Listening Room Finished

nikolas812

I finally finished up my listening room today. Its sort of a listening room / Movie room / computer room. But I am very happy with the end result. It was going to be a dedicated home theater at on time but I took a turn into 2 channel and have never went back. Yet.....

I just made some acoustical treatments that made a VERY big difference. But so far I am confused by what I am hearing. I haven't done enough listening to fully tell what happened. But its major. It sounds totally different. I don't know if the room is dead or if it is the way it should have sounded or what. I have been fighting harsh treble and smearing if thats what you call it. From day one. So I have been buying warmer and warmer gear. See sig. But now that the treble is defiantly not a problem anymore. I think it is time to roll in some brighter more detailed tubes. I think that is going to really make it come together music wise.

This used to be my bedroom by the way.

See what this forum and hobby has done to me. I have moved into the spare bedroom for my love of audio.

Either way there just something about having a dedicated room like this. I get one hell of a good feeling Evey time I come in here and listen to some tunes or watch a movie.

I just need a good comfortable chair and I'll be done. I am using a ratty old office chair for now until I can afford some furniture.

Here are some pics. For some reason I can not get the camera to take a picture in here. I think it is too dark and the camera gets pissy. It makes the acoustical treatment look weird and discolored. But you get the idea.
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jm1

Its refreshing to see one create a room dedicated to listening and enjoying music.

From your pictures, I could not determine the dimensions of the room. Please share this as it is important to know the relationship of the items in the room.

My first comment would be to move the speakers forward from the rear wall parallel or in front of the leading edge of the stand. A quick and dirty method for speaker placement is having the driver cone located at odd multiples of the room dimensions.

For example, place the speakers 1/5 or 1/3 of the room length from the front wall. Place the speakers 1/5 or 1/3 of the room width from the side walls. Place your listening position 1/5 or 1/3 the room length from the rear wall.

Give this a try to experience if there is any change to the sonic characteristics.

There are a multitude of different approaches to configuring the room for optimum reproduction characteristics. Entering search criteria into your browser will yield more information you are possibly planning on reading.

It looks like your audio journey has begun... Have a safe and enjoyable trip.

george daniel

It appears that you are well on your way. Congrats on your room. You certainly have a reason to be proud.:)

Face

Very nice!

nikolas812

Thanks for the kind words.

The room is kind of small at 9 x 16

I forgot to mention I am open to any suggestions one might have for the room.

jm1 thanks for the ideas. It may or may not look like it in the pictures but the speakers are are 15 inch's from the back wall.

Also I am absolutely no good at math. So now that you have my room dimensions can you get me measurements in inch's or feet for my speakers and listening position.

I literally just got the room completed about 3 hours ago so I have not had a chance to play with the placement of my speakers or listening position.

But since this is a dedicated room I can do what ever the hell I what with them. So if they needed to be 6 feet from the back wall. So be it.:D

Its all about the audio.

Thanks!


Oh also I just noticed that if I sit eight feet from the speakers there isn't any bass. But if I sit 5 feet away it is very nice in the bass department. Does this make since? when listening at five feet that puts me at seven feet from the back wall.

I was just throwing that out there for you jm1. You seem to know your stuff when it comes to dedicated rooms.

I have no clue.:(
Nick

Face

You're going to get yelled at for having a monitor there.

As for the bass response, try moving your speakers forward and sitting further back.

nikolas812

I thought I might get flamed for the monitor.

But I tried to explain in the first post the room was pulling triple duty as a listening room/ computer room/ movie room.

But if I had to weigh it out it is a 90% 2 channel listening room. But I will enjoy a good movie form time to time in here. Movies sound great through the Jolida tube amp. Voices sound VERY real. Theres not a lot of heard room for movies but it does pretty good. The imaging is spooky sometimes. It sounds like I have a surround sound set up when I watch movies. To some extent anyway.

Either way it is all about the sound.

I also pulled the speakers away from the wall from 15 inch's to 29 inch's. It was a pretty dramatic change. I also spaced them farther apart. I think thats probably what made the biggest change. The stereo separation is amazing now. I am still sitting about five feet away from them.

engtaz

Nice setup. Relax and enjoy.

Congrats,
engtaz

nikolas812

Well.

