05-11-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Romy the Cat Boston, MA Posts 10,160 Joined on 05-28-2004 Post #: 76 Post ID: 22616 Reply to: 22459 A LF solution for a new room fiogf49gjkf0d Well, I kind of begin to think what kind LF solution I might have in the new room. The ULF might be fun to load on the ceiling in the way how I described above. For the midbass I most likely will go for the line-arrays with my beloved Scan Speak 25W/8565-00 drivers. I quote love the sound of the drivers. They are not ideally perfect but they are exceptionally agreeable with me and drive by idle DSET they do just fine. My concern is that 4 drivers per channel mostly will not yield the effetely to load the larger room and they will not stretch to the celling to form a fool array. So, I think it might be beneficial to extend the Danlavy TSW-IV woofer tower with extra 4 drivers.  Well, thinking toward to this direction I asked myself why not to rebuild my own woofer tower and to make it erectly suitable for my location with 12 drivers per channel.  I will have a tremendous gains in sensitivity, imagine and dramatically reduce exertion. This reminds my leading idea at this moment.  "I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche

05-14-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Romy the Cat Boston, MA Posts 10,160 Joined on 05-28-2004 Post #: 77 Post ID: 22617 Reply to: 22616 Another midbass?!!? fiogf49gjkf0d We are closing our new house in 2 weeks and while packing and preparing to move I am thinking about the configuration of my new playback installation. I am debating with myself about going with sub 100Hz woofer tower as I described above vs. introduction of midbass channels. As I took my Vitavox 15 incher out of my horns I got horny again from the way how their diaphragms response and I again consider to let those drivers to show themselves off. So, an idea of a new midbass channel begin to drill my mind. I certainly do not consider NOW to go for new midbass channel.  We kind of expecting more kids soon, so the grandiose projects with time-aliened 40Hz horns in new hour will be on hold for a while. However, having a number of Vitavox 15 drivers I wonder why no to build a cheap and simple sealed array with let say 3-4 driver per side. Those driver are not exactly best for direct radiation but it will be many of them and I need juts one upperbass octave! I am kind of thinking about it more and more. I have a limited width for my installation in new room. The Macondo along with equipment stand shall fit into 20 feet. With second 15" line array it might be a bit tight but I still think it is doable. I probably will order a cheap car-audio enclosure of 1.2 cub feet for the driver to try how it will sound in sealed direct radiator. I do not have a lot of experience to get upperbass from sealed topology. Whatever I did with sealed boxed was open bottom lower bass. Still, if the Vitavox array will behave nice in sealed box it might be an interesting solution. "I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche

05-16-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree noviygera Chicago, IL Posts 177 Joined on 06-12-2009 Post #: 78 Post ID: 22618 Reply to: 22617 Another option to consider fiogf49gjkf0d Romy, I understand your situation as a result of the move. It is a good thing because a system that is out of proportion with not work in a family environment and ultimately you will be battling yourself between sound and family priorities and practicality (I think). Maybe smart downsizing is a wiser approach in this situation. I propose a different solution. Single driver compound corner horn with phase compensation. here's a link to speaker that is in the direction I am thinking: http://www.axhornloudspeakers.com/axjet-speakers/ Now imagine it in the corner so that the front mouth is transitioning into room walls, floor and ceiling. Also, the rear horn is opening into the floor and ceiling gaps where the mouth opening stops short and creates large enough areas to make the rear horn mouth proper size. The phase plug is a idea from my current Funktion One horns. It helps to widen the sweet spot and also shapes the mouth opening so that it is a true exponential or tractrix (or whatever) contour rather than just a big waveguide.  Since the back radiation will screw up the phase response I wonder if it's possible to compensate with a passive all pass filter or good DSP and FIR filter to adjust the phase response at the transition between front and rear horns?

05-17-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree scooter Posts 161 Joined on 07-17-2008 Post #: 79 Post ID: 22619 Reply to: 22618 Room comfort upgrades fiogf49gjkf0d I found 2 recent room upgrades made life more comfortable: 1. We recently installed a "cork" floor. Acoustically it is quite pleasing, as it is finished with some semi-gloss sealant but also quite sound absorbent naturally (irregular texture/soft surface, it is a 3 layer laminate, we added a layer of optional foam above the subfloor). It looks nice, is soft to walk on, and was cheap inexpensive. It somehow blends with the hardwood of adjacent rooms. The designer promoted it as an "environmentally" friendly laminate; it is not super durable so replacement say every 7 years (?) is not that "eco". 2. Air purifier. I purchased for spring allergies. Real bonus was 90% less dust on gear. Also can remove allergens and clean the air. For options, this sick guy seems to be independent given the harshness of some of his reviews and tips for creating DIY filters: http://www.air-purifier-power.com/top-10-air-purifiers.html I have a sharp plasmacluster and it works fine and is quiet on the low setting. The carbon filters seem to smell sweet after a few months; replacing them with a fresh DIY carbon filter solves that smell.

