Description

Listening Room Construction

12” concrete floor

Poured steel reinforced to 9+” to 12+” 3000 lb. PSI concrete floor

 Walls-

1” MDF

1/8” thick Acoustiblok vinyl sound barrier

¾” MDF

3 x 12 vertical studs, 14.5” on center

Staggered 13” wide 2  x 12 and  4 x 12 per vertical stud channel

13” X 4” X 48” 72lb. 4 chamber activated charcoal absorption filters staggered vertically up/down/up/down

4” Rockwool insulation over vacant stud channel area adjacent to filters

Flexseal all joints

¾” cherry plywood

 Ceiling

4’ Sound Absorption Blankets

4” Rockwool

2 x 8 horizontal beams

5/8” X drywall paneling

1/8” thick Acoustiblok vinyl sound barrier

¾” cherry plywood

2 Doors-same as well construction 17" thick, 1000 lb and 850 lb, no other openings

 Recessed 9 BR 40 65 Watt LED floodlights

2 Ton HVAC split system, low speed, high volume

104 oz. plush cut pile carpeting (Fabrica Seduction)

Electric-Audio sources only Subpanel with 8 breakers for 8 duplexes, 10 gauge wire (lighting and A/C on main subpanel) Synergistic Research Blue Duplexes for equipment

Side Walls treated with 2' X 4' 2" thick Acoustic Fields absorption panels  60% coverage

Ceiling treated with 4' X 6' 4" thick Acoustic Fields absorption panels 75% coverage

Synergistic Research HFTs 

I will post photos later
Read more...

Room Details

Dimensions: 20’ × 15’  Medium
Ceiling: 10’


Components Toggle details

    • Audio Equipment - 2 Systems
    Audio Equipment – Primary Listening room

    Von Schweikert VR9 SE MK2, new Class D 1000 watt Foundation amps for 15” Rel Dynamic subs

    EAR 890 amp 70watt Class A zero-global feedback, auto-biasing on Synergistic Research Mig-SX isolation footers, GCTs on trannies removed because they darkened the sound.  Added an Acme treated fuse-(primarily increased warmth, separation of instruments and voices)   Smaller soundstage width and smaller presentation than Grover amps which are wide open and out of the speaker.  Otherwise a very clean and high resolution sound with a touch of warmth.  

    Back up-Class A/B 125 watt push/pull, voltage regulated amplifier (not ultralinear) with 6 6BG6 Russian output tubes, RCA late 1940s or early 1950s 6SN7 cathode follower, Japanese 6GU7 input tube old grey plate RCA black ladder plate 6CG7/6FQ7 driver tube (Tung-Sol grey ladder plate as well), 2-6” X 3” electrolytic storage capacitors.  Tremendous control over speakers.  Synergistic Reseach blue fuses (warmer).

    Other back-up Dynaco ST70 highly modified below sounds great with efficient speakers

    Former back-up now primary EAR 864 preamp now used on it's own feet on 1" thick granite and an Acme fuse (essential).  Tubes-Sylvania black ladder plate earliest D getter type 12AX7 and RCA cleartop 12AU7, Phono-stock pair Ei 12AX7 with double silicon damping rings.  Transformed to superior than mid-fi quality with caveats in flatter and narrow soundstage and resolution compared to 912 but sonically a huge improvement.  Very good dynamics and bass.  Tried 12+ footers (Stillpoint UltraSS, Townshend Platform, etc. all worse with distortion, diminished volume, etc). Dynavector 20X2 L perfect match.

    Back up now-EAR 912 pre-amp  Always wanted this since I heard it 20 years ago for phono.  I bought a new one.  Replaced fuse with Acme treated 1 amp.  Replaced pre-amp tubes with NOS Bugle Boy D getter Amperex and Mullard NOS early tube/unknown heritage, put two Herbie's halo tube dampening rings on them.  No change on phono tubes or footers under chassis.   Dynavector 20X2 L at 6 ohm, -6 db setting perfect with meters up to 0 db plenty of gain and tone density.  Great meters informs of compression or lack thereof on all formats.   Unused now as mismatch with all three amps-hollow, stuck in the speaker boxy sound with deep set center -  yuk.  Will try with Westminster Labs REI which sounded great in a showroom my speakers. 

    Topping D70s (AKM chip)-$500 equivalent of the $9000 COS D1v DAC 

    COS Engineering D1v DAC- No longer has sterile sound without the 1 second delay (delay adds distortion through an algorithm to add ambiance).  Balanced cable out to pre-amp.  Fantastic imaging and resolution with Acme treated fuses.   Shocked at it's high quality sound now but equaled by the hugely cheaper Topping D70s.  

