My (SMT) room

Marcus

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Oct 5, 2012
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Very nice integration of your treatments. So often I see rooms where there is so much treatment a room becomes something only an audiophile could enjoy. You've managed something many of us only fantasize about, doing our listening in the same space we "live" in and having it sound good too!
Thank you Bobvin. Yes, integration was one of imperatives and even my wife is impressed.
 

flyer

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Dec 16, 2012
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Hello Marcus,

Your room was an inspiration to mine before i started!! That says a lot about it I guess.

Fully agree with the comments on its beauty of integration and even high-WAF...

Between your and my room, there is a lot of difference of course but tastes and colors are not to discussed about :D. My room serves a different purpose as well (demo room for treatment and equipment) but it is true the SMT treatment has a high integration factor in almost any room I would guess, even the most zen-like.
I have a picture of such integration but will ask the guy first if he agrees I have the picture of his room posted here...
 

Bobvin

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Jun 7, 2014
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Thank you Bobvin. Yes, integration was one of imperatives and even my wife is impressed.

SMT fits nicely with many contemporary room aesthetics, a little harder to shoehorn into others. And I find it interesting in Europe, with so much history, so many apartments/flats/homes enjoy such a modern gestalt. While we're hoping to integrate some aspects of our 'lodge' look and feel into the downstairs remodel, I think it is going to end up with a somewhat more modern look.
 

Marcus

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Oct 5, 2012
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Hello Marcus,

Your room was an inspiration to mine before i started!! That says a lot about it I guess.
Wow, thank you flyer. Glad to hear that and a great honor.
 

Pierre

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Jun 18, 2012
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Looks Great!

The 2 Transparent Wings on the sides, how will you describe what they do?

I´m thinking about order 2 myself and place them as you :)
 

Marcus

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Oct 5, 2012
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Looks Great!

The 2 Transparent Wings on the sides, how will you describe what they do?

I´m thinking about order 2 myself and place them as you :)
Thank you Pierre. Transparent Wings on first reflection points do have noticeable positive effect on soundstage (more stable and clearer) and focus. But they're even more efficient behind the listening position (Matts recommendation) but such positioning in my (living) room is unfortunately not possible on the long term. If you decide to buy them, take as large as possible model with wheels. Hope that helps.
 

Jazzhead

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Aug 26, 2012
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I have 3 Acrylic Wings , one behind each speaker and a central one behind the rack . Helps well in controlling stage depth vs mid bass energy , depending on angle and provides higher resolution . Think of them as a focusing lens . Would luv to try one behind my listening chair .
 

dcc

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Nov 4, 2012
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I have 7 SMT S wings (tall models in acrylic): one in each corner, one at the first reflection point on the left (there is no reflection point on the right due to an opening to the dining room) and two behind my listening chair. This is the best acoustic treatment I am aware of.



 

caesar

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May 30, 2010
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Looks Great!

The 2 Transparent Wings on the sides, how will you describe what they do?

I´m thinking about order 2 myself and place them as you :)

Hi Pierre,
As with good sex or money, more of these is better than less. 2 will definitely make an outstanding upgrade, as others describe, but 4, 6, 8, .... will improve things even more. And as you add more of these wonders, the sound will approach what was captured by the microphones in the original venue, and that original venue will "diplace" your room.

Also, for what it's worth, the word on the street is that the wooden wings work better than the acrylic ones. But obviously for home aesthetic reasons they are not always an option.

Good Luck
 

Lagonda

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Feb 3, 2014
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Hi Pierre,
As with good sex or money, more of these is better than less. 2 will definitely make an outstanding upgrade, as others describe, but 4, 6, 8, .... will improve things even more. And as you add more of these wonders, the sound will approach what was captured by the microphones in the original venue, and that original venue will "diplace" your room.

Also, for what it's worth, the word on the street is that the wooden wings work better than the acrylic ones. But obviously for home aesthetic reasons they are not always an option.

Good Luck
Caesar, are you using SMT with your MBL's ? If yes, what and where ?
 

caesar

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May 30, 2010
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Caesar, are you using SMT with your MBL's ? If yes, what and where ?