05-19-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Romy the Cat Boston, MA Posts 10,160 Joined on 05-28-2004 Post #: 80 Post ID: 22620 Reply to: 22616 Small-blood Macondo 2016? fiogf49gjkf0d Last week I took the Vitavox drivers from the Midbass horns.  This week most likely I will take the compression chambers from the installed horns. If I even redo the midbass horns then to have the custom-fit compression chambers will be 30% of the job done. I will dump them in the new house attic, let them to collect dust in there.    I am thinking a lot about the fate of Macondo in new home. For sure the notion of Macondo is not compromise and the each single line of the Macondo axiom is still there but I do not think that now I would complement Macondo with horn-loaded midbass. So, below is the changes that I will most likely to explore. The Injection channel will have much smaller enclosure. It is high passed at 110Hz there is no need to have such a large box in there. A pair of Vitavox 15 inchers will go to 3 cub box – I think I will be able to get 40-50 Hz out of them. The LF arrays will be complimented with  extra 2 (or perhaps  4) drivers. How, how to drive the Vitavox is the question. The Milq’s LF channels might or might not be optimum amps as Milq has not optimum output transformer for Vitavox twins.  So, I would need to figure all out…. "I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche

06-02-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Romy the Cat Boston, MA Posts 10,160 Joined on 05-28-2004 Post #: 81 Post ID: 22632 Reply to: 22459 The color of the listening room. fiogf49gjkf0d We closed the house last week and as now painters are going over house and repaint if. Wify went super creative with colors  but she left my listening room alone and wants me to do whatever I want. I used different simulators but still do not have a clear vision what colors I want. It is burgundy furniture with dark red oak hardwood floors and back playback. I am sure it will be an oriental rug in there as well. I wants different colors for different surfaces and I want the wall that look to the lake to be blue. How the hell to coordinate blue (“Atmosphere Blue” by Restoration Hardware) with burgundy furniture I have no clue. The idea is to have the rest of the wall to do a transition from Blue to Yellowish via burgundy and all of it in the space of one room but I have no clue how.  "I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche

06-05-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Romy the Cat Boston, MA Posts 10,160 Joined on 05-28-2004 Post #: 82 Post ID: 22641 Reply to: 22632 This would be nice...... fiogf49gjkf0d A site visitor sent me the link. I can not say anything but "Holly Cow!!!". Watch the whole presentation. http://www.annekyyroquinn.com  The cAT "I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche

06-15-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Romy the Cat Boston, MA Posts 10,160 Joined on 05-28-2004 Post #: 83 Post ID: 22656 Reply to: 22459 That is it. fiogf49gjkf0d Ok, this week we are moving to the new house, to the new listening room for all intended purpose. I is kind of crazy in here for a last few weeks. The new house has “Romy’s Wing” with designated listening room but it is not my immediate objective to set up the listening room. It might take a month or so until I am planning to unpack the cable elevator and cartridges. It will be necessary start from scratch: building the records shelves and so on. The new listening room is good in my estimation but I do not have a clear vision HOW I would like to position the playback in the room as there are multiple options. The time will show…. "I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche

06-15-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Jorge Austin TX Posts 141 Joined on 10-17-2010 Post #: 84 Post ID: 22657 Reply to: 22656 Congratulations fiogf49gjkf0d Congratulations on your new house! I wish you a lot of love and success in there.

06-15-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Wojtek Pinckney (MI), United States Posts 178 Joined on 09-01-2005 Post #: 85 Post ID: 22658 Reply to: 22641 Well, fiogf49gjkf0d Cool , I already can imagine an army of Russian, university educated illegal , half slaved housekeepers dusting it off all they long ...

