Suburban ranch-style and bungalow homes have basements that are, basically, poured, sightly reinforced concrete bathtubs. The same treatment is needed no matter what climate they’re in. When somebody is insulating prior to finishing a basement (or re-doing a partial, or fixing a botched job), an extra layer of insulation in some areas (accommodated by deeper studs rather than just furring), plus some built in bass trapping at the anticipated first reflection points can be the basis for a superior listening room rather than something only vaguely useful. Modern suburban apartment complexes higher than a few floors haven’t been wood frame construction for a very long time. No doubt plenty of older buildings are just that. Acoustically, the wood frame walk-up apartment blocks are truly awful. You can hear your neighbors burping and swearing and they can hear you just as clearly. They’re not place for enjoyable listening unless an audiophile is those circumstances invests in high quality headphone amps and headphones. There are plenty of slab-on-grade homes out there with no basements. I don’t care about those ones. The subject was basements, and the vast majority of basement spaces are concrete walls, concrete floor, and either standard or engineered joists overhead. I enjoy working on basement finishing because it’s easy to use standard materials to create excellent home entertainment rooms.
Well it's a rather large room with 9 foot high ceilings, so more of a proper first floor than a basement. It is entirely carpeted and is nicely dampened. Walls are not concrete but dry wall and wood on the outside.
How big is your room? How far do you have the crank the volume knob to listen at moderate levels (80db range)? I'm also planning to have a TV in this setup so wondering if you are as well, or if its a strictly music setup.
@Ontheone Hey Chris I'm curious if you have ever used the Pre-Input on the LM 805. I'm guessing you can connect a preamplifier and used the LM 805 as a power amp only? How does volume control work? There is nothing about it in the LM 805 manual. Thanks.
I'm not a Chris but that's ok. I in fact always use the pre-input on my LM805. I have it connected to my VAC Renaissance MKV after noting the sound is far superior than using the amp as an integrated. With this said you unfortunately can't fully bypass the onboard preamp on the LM805. The pre-in disables the LM805 volume control and the signal does go through a resistor to keep from giving the signal too much gain (gain on top of gain). In terms of sound quality I suspect it's very much equipment dependent. I know some report their LM805 sounds better used as an integrated. I suspect the volume control and related Lundahl transformers on my VAC are far superior to the onboard LM volume control. Hope this helps.
i am a/the Chris, and I have not yet used the pre-input on my LM805ia. But I have likewise been asking same questions and there is a very large conversation about it all in the ongoing LM508/805 thread on this forum. In short, it seems like the right preamp can improve over the built in volume control of the LM. But personally I don’t think it’s something you should sweat about at first. Just know that it’s an option for further improvement. The first thing one would focus on is swapping out the 3 smaller tubes for sonic gain.
Your best and least expensive upgrade with the 805 will be tubes. But, I ran the stock tubes for a couple of years and thoroughly enjoyed them. Don't rush it.
Gaia III's I installed some IsoAcoustic Gaia 3's on my D7.2's. While there was a notable change for the better, my treble extension was greatly diminished. I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this, and what, if anything, helped resolve the issue. I realize the easy answer is that what I'm hearing now is how it should sound. But, I don't think that's the case. Bells, chimes, and other instruments that are clearly there for a purpose are nearly inaudible at this point. I didn't measure my tweeter height before installing the Gaias, but it seems slightly taller than with the spikes. I also may not have gotten the speakers back in the exact same position as they were previously. I'm still tweaking the placement. However, this reduced high-end is audible even from another room, not just from the prime listening position. The magic is just gone. While I think the Gaias made considerable improvements in many areas, the loss of the beautiful high-end extension and detail would likely mean returning to the spikes. Any help is greatly appreciated!
@JoeMama I have Gaia III's with my D7.2's (along with LM805ia). Have always used them with prior speakers and so never really tried the D7.2's without. I did try them with/without on prior A7's and found that they tightened things up for the better with those speakers. If they do attenuate the upper treble, I would likely not perceive that as a negative given that my room is pretty lively. But I am now interested to test the D7.2's without the Gaia's. They are so universally acclaimed that one tends to think of them as a given.
@JoeMama Somewhat related do you run the D7.2's off of the 4 ohm or 8 ohm tap on your LM805?? The 8 ohm tap, with its higher output impedance, will result in a brighter tonality than using the 4 ohm tap. (which is not necessarily the same as treble extension mind you).
I have no experience with Spendor speakers, but the Gaia IIs have been an amazing upgrade to my ATCs. I cannot help but think that something may have gone wrong during the installation. Are the screws tight up against the base of the speakers and the Gaias?
I’m certain they’re installed correctly. And, as I said, they did make some improvements. But the high end has gone from being alive and three dimensional to just sound.
You mentioned there is a change in height? Even a small change might make a difference. I would put the spikes back and the speakers in the old position and measure everything. Then add the new Gaias. Creating a temporary lower test seat so that your ear height is the same as with the spikes might provide solid info, or not? You could also then add some hard wood shims under the spikes to get the height to match the Gaias and test again. You will want to remove the height variable from the testing comparrsion one way or another. I am thinking about trying Gaias for my D9s. I have read rave reviews about the improvement. I have also read accounts of real disappointments, so testing and trusting one’s ears is the way to go...
Separate from the Gaia's, please try the 4 ohm and let us know what you think. I think every single poster I have read on different forums have preferred the D7's with 4 ohm tube taps (not just Line Magnetic).
I should add that I have the Oreas under my 805 and they made a big difference. That’s what convinced me to order the Gaia’s.
How many Oreo's are required? 3 or 4? I have been skeptical of putting anything under the amp given that it already weights almost 100 lbs and I guess I find it hard to believe that there is vibration going on. But think I will need to try them. Looks like 3 Bordeaux's would just be sufficient weight wise.
speakers sound best when firmly anchored so that they do not move during operation. the only reason to put an iso coupling between spikes and floor is when the floor becomes excited by speaker vibration energy to the point of coloring the sound- e.g. a suspended wood floor. the isolation footers become a helpful compromise. do not use them if your room has a solid floor.
I have a suspended fir floor. Currently my D9s rest on the factory Spendor spikes. The spikes then sit on Linn Skeets which are heavy round metal disks with a center notch for speaker spikes. I am quite happy but would love to try the Gaias...
I use four under the stock feet. Believe me, I was skeptical as hel! that they would make a difference, but a friend let me borrow them. And my amp sits on a table made from bowling alley floor, so it has mass. I was shocked at the difference they made.
