Post photos of your systems/rooms here! (Part 15)

So not really any system changes (cork TT matt ) but adding to my room slowly but surely. Built some cd/dvd shelving, so lots of room to add now

 

Gorgeous. How are you liking the new tubes?

 

The 805's have been fantastic so far. First impressions are very good. More air and extension but most evident is the increase in transparency. I hear it like dispersion amongst the midrange and highs have increased noticeably. Still, it is early. Only about 20 hours in so far so we will see how it breaks in.

 

Not all of my listening is done in 'the chair'. A significant amount of my time is spent sitting on a sofa beside my mother-in-law along one of the long sides of our family room. Even though I'm retired much of my time is spent caring for her. She has lived with us for the past 6 1/2 years. As an alternative to watching the mindless drivel on TV I've found that she enjoys listening to music. Alzheimer's patients can benefit from music. She gets to hear some music that seems to stir up good memories and I get to enjoy my audio system. Win-win for everybody. This pic was taken from my spot on the sofa at ear height. She sits to my left. Even off to the side like this, the music remains enjoyable and recreates a decent sound picture.



M. M.

 

Nice gift! She is a keeper!

 

Speaker placement comes first---find the perfect spot where everything comes into focus with good strong bass and "present" midrage voices etc.
THEN pay attention to what goes in between the speakers on a wall for instance.
If you have piles of gear breaking up the reflection or too much sound deadening going on in the middle then the center "fill' will not bounce into the room and your "center channel" will not be strong.
I spend a lot of time with movable sonex panels looking for an ideal reflector in the middle. Not too dead, not too reflective either but leave a little "spot" to reflect dead center.
Once I hear proper volume all across the soundstage I know how to decorate the room to best advantage and take down the sonex at that point maybe replace it with tapestries or curtains, etc.
It works for me.

 

I like your thought process.
I guess I’ll have to sneak the panels in when the wife is out. Then ask her if she needs help decorating.

 

Behind my sofa and between my rear speakers are some of my box sets, recent arrivals and current in rotation records.

 

Had I not recently gone on an out of control, desired pressing Stones LP buying spree, I'd grab that box. I still might. Ugh!! D@mn those good reviews!!

 

I wasn’t going to buy it but got in on that very brief Amazon cheapo price. But I do enjoy it.

 

How do you like that Pac NW box?

 

Some is fantastic some is ok. But overall this is my last favorite Dead period. I saw them a lot from 69-75 in San Francisco. And only a few times after that.

 

very nice

 

Man, I can sure relate to that!

As many of you know, I’ve either had a Fisher 400 or, more recently, a Fisher X-100 (14wpc) in my main system for a number of years, and my current speakers are Spendor SP3/1R2’s. I recently moved my hifi from an 8’ x 12’ room downstairs to a larger bedroom upstairs, and was dismayed to find that my system now sounded thin and anemic, with light/flabby bass and lean mids. I thought that these nice speakers were too small for the space or something, and it was very upsetting.

On a whim, I swapped in my Rega Brio-R, 50 watts of solid state power, and was stunned by how spectacular it sounded with the Spendors... it was punchy and composed, with real bass extension, and wonderful tonal accuracy. Now, I always liked the Rega, but in my smaller room it sometimes sounded too "thick." In the new room, it sounds absolutely gorgeous.

I was immediately forced to throw out all of my preconceptions about tubes vs. solid state. It's clear to me now that the Fisher may have been fine with the Spendors in a tiny room, where it was able to get some reinforcement from the room itself, but in a more open space it quickly ran out of gas.

Circling back to your main point, switching to solid state does indeed remove the anxiety of caring for tubes, and it certainly is more convenient! Sure, I'll miss the euphoric presentation of tubes, but the Rega Brio-R brings its own thing to the party, so I don't feel like it's a major compromise.

And I still have the Fisher X-100, and plan to set it up with my Wharfedale Dentons in a smaller room. Win-win!

 

You really should try some horn loaded efficient speakers if you get a chance. Even just a a $400 pair of used heresy.

 

Years ago, I had a pair of Heresy II's, they were my first "good" speakers, but my ears weren't as discerning in those days, so I have no idea if I'd like them now.

I've also been curious about the folded-horn kits sold by Madisound.

One of the most glorious things I ever heard was a Fisher 400 powering a pair of Cornwalls at a guy's house. Someday, if I ever get a large enough space, I'd like to revisit that set-up!

 

Yes, they may not be perfect but 100db sensitive really lets you know what your amp sounds like.

 

Small update to the music room, swapped out my bookshelf Wharfedale Diamond 225s for floorstanding Onkyo SKF-4800s. Happy with the additional low end and slightly better mids. Still not enough bottom end for my taste, but that might be a room problem not a speaker problem, so that'll be my next area of focus.

 

Have you considered a subwoofer?

 

jealous

i love that weird, avant garde, Phil heavy 26 minute Truckin

 

I've tried two in the past, the last one being a 10" Polk Audio sub. But most of the time subs feel very uneven to me. Certain frequencies sound full and smooth and amazing, other frequencies sound boxy or overbloated. I'm sure it's a combination of room and crossover points not working well together. So I'm really hoping to find a floorstanding speaker that delivers everything I'm looking for. What I really want is a floorstander that sounds like my Sennheiser HD650 headphones, just... in a room.

 

Vienna Acoustics Bach Grand Loudspeakers (pair)

 

If anything a sub (or better, two) will give you a better chance of having good bass because they are more flexible in terms of placement. Your main speakers are going to be constrained by where you sit and what position gives you the best stereo imaging. What are the chances that those two exact locations are the best in the room for bass?

 

I think it is wonderful what you are doing for your mother-in-law. That she has supportive family that obviously love her and that she can listen to music is fantastic. My parents are both in an assisted living facility and as good as they are it can never replace what you are providing. Kudos to you. God Bless you and your mother-in-law.

 

You hit on a couple of interesting points here. With bass, it is all about room size. Too much bass in a smaller room will give you bloated bass. Too little bass in a larger room will also unbalance the system, resulting, as you found it you should being thin and lean sounding.

You hit upon another point. That being, the some speaker's sound good with solid state amplification. Oft times, running speaker's like there which were intended for modern, more powerful, SS amplification, might seem "flabby" when running with underpowered tube amplifier's like you Fisher integrated, as specially in a larger volume room.

Realize that is not just the tubes, but how much tube power you are using with the speaker's. Hook up a modern Rogue Cronus Magnum with 100-Watts of KT-120 power and your speaker's will sing.

But, one thing that I notice. If your speakers sound good with SS power, switching to a an equally powerful tube amplifier, often does not really bring that much to the party. So, why go to the trouble and expense of using tubes, when SS sound good?

"Circling back to your main point, switching to solid state does indeed remove the anxiety of caring for tubes, and it certainly is more convenient!"

I had a dozen tube amplifier's and I never used them on my modern tower speaker's, where I use only SS amps.

I use tube amps only on my Zu, Omen Definition's, and the vintage, highly sensitive horn loaded speaker's.

It is my general contention, that tube amps bring much more to highly sensitive speaker's than they do with speakers with average efficiency of around 90 dB for modern tower speaker's.