06-24-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Romy the Cat Boston, MA Posts 10,160 Joined on 05-28-2004 Post #: 86 Post ID: 22663 Reply to: 22459 The last week of moving... fiogf49gjkf0d I am keep moving to the new home, this week is the last one of moving. My moving company when they give me an estimate they roughly enumerated the household items. A fragment of it I think was funny:   75) 4 bookshelf loudspeakers. 76) 4 larger bookshelf loudspeakers. 77) 4 floor standing loudspeakers. 78) 2 larger floor standing loudspeakers. 79) 2 very large floor standing loudspeakers. 80) 2 floor standing loudspeakers (really fucking huge). "I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche

06-28-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Romy the Cat Boston, MA Posts 10,160 Joined on 05-28-2004 Post #: 87 Post ID: 22666 Reply to: 22663 We are home! fiogf49gjkf0d Ok, It looks like we more or less successfully moved in. It took 5 days of professional movers to move our crap. God, we need to throw away a LOT!!! Anyhow, not we are unpacking. The irony is that my listening room will be unpacking and assembled the last. In new house I have my own wing, so the disorder in there impacts little our regular life. With all other priorities we have I think I will begin to setup my new listening room in the mid of July.... "I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche

06-28-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree xandcg Rio de Janeiro, BR. Posts 218 Joined on 09-07-2014 Post #: 88 Post ID: 22667 Reply to: 22666 Congratulations! fiogf49gjkf0d Congratulations Romy! Hope you enjoy your new house. :-D Think for yourself, do not be sheep.

07-04-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Romy the Cat Boston, MA Posts 10,160 Joined on 05-28-2004 Post #: 89 Post ID: 22669 Reply to: 22666 We found a new room in House.... fiogf49gjkf0d We spent many days to unpacking and I am sure the final unpacking will take for a while. The listening room is being repainted and it is all in boxes. What is very interesting that while do unpacking I discovered in the new house a new room. The house has a large basement and sine the house sits on slope it might be considered as basement from front of the house. On a back it is a full flagged first floor. It is not only walk out basemen but a floor with above ground full size window, own patio, large 4 section French door, has own heater, AC, center dehumidifier, finish floors wall and selling and it feels kind of livable. The basement has no bathroom so it is not included in living space. Still, as we clean zillion boxes from basement we suddenly realized that one of the basement section make a spectacular audio room. There is something absolutely wonderful in this room setting and anybody who ever went there told the same thing: “Ok, I want to live in THIS room”. I have the same filing and last night Amy asked a disturbing question: “Do you want to make in here an Opera Room?” The idea is to make in the basement room a video room is not something that I want but it sounds very lucrative. I am not in position to make a decision now but there is some very devilish pressure to sit in that room and to watch the huge screen of lake… "I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche

07-05-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree JJ Triode Posts 99 Joined on 09-12-2007 Post #: 90 Post ID: 22670 Reply to: 22669 Bass in bass-ment? fiogf49gjkf0d I have an opinion, admittedly "based" on only a few personal experiences, that basement rooms are very good for developing low bass response.  It has something to do with the absolute rigidity of the majority of the room boundaries, again just in my opinion.  You should definitely do something serious with that space, the only question being if it should be the Opera Room or the actual main Listening Room (Macondo-Melqiades Room).

07-05-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree clarkjohnsen Boston, MA, US Posts 298 Joined on 06-02-2004 Post #: 91 Post ID: 22671 Reply to: 22670 True, but. . . fiogf49gjkf0d . . . basements are notoriously subject to high humidity: sweaty walls and floors, water line breaks, sewer backups (the horror). So before you make anything really nice happen down there, insure yourself against these problems.  And for winter you'll have to make sure there's sufficient heat, but you've probably thought of that already. Cheers to your new lair!

07-06-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Romy the Cat Boston, MA Posts 10,160 Joined on 05-28-2004 Post #: 92 Post ID: 22672 Reply to: 22671 Sometimes basement is not just a basement, stlil.... fiogf49gjkf0d   Well, this basement is certainly not a basement with “sweaty walls and floors”. It is perfectly finished and in addition to everything it has its own (not just a zone but asset of completely dedicated and isolated from the rest of the house) heater, AC, humidifier and center dehumidifier. So, the climate condition is not truly a subject in the subject.    What I am not sure is if I want a Video room in isolation to the rest of the family leaving. A basement is for all intended purpose a floor away from what we all live, so I am not wild with idea that we need to go somewhere to watch anything.  My formal idea of integrated Listening room is not defeated but modified. In our old home the Listening room was severally compromised by baby and then we dedicated a whole Opera room to be the child playroom. That was not fun but let us to go by. In new house I will have my own “wing” that is very much extension of my integrated listening room idea.  So, we have in the new home a large family room with all equipment in there and ability to listen music (in high end way) and to watch TV. The difference this time that we adults and kids will have other room to live and play and the Listening room will not have a second duty. The Listening room also is very nicely located, it is integrated to house but still sit a bit aside.     Now is the basement. If I put video in the basement then it will be very beneficial for listening room as I would not need to integrate video equipment with Macondo. However, it would require to go to watch video to “other floor” which is a major pain in ass. We frequently had dinner in your Opera room during watching films and I very much would like the same live integration for Video as I am planning to have it for Audio. The basement 41' video room is basically a dedicated /isolated room and this would be a main problem to me as I see it.    Well, as now all audio and video siting in the middle of the listening room in boxes and I am not where to unpack them…. "I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche

