised of the listening room, the adjacent equipment room, and the record/tape storage area up the staircase from the equipment room.)
I filled in with carpet pieces more of the open area around the speakers at J.R.'s suggestion.
J.R. added the panels on the side walls towards the front of the room
Yes; based on what J.R. heard and measured he thinks the parallel side walls are causing a reverberation issue.
no
Once the sidewall ceiling panels are installed, I'm going to experiment with removing pairs of the acoustic absorption panels.
PS: Conceptually, I feel that there probably is too much absorption now. In a perfect world I would like to try replacing some of the absorption panels with RPG QRD-type diffusion panels, but they are heavy, bulky and expensive.
It has been easy and flexible to start with these relatively inexpensive and lightweight absorption panels for the first few months.
take two wood blocks and smack them together and you´ll get a hint of the rooms acoustics
Is there a sub forum or section with all of the members systems and photos of them ?
I can't seem to find it.