Naturephoto1's 2 channel listening room /Home Theater system

[naturephoto1]

I am posting some new photos so everyone has a better idea of my room, orientation, and equipment. The photos in the posting are looking from the kitchen to the far end of the room.

In the first photo you can see a part of the left OMA New Yorker to the left, part of the Center Channel speaker, TV, and the right OMA New Yorker speaker. On the right side you can see part of the Center seat, the right rear channel speaker and a portion of the GIK Tritrap on the ceiling above the seating. You can also see the GIK Tritraps in the right front corner of the room, the GIK Q7D diffuser on the wall behind the audio components as well as the GIK 242 Panel above the Turntable, and the GIK Monster Bass Trap in the corner above the subwoofer. Additionally, you can see the right rear Epik Conquest subwoofer sitting on the custom made Subtrap and the right side surround Nola Viper IIA speaker on top of the subwoofer.

The next photo shows much of the equipment on the right side at the far end of the room with the audio components turned on; you see most of the same speakers and Acoustic Room treatments as in the previous photo; you can see the right rear Dahlquist DQ-6 speaker on the speaker pedestal:

The next photo is looking more toward the right rear corner and you can see the same Acoustic treatments behind the Audio Components and above the Subwoofer on the rear wall:

The next 2 photos show the Acoustic Room Treatments and the Audio Components; the first one also shows the right rear subwoofer and the side surround speaker:

The next photo shows some of the Audio Components, turntable, subwoofer, side surround speaker and the GIK 242 Panel above the turntable:

The last photo is looking toward the right front corner of the room and shows the right OMA New Yorker speaker, some of the Audio equipment in the racks as well as many of the Acoustic Treatments in this part of the room:

Rich

 

[naturephoto1]

This is a posting of photos looking toward the vinyl rack and toward the kitchen entry into the room to give a better idea of my room, orientation, and equipment.

In the first photo you can see the left OMA New Yorker to the right, the left rear Epik Conquest Subwoofer to the left on the custom made Subtrap with the Nola Viper IIA surround speaker sitting on the subwoofer. You can also see the vinyl rack as well as the GIK Q7D Diffuser on the door as well as the GIK 242 Panel between the records and the subwoofer:

The next 2 photos are looking toward the left rear of the room and you can see the Epik Conquest Subwoofer and the Nola Viper IIA side surround speaker. In the 2nd photo you can also see the rear Dahlquist DQ-6 left rear channel speaker on the speaker pedestal:

The next photo is looking toward the left front corner of the room and you can see the left OMA New Yorker speaker and many of the Acoustic Room treatments in this part of the room:

The next photo shows the new GIK 242 Panel installed between the left rear subwoofer and the vinyl rack:

The next photo shows the left rear subwoofer, Nola Viper IIA left side surround speaker, the vinyl rack, and the Acoustic Room Treatments:

The last photo shows a closer view of the left front corner of the room and the left OMA New Yorker speaker and many of the Acoustic Room treatments in this part of the room:

Rich

 

[es347]

Richard very nice. Tell me about the stacked triangular corner bass traps. thx.

 

[naturephoto1]

Richard very nice. Tell me about the stacked triangular corner bass traps. thx.

Thanks very much for the kind words.

The triangular corner bass traps are the GIK Tri-Traps:

http://www.gikacoustics.com/gik_tri_trap.html

I have 2 of these stacked in each of the front left and right corners of the room. I did not have the space to put them in the rear corners because of the subwoofers. I have however mounted 2 of these to the interface between the ceiling and the rear wall above the seating in the room. So I have 6 of these in my room. Since I lacked the space for these in the rear corners I substituted the GIK Monster Bass Traps that can be seen in the photos above the subwoofers on the rear wall of the room.

Rich

 

[RUR]

It looks fantastic, Rich!!! Did you take any before/after RT60/waterfall measurements?

 

[naturephoto1]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the very kind words. I am bad, no measurements were taken of the room before and after the installation of any of the Acoustic Room Treatments. I had sent photos off to Bryan of GIK Acoustics and we discussed the problems and issues with the room. From his assessment and based upon his extensive experience and knowledge, we went forward and did the installation of the Acoustic Room Treatments in pieces so that I could monitor the changes as the Treatments were added. As Bryan and I had discussed though, the first order of business was the Bass Traps and the Acoustic Panels that were placed on the wall with the main speakers. After these were installed minus the 2 additional GIK Tri-Traps which were installed later I got an idea of the improvement in the sound and performance. It was a startling improvement for the audio performance. After several weeks I ordered the GIK Acoustics Q7D diffusers that are mounted on the door and the wall over the Audio Components as well as the diffusers that were painted and installed on the ceiling. We had to change the door to the room due to the weight of the wooden diffuser and also installed the 2 additional Tri-Traps above the seating at the same time. Bryan had suggested that I then listen to the sound for sometime to decide if and when I wanted to add any new Treatments based upon my listening. The sound just opened up with the diffusion and the additional Tri-Traps along with a startling amount of additional detail, depth, soundstage, better imaging, etc.