07-06-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree clarkjohnsen Boston, MA, US Posts 298 Joined on 06-02-2004 Post #: 93 Post ID: 22673 Reply to: 22672 Well it's good that you've considered the humidity. fiogf49gjkf0d As to the rest, before I remodeled both main floors of my house, changing walls and doors and therefore flow patterns, I sat and gave long, deep thought to social effects and area usages. You appear to be doing this too, so all I have to add is that the 41ft. might be wasted on a video setup inasmuch as you (and myself as well) prefer a distance between eye and screen that subtends the angle of a good seat in a movie theatre, which would be well less than 41ft. Also, a family is way more likely to snuggle together to watch video than to listen to music, but with your family who can tell? ;-)

08-12-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Romy the Cat Boston, MA Posts 10,160 Joined on 05-28-2004 Post #: 94 Post ID: 22706 Reply to: 22459 It took for a while. fiogf49gjkf0d It took for a while for me to clear up the new listening room. With all ongoing life projects just yesterday I clear up the new listening room from all boxes and was able to put the playback and the records together. I did not put anything in the final location and not connected anything but in it’ cold state the layout of the room is cleared. It look very nice actually. I begin to look for the room furniture, carpets and listening location chair. I for sure progress much slower than I did with my former house but I am progressing…. "I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche

08-13-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Paul S San Diego, California, USA Posts 2,658 Joined on 10-12-2006 Post #: 95 Post ID: 22707 Reply to: 22706 Time/Change fiogf49gjkf0d It will be interesting to read how you will change your system, and I hope you will continue to include your "reasoning", as you have done to date, including "set-up music" that you use to establish the "stages of development" as you home in on the sound you opt for in the new space, under these new conditions. When my children were young, so was I, also pretty selfish, and it did not take me very long to "get up to speed" in new situations. Looking back, my demands were not nearly so high as they are now, and this no doubt "helped" to dial it in. Getting (and holding on to) good Bruckner - at this point in my life - has taken a lot longer than getting (and holding on to) good jazz. Regarding the listening chair, I still like my inexpensive (Ikea) "Poang" chair and footstool, except my ears are too low, the way my speakers are presently set. I confess that I regularly doze off in it while listening. Best regards, Paul S

08-13-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree xandcg Rio de Janeiro, BR. Posts 218 Joined on 09-07-2014 Post #: 96 Post ID: 22708 Reply to: 22707 In regards to chairs... fiogf49gjkf0d In regards to chairs, I am still to find anything more comfortable than Ekornes: http://www.ekornes.com/us They are a expensive but worth each cent. Think for yourself, do not be sheep.

08-15-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Romy the Cat Boston, MA Posts 10,160 Joined on 05-28-2004 Post #: 97 Post ID: 22709 Reply to: 22707 This week. fiogf49gjkf0d This weekend I was walking in my new listening room and did some thinking how to organize everything. Unquestionably my first step would be convers Milq LF section (bass line-array) from Midas accommodation to drive my woofer tower, in a way how I had in back to Boston. Looking at the schismatic:   http://www.goodsoundclub.com/PDF/6-Chennal_Melquiades_DSET_Amplifier.pdf   I had the “A” channel set to 78Hz, first order. This was in smaller room and in the room where upper bass horns were installed at very Active locations. The new room is larger and I do not think the room will reinforce the upper bass horns to go all the way down to 95Hz. So, I think it will be rational to cross bass line-array not at 78Hz but let say at 90-95Hz. I think rebuilding the Milq’s bass channel and connecting it back together will be a priority for this week. "I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche

08-15-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Romy the Cat Boston, MA Posts 10,160 Joined on 05-28-2004 Post #: 98 Post ID: 22710 Reply to: 22709 What the most intriguing me in the new room is where the LF will roll off. fiogf49gjkf0d What the most intriguing me in the new room is where the LF will roll off. It would be wonderful of LF will run all the way down I was in my Boston listening room but I see very little chance of it. Most likely it will be a shortage of gain or power and I will end up at -3dBHz. So, I would need to add ULF channel at let say 30Hz. Well, the irony is that the room has a spectacular location at attic to add 2X18 drivers with sealed boxes. The spectacular part of it that they will be unviable in the room, take no floor print.… but they will be monophonic as the location is only for left channel. I do not know if I would like to go  mono at sub 30Hz.   "I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche

08-17-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Romy the Cat Boston, MA Posts 10,160 Joined on 05-28-2004 Post #: 99 Post ID: 22713 Reply to: 22710 The first day. fiogf49gjkf0d With all my domesticated obligations I did not have neither time nor strength to setup my playback. This week I decided to do something. Complimentary to my mood a long time site reader happened to be in Boston and he volunteered to spend with time with me to help me with my room setup – what a luck!!!    So, yesterday we positioned speakers, run cables, moved equipment, soldering filters and were trying to get some kind of sound in the room. We succeeded and as now 3 channels of Macondo are operational. The room is not treated at all, the Macondo channels are not alighted, the system is stone-cold and thrown into the room pretty much as is. Still, we got surprisingly pleasant sound for the means how it was done. It is not overall sound was good but rather the total feeling of sound in THIS room was very pleasant. This is VERY good news for me as I was not sure if the playback would feel good to play not along the cathedral ceiling as usually but across it.  Now, I need to continue to set up everything but I have a dilemma about… decor. I would need a large 18x14 oriental rug in the room, sectional sofa with integrated listening position and large array window curtains. They understandably need to be color coordinated but I have no decision what color would it be. The bigger problem is the listening sectional couch, the size and design of it would to a great degree impact the listening distance. With knowing the exact listening distance I can’t time-align the system and decide of speaker positioning. So, in a way the task #1 now is to find a listening sectional sofa that would accommodate 8 people comfortably and will have in the same time will have non-compromised listening spot for one person. "I wish I could score everything for horns." - Richard Wagner. "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." - Friedrich Nietzsche

08-17-2016 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree scooter Posts 161 Joined on 07-17-2008 Post #: 100 Post ID: 22714 Reply to: 22713 Quick thoughts on beginning of system assembly fiogf49gjkf0d I helped Romy shuffle around some hardware and connect some cables yesterday. That damned table weighs about 100.000 pounds. This was one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to see live, in-person how Romy thinks about audio and incorporates that into his playback. That said, everything I saw yesterday is detailed extensively in the site. From a living perspective, the new room is very pleasant with comfortable dimensions and a nice view. For a US house, I think the build quality is very good and the room feels quite "solid." A developer clearly built this house for himself. The room is still unfurnished but has an oriential rug, some media shelves mostly populated, some boxes and two friendly cats. The ceiling is high and vaulted and there is an alcove / open stairway down to the rest of the house. The room seemed like it might have good audio potential but if it would not have surprised me if it had real problems out of the box. Frankly, I had no clue how the room would sound but nobody will mistake me for an audiophile or audio pro. A few constraints as this was a very preliminary set-up: - No furniture - Preamp was not connected yet (just some DIY $30 stepped attenuators) - Missing some fq and unbalanced fq response. Top horns not connected. Need to find the RAAL tweeters and injection channel. I think there are some additional boxes that go on top of the towers also - No regeneration yet as electrician needs to do some rewiring - Equipment needs a few days to warm up - No time alignment - No tweaking - etc. etc. etc. A couple of thoughts: - The dynamics were fantastically wide on the "volume" dimension and fantastically fast on the "time" dimension. Noting the massive limitations above, individual instruments sounded like instruments. Never heard anything like that before - I feel the system somehow can play ppp virtually the same as it plays fff - Other than some (quite) excitable nodes there is not much on the low end. Romy said adding the 2 boxes on the towers and adjustments will help. I have no clue how he will do that. There is a large attic above so creative opportunity there - Anyways, the sound was pretty enjoyable with lower volume, lower dynamic, simple passages. As the music became more complex with more instruments, things really collapsed and sometimes was grating, near painful. Reminded of the Audeze LCD2 that fell apart on more complex passages (although I think the cause was very different as headphone "driver" was just breaking up). Romy said the sound was about 20% of where it will be after final set up. Romy called sound, "Pleasant." I thought the sound and room were, "Encouraging" with real potential for fantastic results. Maybe we can agree on, "Pleasantly Encouraging."