The 'Dark' Art Of Room Acoustics!

[suresh lalwani]

Feni would not tickle "Shanti/Bhagwans" fancy,

Treat him to an exotic single malt or a good red wine, or good cognac. BUT THE GLASS HAS TO BE PERFECT, I mean the correct one. I have seen him not accept a drink because the glass did not do justice to the spirit.
Actually he is a GIVER ALL THE TIME. Probably one of the rare guys who will send you a sub woofer to Srinagar or Kanyakumari, with a saying "Dude if you like it, you can keep it or else return it in the same condition" Dude is his favourite expression. He mentions coffee or a meal, but never has time to take you up on the offer. If someone meets another Mazher Jaffer in this lifetime, please write to me.
Unlikely someone else like him will come along. It took me 64 long years in life to discover Mazher. He is worthy of any praise I shower on him. And his knowledge on sound/audio/gear well thats another story.
Before someone writes back with a quote "u seem to be a fan of his" yes I am.
He set up the "Resurrection" speakers ( dont google for it cause its his own creation) in my house in a space of 30-40 mins. This included the un boxing, fixing of the stands, connections between the spkr components, spiking, positioning, (accurate to an inch)..... RESULT ....................MAGIC
God Bless him. And yes he will help a person who owns a moderate system. Take that from me.

 

[ajay124]

It is difficult to say why I was unhappy with my system and put the amp, cables and speakers for sale. Individually I still had a lot of love and respect for the components. But together they no longer seemed to be working for me. Nothing had really changed. The SQ was the same SQ with which I had been happy in 2011. But I was no longer actively involved with hifi or listening to much music. Before beginning this post I tried to figure out the reason for my indifference and boredom and I think I have got it. The performance of my hifi setup had not evolved or devolved since last year. But maybe my exposure to hifi has evolved since last year. Evolved not in any conscious or clearly describable manner. Rather an unconscious and gradual evolution caused by having the good fortune to listen to far better components than anything I have heard before.

I will try to describe in simple non audiophile terms why I was no longer happy with my system:

There was no longer a sense of excitement or involvement with the music being played. Our staple food of western classical music seemed especially bland and unpalatable. Keyboards sounded dull, clangorous and tired. Brass sounded pompous and hollow. Percussions lacked punch and potency. Woodwinds sounded like forlorn birds shorn of their freedom to fly. Strings sounded like hysterical virgins wailing in the dark. The overall effect was like sailing upstream on a sluggish boat in a muddy river.

I had managed to tame some of the unwanted resonances but the floor, wall and ceilings still seemed to be singing along with the orchestra. Fed generously by the 4B SST the bass drivers seemed to be overshadowing the mids and the highs. There seemed to be a monotonous uniformity to all the music that was being played.

The good part was the imaging and the soundstage. A big, deep and authoritative soundstage comes easy with a Bryston pre power. Since I moved the dining table out of the room (around the time I began this thread) the imaging had improved dramatically. The soundstage was a huge rectangle touching all the four corners behind the speakers with an approximate height of 6 feet+. A deep, wide and high soundstage with precise imaging? Some folks may feel that audiophiles who experience such invisible and subjective phenomenons may have been smoking the wrong stuff. But with a system which is properly set up and a good recording, it is easy to imagine the music pouring forth from a stage on which the musicians are dimly visible!

Shanti began with a thorough measurement of the room. He pulled the speakers further into the room. He increased the distance between them. He measured the exact distances and used the center of the speakers and the listening position as the three points of the triangle. I presume he placed coins under the rear spikes of the speakers to get the height of the tweeters on a level with the listeners ears. He placed a few cushions on the chairs in the rear corners. For want of any other support he placed ceramic bowls under the speaker cables to isolate them from the floor

It was only after the initial positioning had been done that the first CD was played. Shanti then carried out a more precise fine-tuning of the speaker positioning. The major change which happened, something which completely transformed the system, was the HUGE toe-in. The speakers, cables, audio rack now resembled a semi circle rather than a rectangle. And suddenly something happened which I was not even aware could be achieved in hifi. The soundstage became circular, replicating the semi circle of the components! This was really the highpoint of the whole experience for me. The music became imbued with zest, sparkle and sweetness. Instruments acquired a rich timbre which drew you into the music. Even at 2'o'clock stun-the-neighbors volume, there was pin drop detail and startling clarity without any hint of distortion.

Shanti has suggested a few more tweaks which I will undertake when my carpenter becomes available. He has also suggested a couple of preamps which could replace the BP6. All in good time. Right now my second, (hopefully extended) honeymoon with the system I married in 2010 has begun

 

[soulforged]

p.s. I like :- [for test & set up]
[a] Female Vocal
Rebecca Pidgeon

Her rendition of Spanish Harlem make the hair stand on the back of my neck! Perfect song to test the timbre and airiness of your setup

Tanita Tikaram

Ah! amazing voice and brilliant poetry. If I'm allowed just one CD to the afterlife, I'd choose her 'Ancient Heart' (I hope I'm allowed to carry the Vinyl version instead).

