Ron's Speaker, Turntable, Power and Room Treatment Upgrades

[PeterA]

Good news, Ron. It's nice to read about someone who knows exactly what he wants. It's also good that you and Tinka are on the same page. I bet it will be a lovely room, both aesthetically, and sonically.

 

[RogerD]

This sounds completely absurd (precisely because it is completely absurd) but it has taken me two months to figure out a stain for the walnut which sinks into and “seals” the wood but does not apply any kind of shiny coating which could reflect sound and change slightly the natural acoustic character of the hardwood walnut. So this means using an “oil-based” stain.

I wanted to preserve the natural color of the walnut without darkening it or changing its color. I went to the lumber store which fabricated the pressure-glued walnut planks and asked for an oil-based stain which is clear and does not change the color or tone of the walnut. He gave me the “Pure” stain from a company called Rubio monocoat, which he assured me does not darken the wood.

I learned previously that the color grey is fiendishly complicated because it is very, very difficult to find a “true” grey. In different kinds of light different greys “read” as leaning to blue or to beige or to green.

It turns out that Rubio Monocoat Pure actually makes the walnut a lot darker and brings out the grain in the walnut — exactly what I was hoping to avoid! Many people love dark wood paneling, but to Tinka and me it looks too old-fashioned and too much like a hunting trophy room or a cigar and scotch man-cave. Traditional dark wood paneling is not what we personally want for our contemporary-looking house.

So this launched me into two months of testing about nine different colors of Rubio Monocoat stains. Along the way we decided to solve the problem of not liking natural dark wood paneling by focusing on fairly heavy stains that almost “paint” the wood grey while leaving some wood grain texture peeking through.

So I have finally ordered the color we selected and we hope to begin working on the listening room wall paneling soon. We selected a Rubio Monocoat color named “Gris Belge.” I have no idea where that name comes from, but it is a grey which leans toward beige, and this counteracts the tendency of most grey stains and paints to lean blue which we do not want.

Ron,
Make sure you test it on a scrap piece first and let it sit for a few days. Have you thought about a plain oil finish ie Watco satin oil or a mixture of boiled linseed oil and turpentine. Some use tung oil.

 

[PeterA]

Ron,
Make sure you test it on a scrap piece first and let it sit for a few days. Have you thought about a plain oil finish ie Watco satin oil or a mixture of boiled linseed oil and turpentine. Some use tung oil.

Good suggestion to test it first. I applied Watco satin oil on all of our old wide pine floor boards in our house, and linseed oil on all of the natural wooden doors. Both products are well absorbed into the wood and leave a very natural, resilient finish. Don't know if this is what Ron is after, but it may be worth comparing to the product he found.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you, Roger and Peter!

Bonnie visited me on Tuesday and suggested that I put sound absorbing foam on the ceilings, backs and sides of the cabinet compartments into which new kitchen freezer, refrigerator and wine refrigerator will be inserted. I would love to do this but, unfortunately, the cabinets are already fabricated and installed and there is no additional clearance around the appliances to accommodate the sound absorbing foam.

But I ordered a variety of weight-load selected rubber hemispheres and discs from Sorbothane to place under the feet of each of the noisy appliances. That should help a little bit.

 

[Kingsrule]

That won't help much at all. U need to isolate the compressors and fans....

 

[Ron Resnick]

At David’s suggestion I have put on hold the idea of ordering two heavy duty custom Herzan stands for components other than the turntable. It would be nice to have three matching stands, rather than the Nothing stand on the left supporting the turntable and a Herzan stand in the middle and a Herzan stand on the right side.

So depending on the reduced cost of David’s aluminum stands compared to the steel stand for the turntable I would consider three matching Nothing stands.

 

[ddk]

Bonnie visited me on Tuesday and suggested that I put sound absorbing foam on the ceilings, backs and sides of the cabinet compartments into which new kitchen freezer, refrigerator and wine refrigerator will be inserted. I would love to do this but, unfortunately, the cabinets are already fabricated and installed and there is no additional clearance around the appliances to accommodate the sound absorbing foam.

But I ordered a variety of weight-load selected rubber hemispheres and discs from Sorbothane to place under the feet of each of the noisy appliances. That should help a little bit.

Good advice but I wouldn't worry much about it with the quality appliances that you're purchasing !

david

 

[ddk]

Did you try pure Tung Oil Ron? It has no varnish to make things shiny, doesn't discolor and leaves the wood with a natural feel to touch when it dries. The only reason to use stain is change the color of your wood panels otherwise you don't need any type of stain.

david

This sounds completely absurd (precisely because it is completely absurd) but it has taken me two months to figure out a stain for the walnut which sinks into and “seals” the wood but does not apply any kind of shiny coating which could reflect sound and change slightly the natural acoustic character of the hardwood walnut. So this means using an “oil-based” stain.

I wanted to preserve the natural color of the walnut without darkening it or changing its color. I went to the lumber store which fabricated the pressure-glued walnut planks and asked for an oil-based stain which is clear and does not change the color or tone of the walnut. He gave me the “Pure” stain from a company called Rubio monocoat, which he assured me does not darken the wood.