I've done it.!!!!

I think I have found what I have been looking for in my audio journey. I have achieved the sound I have always wanted. I meen... Too me. It sounds flat out. Amazing!!!

I don't think this could have ever been achieved without a dedicated room. Or at least some decent space to work with.

It seems like it has been a fight since the beginning to achieve this type of sound.

I am so **** happy I can't stand it!!

Its perfect....

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Speaker placement and listening position were critical. Had I not started moving everything around I might not have ever found it.

I think the speakers ended up being about 4 feet from the back wall and 10 inch's from the side walls.

I am sitting about 4 feet from the back wall also. and the farther back I sit the deeper the bass gets. So if I ever need to turn up the bass I can just scoot back.:D


Nick

ben62670

Nice job. When I get a little more settled in in GA I will started the room treatment process. What pannels did you use?
Thanks
Ben

nikolas812

I made them.

There should be a thread in this forum under DIY acoustical treaments that I started if you are interested.

I think I have about $200 wrapped up in them and they work and look great. It was the best $200. I have ever spent and I think the best upgrade I have ever made. Period.

Nick:D

madmax

If you cut a few pieces of MDF board and put under your amp (and possibly your source) it will sound noticeably better, at least my Jolida did. Glass sucks for sitting audio equipment on.
madmax

PS WHAT THE #@^%$ IS THAT MONITOR DOING THERE??
jk

candyliquor35m

Nice jolidas

nikolas812

madmax wrote: »

If you cut a few pieces of MDF board and put under your amp (and possibly your source) it will sound noticeably better, at least my Jolida did. Glass sucks for sitting audio equipment on.
madmax

PS WHAT THE #@^%$ IS THAT MONITOR DOING THERE??
jk

Good idea. That will be next on my too do list.;)

Ricardo

Looks good; congrats. You are just missing a turntable...you know you have no chance of becoming a real audiophile until you have one, right??

nikolas812

Haha.

I have already been thinking about it. I don't want to get rid of the Jolida amp though. I have a lot of time and money invested in it. It doesn't have a Phono stage. I was thinking of sending it to Jolida and having two sub outputs and a Phono stage input installed on it. Thats a little farther down the road though.

I would also like to try a nice set of speakers with a effency of 100 or better to try and get the most out of my amp. I just don't know of any to look at except for Klipsch. Which I have my eye on some but once again. This is all stuff that will happen farther down the road.

Right now I am just really enjoying what I got. Finally......:D

Nick

Mike Reeter

Very,Very nice Nick,I also recently moved the 2-channel rig into a spare room...I'm finding out it needs a lot of work also.

I like the panels,thanks for the link...and n'joy

ShinAce

nikolas812 wrote: »

Haha.

I have already been thinking about it. I don't want to get rid of the Jolida amp though. I have a lot of time and money invested in it. It doesn't have a Phono stage. I was thinking of sending it to Jolida and having two sub outputs and a Phono stage input installed on it. Thats a little farther down the road though.

I would also like to try a nice set of speakers with a effency of 100 or better to try and get the most out of my amp. I just don't know of any to look at except for Klipsch. Which I have my eye on some but once again. This is all stuff that will happen farther down the road.

Right now I am just really enjoying what I got. Finally......:D

Nick

If you do go high efficiency, you'll lose a lot of bass extension. I didn't notice a dedicated sub, which would become a pre-req with your suggested setup.

You'd be amazed what 1 watt can really do with just about any speaker.

Face

With a big enough cabinet, high efficiency speakers can have deep bass.

You are correct about 1 watt. I'm sure most of my listening doesn't exceed 3 wpc.

BaggedLancer

nikolas812 wrote: »

Haha.

I have already been thinking about it. I don't want to get rid of the Jolida amp though. I have a lot of time and money invested in it. It doesn't have a Phono stage. I was thinking of sending it to Jolida and having two sub outputs and a Phono stage input installed on it. Thats a little farther down the road though.

I would also like to try a nice set of speakers with a effency of 100 or better to try and get the most out of my amp. I just don't know of any to look at except for Klipsch. Which I have my eye on some but once again. This is all stuff that will happen farther down the road.

