I bought a couple fake trees last year which really helped give the room a more relaxing feel. Yeah, they're fake, but almost no natural light in the basement so...
For "critical listening" (love/hate that term), the lights are dim, chair in sweet spot, play CD, no devices nearby, some liquor, enjoy.
Never thought much about it but an aquarium might be an addition on a visual/calming basis. There’s an aquarium channel on tv that I watched the other night while listening. Cool.
YES!!! I've had aquariums (or is it aquaria) for 20 years. Would love to start again but no place for it in our living room. Beats TV in my book !
I have some LED strips adhered to the rear of my audio rack and a small record shelf next to it where I have my laptop. There are a million color combinations one can create and different brightnesses. I have it set on a soft shade of purple in a darkened room. I also really love to use blindfolds like The Mindfold that allow me to block out all light but also keep my eyes wide open, that’ll get ya seeing things. An edible goes without saying.
Oh yeah...I prefer my gear be as inconspicuous as possible. My amp has no lights on, only the Naim emblem is glowing on the CDP (wish I could turn that off). I used to have it all tucked away in a media closet but that causes other issues.
We do our drinking earlier in the day, Happy Hour with Judge Judy. I do all my dedicated listening after dark. Wife is in bed, neighborhood is silent, etc.
Good topic! I have a lava lamp (away from the electronics for the reasons you mentioned) and I use a pair of Govee LED bars behind my equipment to up the mood. They’re not nearly as bright looking in person. I also burn incense quite a lot.
Is far as I can remember there were times I wanted to turn the meters off but just couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was a devious McIntosh plan…..addict you to the cool lighted meters….. Sort of miss them in a way though.