When Jonathan Weiss of OMA came by a few weeks ago and we listened, we solved some issues with the OMA New Yorker speaker placement and listened. He really noted a marked improvement in the sound of the system and the speakers. But, as I had also discussed with Bryan of GIK we found that we were still getting some slap echo at the rear of the room due to the bare wall above the turntable and the space between the left rear subwoofer and the vinyl rack. So, I placed my 3rd order to GIK and ordered the additional 242 Panels (they were really fast for the order, only 2 days to ship) and I installed them I believe on Wednesday. These panels appear to have eliminated the echo. I did however have to adjust the volume for the multichannel sound for the side surround speakers in particular with the Radio Shack SPL meter after the Panels were installed. The Nola Viper IIA speakers though are a dipole design (as are the Dahlquist DQ-6) speakers.

I believe that there has been an additional improvement with the audio performance of the 2 channel as well as the multichannel sound with the installation of the last 2 panels.

Rich

 

[Matt193]

Gorgeous room and equipment! How big is the room?

 

[RUR]

Glad to hear (and completely unsurprised) that you've heard a substantial improvement, Rich. If you'd like to take some measurements, which may help you and Bryan to assess and tweak, I'd be happy to loan you my XTZ. It's dirt-simple and provides several useful measurements. Just shoot me a PM.

 

[naturephoto1]

Gorgeous room and equipment! How big is the room?

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the very kind words. Unfortunately the room is not as large as I might have liked particualarly due to the amount of equipment, size of the main speakers, and the racks. This forced me to use the orientation that I did placing the main speakers and screen (later to either be a Projection screen or if it is released 100" 2D/3D HDI Laser TV) on the long axis of the room.

The room actual dimensions are 19' 4" long (side with the main speakers), 14' 7" wide (side that the Electronics are on) and 9' high.

Rich

 

[naturephoto1]

In the last week and a half I have added 2 Evolution Acoustics PC2one Power Cords (they have Power Conditioners) with the ends replaced by Oyaide O79 connectors:

and the HiFi-Tuning Disc Demagnetizer:

to my system.

The 2 Evolution Acoustics PC2one Power Cords (with the Power Conditioners) with the ends replaced by Oyaide O79 ends are now the Power Cords for my upgraded Exact Power EP15A units and are plugged into my 2 Isolation Transformers. Additionally, I have moved one of my Analysis Plus Oval 2 Power Cords with the Oyaide 079 connectors onto my upgraded Denon 5910CI and I have adjusted the position of the Herbies Supersonic Stabilizers sitting on top of the Denon.

With the mentioned changes I found that I had to make a fine adjustment to the position of the OMA New Yorker speakers.

I have yet to get the Teres/Soundsmith turntable tonearm/cartridge tracking force fine tuned enough to check the audio performance improvement. But, for the digital CD playback (using the upgraded Lavry DA10 DAC as usual) there has been a startling performance improvement especially after I have used the HiFi-Tuning Disc Demagnetizer to demagnetize the CDs. I have also experienced the same kind of performance improvement while watching HDTV. I will finally probably watch part of a Blu-ray disc tonight to observe and listen to the improvement after using the HiFi-Tuning Disc Demagnetizer to demagnetize the Blu-ray disc.

As an update, I watched Avatar last evening and the improvements to the performance was audibly much better with the installation of the 2 Evolution Acoustics PC2one Power Cords with the ends replaced by Oyaide O79 connectors; the sound was brought to a new level for the system. I really also believe that the HiFi Tuning Disc Demagnetizer added to the affect certainly audibly and quite possibly visually. Otherwise, the only improvements to the sound should have been from the 2 Evolution Acoustics PC2one Power Cords with the ends replaced by Oyaide O79 connectors (connected to the 2 Exact Power EP15A units) and their affect on the First Watt M2 and the 3 upgraded Aragon Palladium 1K amps and the upgraded ARC LS10 Line Stage. The image on the Pioneer Plasma just seemed to be sharper; it certainly was exceptionally sharp with superb color and contrast and was quite smooth looking.

