We have made a decision that we do go for the hardwood floors in listening room. We end up with unfinished quarter sawn red oak with Vermister" waterbase urethane. We will try to render the project in September.

This will imply to remove the whole installation (with exception of midbasshorns), disconnect everything and clear up room as the way is I just move into the house.  This is a lot of work but it also some interning opportunity.

Since, I move in this house 2.5 years back there were a lot of chargers that took place, different from my initial intends to use of this listening room. Using the listening room for over 2 year I have developed some habits that might not be what I initially thought. In addition over the last few months we knocked two walls in the listening room: one that I described during the Piano accommodation project and another that we did last week. That all very dramatically changed the feel of the listening room, in my view it made it better.

Also, the last few months Amy spread her touch to the listening room. Amy does not share my interests about Audio but she does endorse and very enthusiastically support my concept of listening room. She got her Master of Viola from Yale, plays more or less regularly actively with local people and she is the most praised, beloved, inspiriting, stimulating and sweetest listening companion I even had privilege to share my sweet spot. We hooked up as two Bruckner-loving mamzies and we very much in our listening room to stay. So, her presence made us to revise some postulates and requirements we impose to our listening room.  Amy very likes the notion of dedicated room, solely designated to consumption of music, still she love that this “dedicated” room is not isolated in house but organically imbedded into the living environment. She altered the room with her live music requirement and with her idiosyncratic sense of esthetics.  My initials sentiment regarding her perception of esthetics was not very welcoming. Her undergraduate degree was in medieval history and she has appreciation of medieval expressivity. To me it felt a bit “too catholic” but as my appreciation of her grew I got much softer to all of it. Now I am full aboard and I am very much like her taste and her capacity to convert my nerdy main cave into a beautiful Amy-inspired listening room.  The hardwood floors and Asian rugs was very much her project initially but turn out to be something that I want very much as well.

We are planning to modify the sweet spot to accommodate multiple people, to create options for “resting” and entertaining at the listening spot, to have a provision to have drinks and meals at the sweet spot, to be able to have sex in there or just a comfortable spot to browse internet while listening some Bach. I am thinking about cables accommodation, the need for new power entire in the floors.  The layout of Macondo will not change but the way how I bring cables to it will change: I juts need next halls in the floor in the new locations.

I still consider powering my entire installation from Pure Power regenerator but I do consider locating it at different spot. I also very seriously consider to put Milq in the basement and to have the speaker cables from under the floor. The reason behind it is that if we have kids than I would not like to have two very hot and very dangers Milqs sitting in the mid of the listening rooms. There are very many reasons why it would NOT be a good idea to hide Melquiades under the floors, I do know all cons and pros and I am considering all options.

Jorge wrote:

If you put the Melqualdes in the basement you can put a smoke detector very close and maybe a camera and a monitor to keep an eye on them. NOw you cold also  make a statement piece and put some sort of medieval looking cages around them...

Is there a pill for that too? Seriously, it would be very interesting to hear what solution you come up with because I have converted from listening music solo to a small number of audience (friends). So much that I listen by myself much less often. I believe is not possible to make the sweet spot bigger but it is possible to adjust the room acoustics with new surfaces (walls or curved panels), objects, sound absorption and diffusion to make the room sound more balanced and sweet spot be "diffused". 

With directionality of horns it would be interesting to see what approach you use for this and how you treat room surfaces in relation to speaker and listening area location. One may say that there is no point to describe one room and use this as a guide for others, but with horns I believe it is not the case. If we have similar goals (diffusion of sweet spot in room) then certain techniques will take us in similar direction when comes to unfocusing the sound energy.

p.s. kids proofing is not just moving amps "away", believe me I have one year old son. they will pull cables, remove tubes when they cool down, push speakers, and play with turntables. Romy, do not worry about this stage yet because if you do... Trust me, do not worry about this yet.

noviygera wrote:

Is there a pill for that too? Seriously, it would be very interesting to hear what solution you come up with because I have converted from listening music solo to a small number of audience (friends). So much that I listen by myself much less often. I believe is not possible to make the sweet spot bigger but it is possible to adjust the room acoustics with new surfaces (walls or curved panels), objects, sound absorption and diffusion to make the room sound more balanced and sweet spot be "diffused".  With directionality of horns it would be interesting to see what approach you use for this and how you treat room surfaces in relation to speaker and listening area location. One may say that there is no point to describe one room and use this as a guide for others, but with horns I believe it is not the case. If we have similar goals (diffusion of sweet spot in room) then certain techniques will take us in similar direction when comes to unfocusing the sound energy. p.s. kids proofing is not just moving amps "away", believe me I have one year old son. they will pull cables, remove tubes when they cool down, push speakers, and play with turntables. Romy, do not worry about this stage yet because if you do... Trust me, do not worry about this yet. Gera

Stitch wrote:

One of my audiophile Friends did it the only way a real man has to do (he had a HUGE stereo System with 2 big monos and fat cables everywhere in his living room) He showed that his girlfriend (they married btw.) and said to her: "You know, what was first here?" They moved a few times and no matter in what room he made his Set Up, it was ok for her.