I remember an incident that happened a few years ago. We were entertaining a German guest at our home and I was waxing eloquent about the sheer brilliance of Tanita. At one point in time I said "I love her so much that I could marry her". Our German friend's eyes opened wide. She looked at my wife and asked "Is it allowed?" :lol: (Well, it was funny when it happened )

 

[ajay124]

Fresh pics. I don't have a wide angle lens so I could not get everything into one pic. Which is a pity because the new look is rather nice

Sorry for the bad quality of the pics. Bad lighting. High ISO. Aggressive de-noising. The usual excuses!

HI-FI - a set on Flickr

 

[jls001]

Fresh pics. I don't have a wide angle lens so I could not get everything into one pic. Which is a pity because the new look is rather nice

Your temp cable "support" reminds me of these acoustic resonators

 

[bhagwan]

Your temp cable "support" reminds me of these acoustic resonators

The Frank Chang products are very good - they actually work.
However, I find them to be a bit steep - what you showed are more for room tune than cable lifting - I think;;;

 

[jls001]

The Frank Chang products are very good - they actually work.
However, I find them to be a bit steep - what you showed are more for room tune than cable lifting - I think;;;

I am absolutely fascinated by his products though the technology or science he uses can be termed "snake skin oil" by many as they are not explainable by conventional physics.

But as you said, his pricing is stratospheric.

I would love to listen to his speakers.

 

[ajay124]

Your temp cable "support" reminds me of these acoustic resonators

I like the look of the 'temporary' cable supports so they may become a permanent feature. This particular set of bowls was borrowed from the kitchen and will have to be returned. But I am going to look for 12 black bowls with a piano finish to blend with the speakers

 

[prem]

Hi Ajay 124

Try Jenga blocks. You will get them in a toy shop. They work very well as cable lifters.

 

[anm]

prem - any pics you want to share? A google searched image will do I did a search but confused.

 

[prem]

Hi anm

The jenga blocks are similar to cardas myrtlewood blocks.
jenga block - Google Search

 

[santhosh]

Very happy for you Ajay. Enjoy your re-discovered system. Indeed is a dark art


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Fill the bowls with different amounts of water. That way, they will all have different frequencies which will ...well, I don't know ...something I suppose. And you can have jalatharangam during power cuts! Oh, I guess I've given away that I believe that the only thing that enhances speaker cables is several years worth of dust :lol:

But... that's just one small thing. Otherwise, I'd love to have watched, and listened, to the art in progress

Who knows? You might even have a system for life now*! It just didn't feel right that you were selling it...




*OK, you might occasionally have to build a new house around it

 

[manoj.p]

Its exactly like a Bollywood movie. The doctor looks at the patient (audio system in this case) and says "ab sab bhagwan ke haath mein hain"

and "bhagwan" obliged. Although it does seem like a "Dark art" very apt thread title indeed. Congratulations, Ajay.

 

[bhagwan]

Its exactly like a Bollywood movie. The doctor looks at the patient (audio system in this case) and says "ab sab bhagwan ke haath mein hain"

and "bhagwan" obliged. Although it does seem like a "Dark art" very apt thread title indeed. Congratulations, Ajay.

Sir,

I love your tag line :-

It's perfectly fine to have a 'Preference', just don't push that as 'Reference' to others.

:clapping:

:clapping:

 

[grubyhalo]

 

[ajay124]

Thad

Fill the bowls with different amounts of water

I think both Shanti and I would prefer to fill them with single malts instead. I would love to listen to a hifi system which has a tinge of the smoky, peaty, misty flavor of the Scottish bogs.

http://blogs.queens.edu/celts/files/2010/05/Celts-view-from-the-drive-through-the-highlands.jpg

 

[bhagwan]

Thad

Fill the bowls with different amounts of water

I think both Shanti and I would prefer to fill them with single malts instead. I would love to listen to a hifi system which has a tinge of the smoky, peaty, misty flavor of the Scottish bogs.

http://blogs.queens.edu/celts/files/2010/05/Celts-view-from-the-drive-through-the-highlands.jpg

p.s. I am currently into Japanese SM's
Hibiki / Yamazaki & Sutory [Do not love this] !!

However on a 'serious' note;
Transparent Audio Cables - Could do well with an 'upgrade'
An Ultra or a Super would make a nice change - kindly consider & work towards that.

Transparent Audio 1 meter Super MM2 Interconnects RCA Connectors | Interconnects | Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450 | AudiogoN - The High-end Audio Community

Look for 'new' range - Speaker Cable.

These changes with the Power Cord Upgrade will also make a +ve change in your set up......

All the Best !!

p.s.s. You do have a nice sound - hope you enjoy it for a while.....

 

[sud98]

p.s. I am currently into Japanese SM's
Hibiki / Yamazaki & Sutory [Do not love this] !!

.

If you love these, you will love the Yoichi too. Probably, I can tempt you with this to come and work your magic in Bangalore

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I think both Shanti and I would prefer to fill them with single malts instead.

You don't have to convince me that that would have altered the sound :lol: . I'd be worried about some blurring of the finer detail, though

Speaking of things Japanese: I used to be a sake man, but, these days... nothing stronger than masala chai