I learned previously that the color grey is fiendishly complicated because it is very, very difficult to find a “true” grey. In different kinds of light different greys “read” as leaning to blue or to beige or to green.

It turns out that Rubio Monocoat Pure actually makes the walnut a lot darker and brings out the grain in the walnut — exactly what I was hoping to avoid! Many people love dark wood paneling, but to Tinka and me it looks too old-fashioned and too much like a hunting trophy room or a cigar and scotch man-cave. Traditional dark wood paneling is not what we personally want for our contemporary-looking house.



View attachment 43677



So this launched me into two months of testing about nine different colors of Rubio Monocoat stains. Along the way we decided to solve the problem of not liking natural dark wood paneling by focusing on fairly heavy stains that almost “paint” the wood grey while leaving some wood grain texture peeking through.



View attachment 43678



So I have finally ordered the color we selected and we hope to begin working on the listening room wall paneling soon. We selected a Rubio Monocoat color named “Gris Belge.” I have no idea where that name comes from, but it is a grey which leans toward beige, and this counteracts the tendency of most grey stains and paints to lean toward blue which we do not want.

Just to make this whole process more maddening I also learned that once the stains dry they can look materially different from how they looked when they were first applied. The photo above shows the stain on the left looking darker and more true grey than the stain on the right. But when they both dried the stain on the right looks darker and more grey than does the stain on the left!

 

[Ron Resnick]

No, I did not try that David. That would have been a great solution when I was in the mindset of keeping the walnut completely natural.

Now that I have switched to the idea of staining the walls grey, I am happy with the Gris Belge color I have been playing with.

 

[ddk]

No, I did not try that David. That would have been a great solution when I was in the mindset of keeping the walnut completely natural.

Now that I have switched to the idea of staining the walls grey, I am happy with the Gris Belge color I have been playing with.

Got it, then the all stainless Nothing Racks will match your room more and more !

david

 

[Ron Resnick]

Good advice but I wouldn't worry much about it with the quality appliances that you're purchasing !

david

I am worrying only because the left side of the listening room opens into the kitchen.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ron, you and my Ra are "siblings in arms" LOL. She spent what seemed like months choosing paint colors for the chapel.

In the main space especially, at 35x30x20, that's a LOT of visible wall surfaces.

Every single white we looked at either had too much grey or pink in it.

It drove her, and our decorator, to mental distraction.

Finally, at about the nineteenth swatch in, her search was over, and she found the white she wanted, and that we used.

So when I told her of your restless search, she smiled and understood.

Even the grey in my listening space took some finding. We got it right, and I'm sure you will too.

 

[Lagonda]

Got it, then the all stainless Nothing Racks will match your room more and more !

david

And maybe a Stacore for the fridge.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Ron, you and my Ra are "siblings in arms" LOL. She spent what seemed like months choosing paint colors for the chapel.

In the main space especially, at 35x30x20, that's a LOT of visible wall surfaces.

Every single white we looked at either had too much grey or pink in it.

It drove her, and our decorator, to mental distraction.

Finally, at about the nineteenth swatch in, her search was over, and she found the white she wanted, and that we used.

So when I told her of your restless search, she smiled and understood.

Even the grey in my listening space took some finding. We got it right, and I'm sure you will too.

Thank you for conveying, Marc! Please give my best wishes — and sympathy — to Ra!

Actually, the first thing I discovered is that swatches alone will drive you completely crazy; they should be used only for getting a rough sense of colors to identify actual paint samples to try.

The second thing I learned is that small (a few cm by a few cm) single areas of actual paint color test samples for each color painted on the wall are very misleading.

The third thing I learned is that large (1 meter tall and .5 meter wide) single areas of actual paint color test samples painted on the wall and compared under artificial light are misleading and will get you confused.

The fourth thing I realized is that you must paint large areas of at least two walls in the same room with the competing colors side by side to really see how each color reads when hit with only natural daylight at different angles and at different times of day! Only then will you know what each color truly looks like in situ!

Whites and greys definitely are extremely confusing! White can lean (at the least) blue, beige, green, yellow, or grey, and thus can read “cold” or “warm.”

For white, for the entire interior, we will select a common contemporary white typically called “Designer White” which reads a little bright and leans a touch blue and therefore looks a shade “cold” versus a more neutral white.

What can we do when the Benjamin Moore fan book has about 100 shades of each color?!?!

I really like the grey you selected for your listening room. What brand of paint and color name and sheen (gloss, semi-gloss, eggshell, matte, etc.) did you use?

 

[spiritofmusic]

I'll get back to you on that.
Ra doesn't do sympathy, just good beer, she says it makes all the stress of things just dissolve away.

 

[Ron Resnick]

And maybe a Stacore for the fridge.

I should have thought of that before we finalized the measurements for the cabinetry containing the freezer and the refrigerator.

 

[Lagonda]

I should have thought of that before we finalized the measurements for the cabinetry containing the freezer and the refrigerator.

Just joking Ron. Site does not have the option of smileys right now ! But i’m sure Stacore would love if we all use them under our appliances.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I look forward to two Stacors for the amplifiers.

 

[Lagonda]

Marc sure loves his. Probably great on all tube amps.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ron, my grey paint is Chic Shadow by Dulux
www.dulux.co.uk