    Shanling ET3 transport.  Back-up, 2006 OPPO DVD player with ultra mini  Stillpoints only (slightly blunted highs, otherwise for $130, a steal). 

    Back-up Arcam Delta 250 Transport BNC out and 270 CD player RCA out, highly modified with 15 new high quality power, filter, bypass caps, regulators, etc.  Uses Philips CDM 9 transport mechanism

    Arcam Delta 270 as CD player outdoes Kyocera 310, equal to 410 and Denon 1500.  

    Blue Jeans/Beldon Balanced cable DAC to pre-amp  (former SR cable was somewhere between 110 and 130 ohms-colorful/dynamic but NOT linear or open)

    VPI TNT VI heavy platter with SDS on Townsend Sink, SME IV modified with Cardas wiring/RCA box and closed foam insulation.  Pharoah power cables on motor and SDS unit,  

    Dynavector 20X2L Zesto Andros Allasso  All with custom Grover Huffman Pharoah very low impedance RCAs.  Perfect Match into 100 ohm MC of EAR 864. 

    VPI 19-4, Ultracraft 400, Grado 78 cartridge into Marantz 7C pre-amp

    Selling Bryston Bit-20 isolation transformer (Custom power cable as usual).  Restricted Dynamics, after 8 years removed.  Just plugging it in or having the huge transformer in the room altered sound. 

    Ultra SS and Mini-SS Stillpoints under some equipment (VPI power box and Marantz 7C) 

    2 Pair Shakti Hallographs (on hold, removed with new speakers)

    Removed Shakti on-line (one) placed on top of power amp plug at outlet-no other Shakti stone or on-line works in my system/degrades sound

    Speakers-Legacy Signature IIIs (superior to Focus in soundstage, openness, coherence, ease to drive)

    Nakamichi cassette deck ZX-7

    Technics 1500 R2R and Tandberg 900X R2R

    Grover Huffman Pharaoh speaker cable

    34 Synergistic Research HFTs various types (removed front center one due to brightness, kept speaker kit only for Focuses, unnecessary on Signature IIIs or VR9 SE MK2)

    Synergistic Research blue duplex outlets

    Sand/Shot filled custom built steel stands

    Amps on granite slabs 

    Back-up Amps - Pair of Altec 1569A  Extreme modification   Kept the chassis and transformers

    Acme fuses and Grover Huffman Pharoah power cable into IEC pig-tail.  Grover Huffman Pharoah RCA to pre-amp 

    Back-Up Pre-amp - Custom 6 subminiature tube pre-amp and 8 subminiature tube phono stage, voltage regulated design non-fused DAC - Extreme modified 

    Audio Equipment – Living  room

    Dynaco ST 70 Extreme modification  Now a Class A/B 35 watt push/pull, voltage regulated amplifier (not ultralinear) with chassis depth electrolytic storage capacitor, superior bias control, feedback change, rectifier tube used for slow start-up only, replaced RCAs and speaker terminals, Acme treated fuse.

    Grover Huffman Pharoah power cable into IEC pig-tail.  Grover Huffman Pharoah RCA to pre-amp 

    Custom 6 subminiature tube pre-amp, voltage regulated design non-fused.

    Multiple Kyocera 410x CD players and Grover Huffman major upgraded Arcam Delta 270s lying around with upgraded Panasonic power capacitors, a few other new caps, regulators, etc. Grover Huffman Pharoah RCA interconnect.

    Kenwood 5000? FM/AM tuner.

    Legacy Focus speakers sold - Rosewood looks great in formal Art Deco/Mahogany furniture/Pink wall room

    Synergistic Research Black duplex power outlet

    Grover Huffman Empress speaker cable.

    Selling my former back-up DACs Benchmark HDR1 and Emotiva XDA-1 (new filter caps, tantalum, power caps, new audio board, $47 Sparkos Labs audio grade  regulators replacing 50 cent computer grade)  Pending replacement of $5 Texas Instrument Op-amp with Burson vivid $135 Op-amp of Sparkos for $80.  Problem with this DAC is it's analog output resolution-junky Op-Amp instead of high end or discrete output.  Replaced back-up is the Topping D70s (AKM chip)-$500 equivalent of the $9000 COS D1v DAC 


     


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Logged in to say:  very nice listening room door.

palasr