Rich

 

[naturephoto1]

As some of you may recall, we were preparing to run some A/B or A/B/X testing with some of the stock and TUC upgraded Oppo 83SE and NuForce Edition Oppo 83SE and the Onkyo 885 Pre/Pros. I had sent my NuForce Edition Oppo 83SE and my Onkyo 885 back to Dave Schulte for the latest work for the testing. The Nuforce Oppo 83SE arrived, was worked on and returned in really fine working order. The Onkyo 885 was not so fortunate; it had arrived, been worked on by David and returned to me. Unfortunately, UPS mishandled the Onkyo and upon return to David, it was found that a cracked circuit board, torn electrical traces, and other damage to the Onkyo. Hopefully, David will be able to collect the insured value of the unit.

So, and when it was first planned, I decided to take another trip to Dave Schulte's to get the repaired machine rather than subject it to anymore mishandling by our friendly neighborhood UPS carriers. Before I went, David had determined the damage to the machine and he told me that if we could not get the Onkyo 885 up and working by the time that I left that he would send me home with a new upgraded Onkyo 5508. David also suggested that I bring along my upgraded Denon 5910CI and my upgraded ARC LS10 for having additional work done. I also packed and brought along my upgraded Lavry DA10 DAC.

So, in any case I took the long journey to David's this past Thurday and returned Sunday night arriving Monday early afternoon at home. All told it was an exhausting drive of 820 miles each way and 17 hours of travel in each direction.

As things turned out, it was decided that I would return home with the brand new upgraded Onkyo 5508; the upgraded Onkyo 885 has been retired and may be resuscitated and repaired with an infusion of money from UPS for their fine service and quite possibly a replacement board.

In any case, while I was visiting with David, he did some additional upgrades to the ARC LS10 including reversing the polarity of the IEC inlet and additional shielding; changing the internal power wiring for the upgraded Denon 5910CI along with adding additional shielding and wire wrapping to the unit; and doing some wire wrapping and a little clean up inside of the Lavry DA10 DAC.

We were finding and confirming what I had indicated about the noise that I was getting with the LS10 and David had hoped that the work that he did would solve it. Unfortunately when I got it back in my system it is still noisier than I would like and eventually may be sent in to David's repair source for a check-up. One of the unexpected side affects though running the ARC LS10 through the Onkyo 5508 is that I am am no longer noticing the noise from the ARC.


Regardless, the ARC LS10 was sounding quite good while we listened, did the additional work and the machine warmed up. The Denon and the Lavry also were improving while we were listening as the work was beginning to burn-in.

Below are the photos of the new and upgraded Onkyo 5508:

While listening at David's we were using as much as possible the TimePortal Power Cords and ICs. I already had one of the Power Cords and 2 pair of the ICs. I decided to bring back 3 more and also the Ferrite Filters; all 4 can be seen below:

I also decided to incorporate 2 of Kevin's new Silver XLR cable pairs in the system once I returned home which can be seen below:

I struggled but finally got the Onkyo 5508 set-up so that the Balanced inputs were used. In the current configuration, and at Dave Schulte's suggestion, I am now running the upgraded ARC LS10 into the upgraded Onkyo 5508 through the Balanced inputs of the Onkyo. This is not the way that Audio Research normally suggests or the way that I had the Onkyo configured with the Onkyo going into the ARC LS10.

There are a few big pluses come out of running the upgraded ARC LS10 into the upgraded Onkyo 5508 include that I am now running all of the 2 channel components into the ARC which then connects through the Balanced inputs of the Onkyo. The ARC LS10 is known to sound better in Balanced usage and with the exception of the Soundsmith Strain Gauge 410 and the Ampex R2R, all of the components running into the LS10 are using balanced cabling or RCA to Balanced cables. With this configuration I can now use the 2 subwoofers with all of the 2 channel gear and I can now also incorporate Audyssey for all of my 2 channel as well as my multichannel applications. I hope to run at least a crude attempt at Audyssey later today or evening. Additionally, with the upgraded Onkyo 5508 I will be running a 7.2 system rather than a 7.1 system.

I took this opportunity to move equipment around and power cords and wiring when I returned the equipment to the system in preparation for the arrival of the Ampex 440C/B hybrid RTR tape deck (it seems this will not arrive now before September 6). Photos of the rack set-up will come once the Ampex is installed in the system.

With all of the additional upgrades to the equipment, newly installed Power Cords, and ICs along with the new upgraded Onkyo 5508 it will take some time for everything to burn-in.