It's a good sign when an installer introduces un-wrapped flooring to the house well ahead of installation.  And not floating, but glue and/or nail down...

Good luck.

Paul S

JJ Triode wrote:

Putting the Pure Power in the basement might be fine, but I don't think you need to banish the Melqs down there, at least not yet. You don't know yet if there will be kids, and if so it will still be a couple years before one arrives and becomes mobile.  At that time you will need to use a playpen or crib when not actively parenting, as there are plenty of other things in a modern house to keep crawlers and toddlers out of, even without tube amps.  By the time the kid is able to escape from all such confinements, (s)he will be able to understand that some things are off limits and pretty much comply with that. I had tube gear with grill cages when my son was small, later switched to exposed tubes with no problems.  Remember kids grew up for millennia with open fireplaces and few ever burned up.  They have survival instincts that understand heat very well.  Electrical shock is a different matter but that would require pulling out a hot tube which is not so easy. Rgs, JJ

There were had few days. First it was complete distraction of my listening room, than the contractors put the new hardwood floor together and then the complete rebuilding of the listening room, back to the sate it was before. Well sort of…

The demolition of the room was fine, it was almost fan. The new floor turned to be a great and in a way unexpected success. The room does look cuter without carpet. I gig not push for the hardwood floor it was pulley Amy’s wish but as the project complete I need to admit that she was right – the room feels cleaner, more dressy, more elegant and to a degree it feels bigger. We use satin water-base finish and the mile sine on the floor give to room more space. The floor feels much harder in trim of vibration propagation. The subfloor was two layer of plywood and now it added ¾ inch of oak – it does feel more stable. We rebuild the LP storage, problem 4K of records right in the room and it that added some mass loading in the room.

I brought the equipment back to the room, nothing is connected for now. It will take I think a week of two to reconnect and recalibrate everything and here is the biggest and the most complex part of the project will be. You seem the new room will not only future the hardwood floor but it will be slightly deferent room all together. Before, I was a room where considerations of sonic requirements were prevailing and the room was built to please myself only. It is not that the room had a feeling of test lab. It had some nerdy influence but it was reflecting myself only. The new version of room will be built to accommodate Amy and me and it will be slightly different twist. Amy and I have different perception of esthetics and comfort. She is a New England girl with her tendency to strive for New England decoration pattern. It is not what I have in me but I do not object it, not to mention that she has better developed taste in décor. I generally like what she does with our house and I let her to run the decorating pursuit. So, with Amy in the picture the listening room wills future hardwood floor, Bukhara rags, copper pots, plants, living-room style furniture and the rest idiosyncrasy that comes with females as package.  It is not however as bad as it sounds.

Amy is very respectful to need to have the listening room to sound good and she is very considered to my needs, the décor needs at least. So, I am trying to implement whatever she want but organically factor everything in into my sonic interests. So, as now were are working to re-think the arrangement of the room that will have Ficus plants and Donunic cable in the same confined space. The biggest problem as now is location of Macondo. I do not have a judgment what I will put the stuck of the Macondo horns. I do not think that it will be at the previous position. The previous position was the best possible in the room but with new reflective acoustic patter of the room it might not the case anymore. We removed the entrance door from the listening room, knocked two walls, introduced a wall long floor to ceiling LP shelving, change the floor, introduced large plants at the glass windows, introduced a room long book case under the ceilings, bought new furniture that will be sit at the new collations, charge the fist reflection surfaces from the location where Macondo was sitting (there was no wall anymore and another was is changed). So, all my finding about the best location of Macondo before might not be valid, in fact I am convinced that they will be invalid. I need to find a new location for Macondo.

For sure I cannot explain to Amy the criticality of the Mocodno positioning but in the good side she will embrace any new location I will chose. I think that as now Mocodno channels will be able to work slightly wider. The best thing is that now Mocodno might be easily slide across the floor and the gateway to the DPoLS is wide open. I think the final location will be approximately within 2-3 foot from where Macondo was sitting before, of cause I will be able to say anything more on the subject after I connect Macondo and will make my hand dirty with new sound of the room.

Anyhow, it will be time-consuming but in a way exciting next 2-3 weeks.