thank you for the kind words. and yes, my room and the music does seem to cure what ails me.
finally updated my system pictures to include my new tt's, phono and cartridge.
- Thread starter Mike Lavigne
- Start date
thank you for the kind words. and yes, my room and the music does seem to cure what ails me.
"Like" just isn't adequate for your room. We need a "Love" option.
Did you use a particular acoustic consultant when designing your room.
thank you Billy, and i assure you the feeling is mutual about your outstanding room and system. loved Jana's video about your system.
my room was originally designed in 2004 by an acoustician/studio desgner/music producer Chris Huston (a recording engineer on Led Zepplin II). he had my whole barn to work with. i built it exactly to spec.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Huston
then i got lots of feedback on how the room was working from a number of people over a number of years, specifically i got a waterfall plot of my room from local friend, Gary Koh of Genisis Loudspeakers in 2010 that showed it being over-damped. i also had an imbalance in my bass response side to side. so in 2010-2011 i removed large bass traps along the front and side walls.....and firmed up both sides to equalize the room boundaries.
then in 2014 my speaker designer spent 2 days in my room fine tuning my new MM7 speakers and found a 10db suck-out at 30hz. the following year i closed up a remaining whole ceiling bass trap and that went away. then i personally spent 6 weeks dialing in my speakers. if you scroll down on my Audiogon page, there are 4 long posts (copies of WBF posts but easier to find) that describe in detail a year long effort to fine tune my room.
since late 2015 the acoustics of the room had been the same. i have improved my gear; new version of my preamp, upgraded sources, new amp upgrade, and the Tana active systems.
so it's been a journey of learning and fixing and learning and fixing. 10 years to figure out how to fix what was intended to be the perfect room, then 2 more years to finally get it to be 'right'.
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"Learning and fixing" Is a perfect synthesis Mike.
Incidentally me also had a 10 db suckout between 30 and 50 Hz with my MM3 found
thanks to the help of a friend with a calibrated microphone using a PC with REW app.
We worked hard with different set-up, adding excellent feet, fixed one issue in one speaker (woofer enclosure not fully airtight sealed) and adding new performing Power cords so... at the end RF now Is satisfying.
As you said above ... it's hard work of learning and fixing!
All the best
Marco
Mike, there's v little discussion on ceiling treatments when it comes to acoustics chat. You seem to have most of the ceiling btwn spkrs and chair treated w angled slats.
Can you describe your thinking here?
Can you describe your thinking here?
DISCLAIMER; as far as ceiling acoustic design, most of it relates to math and science beyond my understanding. i some what know about specific components of ceilings and how those specific items work, but when reading my comments understand there is much more i don't know, than those parts i think i understand. i don't want to claim any authoritative knowledge. i'm only an observer.
GOT THAT?
---the biggest aspect of a ceiling is the height, as it allows the music to breathe and open up, especially on big music. you need 9 feet to be good, 11 is better. 8-9 ok.
---near the listener the ceiling needs to be carefully formed or treated to avoid reflections. and you keep treating it until you find it no longer matters. you will be very surprised by just how much certain areas effect the levels of distortion unless you test it. forget geometry. sound bounces so much around you cannot assume anything.
---and at the same time you need to retain musical energy. the angled panels of my ceiling deflect sound from the drivers back behind me to the rear walls where they are diffused. this retains the energy without smearing the direct sound. think about how close to your ears the ceiling directly above you is. logically/intuitively you observe the geometry would eliminate the area above you from being an issue. wrong, wrong, wrong. it's the biggest single room reflection concern.
---the drop ceiling in my room and the recessed chambers break up bass nodes. but even inside those recessed chambers i have T-fusor diffusors to break up reflections. i even treated the vertical surfaces of the ceiling chambers and could hear distortion clearly reduced.
---revisit reflection questions repeatedly. how this goes is that you try some treatment and can't hear any difference. but then later you do some treatments somewhere else and it helps. it's possible that the earlier effort's result was masked by a larger problem, and now you solve one issue, it allows you to hear that other earlier issue you could not perceive. this is the way things go in room tuning. every change is dynamic and then changes all the other equations. how much is improvement worth to you? the best part is all this kind of stuff is almost free, and the improvements are very personally satisfying since you did it. you were the difference.
---i've seen various type ceiling slopes in lots of directions; but have never personally owned a room like that. so i have not cause and effect experience. also; my rooms have been able to be closed off and pressurized; so i don't know about 'open' rooms and their ceilings.
not sure how much help my experience in my room is for others. how much of my thinking can be broadly applied. it would be a guess.
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Sure Mike, just wanted some pointers. There's a very cost effective system called Viscoustic Diffusers made of EPS, that aren't unlike Skylines, and can be fixed on front and side walls, and ceilings. Would be a reasonably inexpensive/low risk potential solution to try. And if promising, go for something more substantial.
Very nice!!! No pics or plants here too. Lights out, let the music breath and paint!
Mike,
It will make us feel old, but I still appreciate reading your great article on the beginnings of your room: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue16/lavigneroom.htm - This article, coupled with another one you wrote about the changes you later carried to the ceiling bass treatment (sorry I could not find it) will explain a lot about your room to people who did not follow your many posts on it.
It will make us feel old, but I still appreciate reading your great article on the beginnings of your room: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue16/lavigneroom.htm - This article, coupled with another one you wrote about the changes you later carried to the ceiling bass treatment (sorry I could not find it) will explain a lot about your room to people who did not follow your many posts on it.
thanks Micro,
have not read that 2004 article for awhile. some things i wrote then make me cringe.
"out of the mouths of babes". over the last 16 years i think i got fixed more than the room and system.the WBF posts about my 2015 room tuning including my ceiling work can be read if you scroll to the bottom of my audiogon system page; there are 4 long posts; #4 and #3 are on that page, #2 and #1 are on the previous page. when i get time i will post links to the original WBF posts/threads here.
Absolutely beautifull system mike , looks like there is not much more to improve upon .
By the way i always thought you had 2 A 820 s not three .
The system seems very analogue ¨ balanced ¨ , 3 turntables on the left , 3 studers on the right
By the way i always thought you had 2 A 820 s not three .
The system seems very analogue ¨ balanced ¨ , 3 turntables on the left , 3 studers on the right
I am really looking forward to my next visit !
I love those Aeron chairs !
I love those Aeron chairs !
Absolutely beautifull system mike , looks like there is not much more to improve upon .
By the way i always thought you had 2 A 820 s not three .
The system seems very analogue ¨ balanced ¨ , 3 turntables on the left , 3 studers on the right
added the third A-820 2 years ago, as my dubbing deck with 2 sets of heads, guides and hubs; both 1/4" and 1/2".
never intended 3 tt's and 3 RTR's decks from a visually balanced perspective. my source optimization agenda just worked out that way. it's helpful that my room is wide enough to be able to use both sides without acoustic penalty. and my King Cello has a 50 ohm zeel interface that interfaces with my dart preamp without any cable length penalty. if i had to jam a tape deck or two next to my dart pre that would upset everything.
me too!
those are Pam's favorite. you can sit in those all day and they are comfortable and supportive.
Just beautiful Mike. It keeps getting better. Would love to hear it again
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