Rich

 

[Steve Williams]

Rich

I'm curious as to why the polarity of the IEC input to your LS 110 reversed

 

[naturephoto1]

Rich

I'm curious as to why the polarity of the IEC input to your LS 110 reversed

Hi Steve,

David has found at times that reversing the polarity of an IEC inlet can frequently improve the sound of a component; in fact, I believe that David had suggested that at times a maker may by error install the polarity incorrectly (I guess sort of like some speaker drivers). We listened to the unit both ways, the way that it had been and then once it was reversed. We found that the machine sounded better and opened up even more in this configuration. We made sure of what we were hearing before we closed the unit up for the last time and sent it home with me.

Rich

 

[Steve Williams]

I simply don't get reversing the polarity on the IEC which had no issues. I understand correcting it if it left the factory with the wrong polarity but this leaves me confused.

 

[audioguy]

It sounds like most of the changes David made were things like shielding, some power cords, some new ICs and reversing the polarity of the power cord.

Any component changes?

You also were going to do a blind comparison of a modded unit and a standard unit. What is the status of that?

 

[naturephoto1]

It sounds like most of the changes David made were things like shielding, some power cords, some new ICs and reversing the polarity of the power cord.

Any component changes?

You also were going to do a blind comparison of a modded unit and a standard unit. What is the status of that?

Hi Chuck,

There were some other minor changes to equipment including the replacement of wires which required soldering, but for the most part most of the pieces of equipment were already fairly current. These still need burn-in to reach the full potential just like any other piece of equipment purchased new. The power cords were not part of any upgrade but I wanted to try to take advantage of the increased resolution of the machines. As to the ICs, those I had already purchased and they had nothing to do with what we did in Michigan at all.

Obviously in the case of the replacement of the upgraded Onkyo 885 with the upgraded Onkyo 5508 there are a substantial amount of changes from stock. This is a brand new totally upgraded machine that needs burn in, but as far as I can tell it is already a fair amount superior to the stock units.

As to the blind testing that is on a hiatus until we can get more burn in time on the Onkyo 5508. Because of the change of the Pre/Pro we will have to make the comparisons between the stock and upgraded 5508 rather than the 885. I believe that Jeff had indicated that we could use his as the stock 5508. I will let the guys know what is going on perhaps tomorrow.

At this point I am somewhat under the weather and not feeling the best having come down with something as a result of being run down from the trip to and from Michigan.

Rich

 

[RogerD]

Hi Rich,

Get well. The equipment looks really nice and being able to use the subs is good,as you were concerned about that.

Take care,

Roger

 

[naturephoto1]

Here are some rather substantial changes that I have made to my system just recently:

I have added 3 Panamax M5400-PM Power Regulators to my system that replaced my 2 upgraded Exact Power EP15A Power Regulators and my Isotek Sigmas Power Conditioner; one was already installed into the system and below are photos of the new additional units:

I just added 3 of the TimePortal Reference Power cords that were installed on onto the upgraded Denon 5910CI, upgraded Lavry DA10 DAC, and the upgraded NuForce Edition Oppo 83 SE; in the future, I hope to get 3 more of these to be placed on the Soundsmith Strain Gauge 410 Phono Preamp, and the Teres Certus 450 Turntable:

The next photo is of the heavy power cord (to the left) that David prepared that is on the upgraded hybrid Ampex 440C/B R2R tape deck (2 of these are also on the 2 Epik Conquest Subwoofers). The MIT/TimePortal Power Cord to the right (with the Oyaide 079 ends; the others that are in preparation- 2 at present which be placed on First Watt M2 Power Amp and one of the Panamax M5400-PM Power Regulators; hopefully 5 more will be ordered in the future for the other 4 Power amps and 1 of the Isolation Transformers) is on one of the 2 Isolation Transformers. The TimePortal Reference Balanced cables in the front were placed between the amp outputs from the upgraded ARC LS10 to the Balanced inputs of the upgraded Onkyo 5508.

The upgraded hybrid Ampex 440C/B R2R Tape Deck arrived and has been installed into the system:

The close-up photo of the rear of the unit shows the installed IEC intlet near the upper left and the 2 installed RCA inputs in red below the IEC inlet. The RCA inputs bypass some of the circuitry and the record should sound better than stock.

The next close-up photo of the rear of the unit shows the RCA outputs in white which also bypass some of the circuitry and playback sounds better than stock.

The next photo is of extras for the upgraded Ampex R2R tape deck including the instructions, an RMG 468 tape, 3 MRL calibration tapes and 4 Herbies Firm Tenderfeet that were placed under the tape deck:

Rich

 

[naturephoto1]

Four more photos:

Rich

 

[audioguy]

Is blue your favorite color?

VERY nice!!!