Not yet, but a friend of mine has several. He uses 2 behind each speaker and 2 on each side in first reflection points. It's no wonder why MBL uses this at shows (in the US, not sure about elsewhere) as the effects are very impressive: in audiophile-speak, every audiophile vocabulary term is improved exponentially. The decay of notes is as perfect as I have ever heard. And from an MBL experience point of view, with SMT wings one gets a 3 dimensional sound stage with much better illusion of instruments hanging in space. It's almost like MBL becomes a whole new speaker.

An analogy for the upgrade would be like driving a finely-tuned sportscar through a pot-holed city street vs. driving it on a brand new road / race track.

This is a MUST have upgrade, if you can swing it.
 
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Lagonda

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Looks like i need to call Sweden for some Scandinavian prices ! Thank you Caesar.
 

caesar

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Looks like i need to call Sweden for some Scandinavian prices ! Thank you Caesar.

Good Luck with that. SMT is very familiar with MBL - I think they have done dozens of rooms, so they will be make proper recommendations. And, of course, with these things one can go step-wise, as your budget allows.

Yet whatever the final price, considering the value you get for the money, which is an ability to ***melt away your walls and carve out the ambient space of the original recording in your own room*** like no other component or tweak can do, the pricing of SMT is a hell of bargain. Please keep us posted!
 

timztunz

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Apr 23, 2018
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A friend suggested I look at SMT and in doing so came across your system Marcus. Are you still happy with everything?
 

Marcus

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Oct 5, 2012
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Absolutely and wouldn’t change anything if I had to do it again. Actually, I’m so satisfied with the SMT, I’ll soon trust them another project. I’m building a vacation Chalet in the mountains with a dedicated listening room in the basemet. Matts already gave me some good advices and great ideas...
 
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spiritofmusic

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Jun 13, 2013
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Marcus, I'm seriously thinking of an acoustics treatments project to eek out even better sound than I'm currently getting. Other than streaming, I'm not looking at any more gear upgrades.

I've got a shortlist of GIK, Tube Traps, Accustica Applicata...and SMT.

However, I'm struggling a bit w making sense of the SMT website. As w so many companies in this field, almost too much choice, but too little info to base decisions on, and slightly poor translation into English.

FWIW, my space is 5.5m wide, 11.5-14.5m deep, attic/loft shaped, so midline max apex ht 3m, down to 1.3m at side walls.

Spkrs 2.7m from front walls, 4.5m to seat, 4-7m behind seat.
 

jeff1225

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Jan 29, 2012
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Sir you need to update this thread with your latest purchases, especially the speakers.
 
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Marcus

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Oct 5, 2012
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Sir you need to update this thread with your latest purchases, especially the speakers.
Thanks Jeffrey for reminding me. A lot has changed since 2013, only Finite Elemente MR racks remained untouched.

If my memory serves me well, the first thing I changed was Kuzma XL drive system from 4 AC motors to one DC and upgraded Magnum Dynalab MD-108T to Signature. Then I sold Karan KAM 2000 monos and bought conrad-johnson ART monos and invested in Tripoint Troy Elite NG and Emperor grounding cables. Soon after that, the standard 11 inch Kuzma 4Point made a place for 14 inch ruby bearings version and all Cardas Clear rev1 were substituted for the Clear Beyond. Then the Conrad-Johnson GAT S2 left its place for the Zanden 3000 Mk2.

A decision to sell Avalon Time was quite hard but Time simply became the weakest link and a pair of used Isis was my only wish. Unfortunately I wasn’t successful in getting a pair for almost two years, so had to find a substitute and chose AlsyVox Botticelli.

Since then, my Benz LP-S became quite old and was in need for retipping. Instead of that, I decided to buy Kuzma’s flagship CAR 60. I didn’t plan to change my most beloved phono stage Zanden 1200 Mk3 anytime soon but when I got an enthusiastic feedback from my friend, I could not resist and bought the Signature.

Future Plan is AlsyVox Botticelli external crossovers and new power amps (conrad-johnson ART monos are already for sale if anybody's interested...).

076C1034-231B-46A4-A7DA-8C5A40E968A2.jpeg AD0A7331-AC47-40EC-AE90-4163C9319CDD.jpeg
 
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