That would be a good reason for me not to buy one, even if I liked the sound of the amp.the pale blue light is probably a big part of the appeal
Night-time listening with lights off
- Thread starter TooCool4
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. . . a nice open fire place would be nice too.
Wouldn't a nice open fireplace sooner or later result in a thin layer of soot over all of the equipment?
It's very hard to generalize about fireplaces. Some have a damper near the bottom, some on top of the chimney. Some have glass fronts, some are smokey, others not. Some are shallow, some are deep.
Some may not be ideal for sonics yet owners love the ambiance. We make our choices or accept how the rooms are. I play old LPs and hear the crackling of a fireplace that is not lit.
Some may not be ideal for sonics yet owners love the ambiance. We make our choices or accept how the rooms are. I play old LPs and hear the crackling of a fireplace that is not lit.
i think a fireplace in a listening room is a hifi wildcard. the effect could run the gamut of positive and negative. and might need some mitigation.
OTOH a 'lit' wood fireplace will never help, and the hurt could be stratospheric. just the extreme heat and humidity cycles would not be friendly to any type of hifi gear.....let alone the dust and soot.
i've seen wood stoves in listening rooms and that might be more workable. i would not do it in my listening room. but if i lived in the right place maybe i would.
OTOH a 'lit' wood fireplace will never help, and the hurt could be stratospheric. just the extreme heat and humidity cycles would not be friendly to any type of hifi gear.....let alone the dust and soot.
i've seen wood stoves in listening rooms and that might be more workable. i would not do it in my listening room. but if i lived in the right place maybe i would.
Luminance is only one factor that contributes to one's choice of optimal lighting. The other is the frequency or wavelength of the lighting. I generally prefer a dark-adapted state (technically, light levels below 0.033cd/m2) otherwise more commonly known as really dim light, to prevent the cones from firing. I also prefer the use of red ambient light which is not only quieting but also helps maintain the dark-adapted state by preventing the rods from photobleaching. (That's why you see red light used in airplane cockpits, submarines, and even on recording studio and stage monitoring lights.) The inexpensive Phillips Hue Bridge smart lighting system with 2 bulbs (1 each behind each L & R subwoofer) works beautifully in my room. You can vary the luminance and spectrum of the lighting from your iPhone/iPad to find the settings that work best for you, using Phillip's special A19 bulbs that work in any standard fixture.
Hue Bridge - Smart Control for your Lights | Philips Hue US
Unlock the full potential of your smart lighting with the Hue Bridge, connecting and controlling up to 50 smart devices on your Wi-Fi.
Actually, I have several lighting sources in the room that allows for a great deal of flexibility depending on my mood. I can go from deeply meditative to all out Captain's bridge (which may not work well for Chopin, but for Pink Floyd, now yer talkin'...)
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Thanks, but hardly adequate payback for what I've learned from you over the years.....
Marty, thanks for the great post. I am always aware of the rods & cones when getting up early for a hike or bike ride—getting up before dawn there is a period of low light where all one can see is black & white. It doesn't last too long but it is a pleasure to see the world the way Ansel Adams captured in his photos. I have some really great memories in the Canadian Rockies. Sadly, as we age it takes more and more light energy to fire the rods/cones, which is why we don't see into the shadows as well when night driving. Also makes the B&W period in the morning a bit shorter.
My system is set-up for a single user and fires across the room in a near-field set-up, with speakers well away from walls. With the appropriate recordings, the system will present a beautiful rendition of music being played in a recording or ‘engineered’ venue, which can be intimate or huge but which is almost always far larger and spacious than the actual room In which the music is being reproduced. Played with lights on and eyes open, the discrepancy between audio and visual is quite discombobulating or even stronger, disorientating, as the brain is constantly trying to solve the discrepancy between the two and can’t, but the constant brain activity is basically nothing more than increased noise and interference and a massive distraction.
Indeed, when listening to highly resolved music, visual input to the brain is the perfect way to increase mental noise……and all you have to do to prove that to yourself is to listen to a short clip of music with eyes open, then repeat with eyes closed…..the difference you hear is purely down to the extra cerebral cortex processing. With eyes open, you’ll notice that listener involvement is lower and your brain’s concentration will tend to drift. With eyes closed in the presence of a really immersive signal, the music takes over everything, entirely locks in the brain and background thoughts disappear, leaving only this huge sphere of all-enveloping music. In this state, the emotions and feelings can be almost overwhelmingly strong, literally ’blissing you out’. At this point, any thoughts of soundstages, musicians, instruments, etc etc are gone and all I am left with is the music and the intense feelings it generates. I look forward to these listening sessions immensely with a real sense of delightful anticipation. For me ‘the Absolute Sound’ is when there’s nothing but the music and all the subconscious feelings and emotions it generates. Personally its those feelings and emotions that make you feel so good that are the rewards of a really well optimized system.…..so lights out, eves closed…….MMMmmmmmmmmm
Indeed, when listening to highly resolved music, visual input to the brain is the perfect way to increase mental noise……and all you have to do to prove that to yourself is to listen to a short clip of music with eyes open, then repeat with eyes closed…..the difference you hear is purely down to the extra cerebral cortex processing. With eyes open, you’ll notice that listener involvement is lower and your brain’s concentration will tend to drift. With eyes closed in the presence of a really immersive signal, the music takes over everything, entirely locks in the brain and background thoughts disappear, leaving only this huge sphere of all-enveloping music. In this state, the emotions and feelings can be almost overwhelmingly strong, literally ’blissing you out’. At this point, any thoughts of soundstages, musicians, instruments, etc etc are gone and all I am left with is the music and the intense feelings it generates. I look forward to these listening sessions immensely with a real sense of delightful anticipation. For me ‘the Absolute Sound’ is when there’s nothing but the music and all the subconscious feelings and emotions it generates. Personally its those feelings and emotions that make you feel so good that are the rewards of a really well optimized system.…..so lights out, eves closed…….MMMmmmmmmmmm
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