Bob's New Listening Room and System

Bobvin

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We finally had the wine cellar glass installed yesterday :) Inspection being performed by Merlin the cat!

Now that the wall panels have been installed and ceiling cloud hung, I am waiting for carpet to be installed (next week) and the acoustic curtains hung (2 weeks). Assuming my LED fixtures [finally] come in, I will be able to re-assemble my rig early in February. The only remaining step will be a visit from my Wilson dealer to setup the Alexias.

with-glass.jpg
 
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LL21

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stunning!
 

microstrip

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We finally had the wine cellar glass installed yesterday :) Inspection being performed by Merlin the cat!

Beautiful! A pity you are so far away - I am sure you will need the help of a few friends to fine tune the level of liquid in those bottles when your acoustician comes for the final adjustments!
 

Ron Resnick

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Wow! That looks amazing! Tinka loves it too!
 

Bobvin

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almost there Bob

Seems like this time it might be true Steve. Until the last contractor leaves and I begin to reassemble my humble rig, I'm tempering my optimism.

Thanks to all who offered kinds words regarding the wine cellar. There are some empty slots needing to be filled, and some filled slots needing to be emptied.:cool: Hopefully my room will turn out to be one of the great ones sonically, and y'all can visit. Wine, women, and song... I'll have two out of three covered, unless we include women singing songs. And I mean no disrespect to women audiophiles, you're welcome too.

(And in the spirit of the news of the day, my wonderful wife is a truly independent and powerful woman — and has been more than gracious in supporting my audio jones and this crazy remodel project.)
 

Bobvin

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Getting closer... EarthWeave wool wall-wall carpet installed today. Beneath the carpet is SoundSense Vibramat (which is a super high density carpet pad bonded to a mass-loaded vinyl base-layer), and over the carpet pad is a layer of SoundSense Lumitex acoustic fabric.

What's left? Curtains are due next week, and I am told (fingers crossed) my LED recessed fixtures will finally be in next week too. Then I just have a few minor tweaks and can begin to reassemble the rig.

I am going to have some fabric wall panels attached going down the hallway to the bedrooms. Hand claps there produce a nasty ring, and while isolated from the music space by the curtains, I'd prefer not to have the ringing.

vibrimat.jpg
Carpet pad with Lumitex.

left-w-carpet.jpg
Left side (gear will go here)

right-w-carpet.jpg
Alcove area will have my new custom album cabinet. Curtains will draw across the base of the stairs. You can just see the track in the ceiling.

full.jpg
Curtains will go across entire front wall.

back-w-carpet.jpg
Curtains will also draw across hallway separating the room from the wine cellar. You can just barely see the curtain track there as well.
 
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Ron Resnick

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Gorgeous, Bob!

And I love Ekornes Stressless chairs! I have three of them. I will be using one of them as the main listening chair, as well as an Ekornes three-person couch behind the main chair (copying Mike L's main chair/couch arrangement).
 

microstrip

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Fabulous. What is the color of your Alexia's?
 

Bobvin

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Fabulous. What is the color of your Alexia's?

Mine are in Topaz... the fabric on the panels, Guilford "Reeds" in color "mink" (shown further up the thread) was chosen to go with the speakers. Overall I was aiming for a very monochromatic look. That way the music, and any art I might choose, will be what stands out.
 

Mike Lavigne

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Curtains will also draw across hallway separating the room from the wine cellar. You can just barely see the curtain track there as well.

just beautiful!

btw; that is the Ekones chair I use upstairs in my football watching space. that adjustable height back makes it work for listening or lounging. it is comfortable.
 

Scott W

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Absolutely gorgeous Bob :)
 

microstrip

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just beautiful!

btw; that is the Ekones chair I use upstairs in my football watching space. that adjustable height back makes it work for listening or lounging. it is comfortable.

Yes, the Vegas/Reno model is audiophile compatible, your ears will be above the head rest in the lower position. I find the similar fixed rest Mayflower model even more comfortable, although inadequate to listening - but great for the living room!
 

Bobvin

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My new vinyl cabinet is almost done! Just a few minor details and stain. (It will go in the alcove/niche on the right wall.)

The drawer faces will be covered with fabric, and the drawer box and face thickness, along with the fabric, were acounted for in the acoustic modeling of the room. I'll have another built for the rear of the room in the not too distant future.

IMG_0321.JPG
 

Bobvin

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Sons of bitches! The lighting store still has not delivered the LED trims for my recessed lights. Lets see, originally ordered in October. Finally took delivery of some trims in late November but returned them—I didn't care for how the 3000°K light looked when dimmed. (LEDs don't color shift when dimmed to a more orange color like incandescent or halogen.) I was to replace them with 2700°K trims, and the guy at the store ordered the wrong thing which had a long backorder. Finally early February parts arrived, but the wrong size! So, back those go and a month later I receive the wrong items again, this time the wrong style. Now I'm frustrated but still keeping my cool, told them do whatever is needed to get them by Friday. I called yesterday (Friday) and am advised they have to be "built". And another part that was supposed to have arrived last week didn't, then it was supposed to be here this week, but no, now not until next week.

I've been more than patient with the outfit, tolerating their screw-ups and their excuses. Today I called and told them to cancel the order and the guy had the nerve to get irate at ME. He said he can't cancel the order, the parts are on the way.

I calmly said to cancel the order and hung up. Then I called my credit card company to dispute. I don't think I've been unreasonable. After all, it has been 100 days since I returned the parts for exchange.

My wife, banker that she is, said the company was probably having credit issues with their vendor, so they were likely having trouble receiving goods. Might also explain why the guy got all pissed off at me for cancelling.

Amazon prime will get me one of the parts by Tuesday. It is the touch on/off switch for the LED lighting that will go under the lip of the album cabinet above. I've ordered the other parts online. I am hoping for better results!
 

Bobvin

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Here's a couple pics of the room with the curtains. With the extra layers of Lumitex in the stairway and hallway curtains, they just weren't behaving with the frequency of folds originally spec'd. (The front curtains have only 1 layer of the Lumitex, which while a little stiff is trying to fold as designed.) So I had them attach every other carrier which made the ripples much larger & deeper. Depending on what the acoustician measures once everything is setup, I may add another bolt-width of curtains to both sides of the stairway grouping. This would make the ripples a little closer together, creating a more dense barrier to sound entering the room from upstairs. There are a pair of Viking fridges just at the top of the stairs, and they're a bit noisy in a white noise kind of way.) How that might affect the whole room performance would have to be modeled.

The LED trims I am waiting on will highlight the curtains and back wall the same as those in the recessed niches.

f_w_curtains.jpg

b_w_curtains.jpg
 

LL21

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A thing of beauty...enjoy! congrats and been fun to watch the build-up, though i respect that you've been the one living with some of the frustrations as well. All's well that ends well.
 

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