Right now I am just really enjoying what I got. Finally......:D

Nick

Jolida JD-9a. Problem solved. No excuses. That's why they make it. Get that turntable now.


P.S. Nice looking room.

ShinAce

Face wrote: »

With a big enough cabinet, high efficiency speakers can have deep bass.

You are correct about 1 watt. I'm sure most of my listening doesn't exceed 3 wpc.

Horn loaded woofers in a 9 x 16' room; I would LOVE to see that.

Face

Go over to AK, I'm sure it's been done, numerous times.

ShinAce

Face wrote: »

Go over to AK, I'm sure it's been done, numerous times.

I digress. I'm guilty of such a setup myself(in the past).

nikolas812

BaggedLancer wrote: »

Jolida JD-9a. Problem solved. No excuses. That's why they make it. Get that turntable now.


P.S. Nice looking room.

How would it work with my current Jolida? Would I run the TT to the JD-9a and from the JD-9 to the aux input on the Jolida 302?

I thought because I was using a Intergrated amp with no phono stage I was dead in the water.:o Am I wrong?

Please explain more about this JD-9 if you can.

nikolas812

Mike Reeter wrote: »

Very,Very nice Nick,I also recently moved the 2-channel rig into a spare room...I'm finding out it needs a lot of work also.

I like the panels,thanks for the link...and n'joy

If your haveing trouble with your room. Mine was mainly clap echo. So I figured the highs were what were hurting the most. They would seem to smear the higher the voulme got. I assumed this was becasue the highs were boucing all over the place.

If your haveing the same troubles. Those panels were a godsend. Just build them and start enjoying.

Many have said you can't build a panel and it work like the ones you have to pay 1k for. I don't know if they work exactly the same. But they sure as hell worked in my room.;)

Nick

dragon1952

I recently switched to a new listening room and warmer speakers. I had been running a tube integrated with a Jolida JD-100, same as you. I kept wondering if I had too many tubes in the mix so I took a chance at a solid state CDP to compare them. I found a NIB Music Hall CD25.2 for $375 shipped. I ended up keeping the Music Hall. I also went to a more detailed tube in my driver and preamp slots.

***Never mind...I didn't see your "Well, I've done it!" post :rolleyes:

nikolas812

Haha.

Yeah it was all about placement. It seems like the walls were sucking the life out of my speakers or something?? It sounded like mudd.

I still go back to the oppo for sacd duty and it does pretty well. The redbook playback is another story though. The Jolida blows it out of the water. In fact a lot of the redbooks played through the Jolida sound better than the SACD playback through the Oppo. Or most for that matter.

By the way. Were you running a el34 in your previous setup?

If so. What was the more detailed tube you went too. I still think the room can handle more detail now that the highs aren't bouncing all over the place.

dragon1952

Mine uses KT88's for power and for driver and preamp it uses 4 12AU7's and a 12AX7. I swapped out the 12AU7's with RCA cleartops to get the greater detail. I guess yours doesn't use that tube though.

nikolas812

Mine don't use any of those.

I have NOS Ge-Jan 12at7wa in the driver side and some NOS Amperex orange label 6dj8's in the pre side. I think I have stock chinese el34's in the back right now. They might be SED's but I don't know. I can't seem to find a el34 I want to buy. I want some NOS mullards but I can't afford them. I am thinking of going with a Groove tube EL34-M. That is supposed to be a reissue of the Mullard XF-2. I have liked the Grooe Tubes I have had in the past so I thought I might give there XF-2 reissue a try.

Do you have any advice on a more detailed tube for my setup?

Nick

bikerboy

Hi,
Nice job on the system. Cool paint on the amp. The panels are next on my list of things to do. I have a Jolida 502a and may have some tubes for you. I have 12at7 and 12au7 spares that you may be able to use to brighten up the amp. Let me know what you use . As far as a phono section you can use the tape out on any receiver or preamp with a phono input and that goes into the aux or any other input on your 302. I use a preamp that has a nice phono section and someday I will get a Hagerman tube phono preamp kit. I think if you got more efficient speakers the small room will be a problem. Nice setup!

Systems

Nice work on the panels Nic,they look as good as commercial offerings.Treating the room is one of the best bang for the buck mods one can do.