Reference System

In November 2015, with the kids grown and out of the big 5-bedroom, 3-floor house, we moved to a smaller home situated on nearly two acres in north-west Goshen, IN. My new music room occupies the north end of the west half of my basement, in a room that is 46′ X 13′ x 7′ 4″. Further, I have two different sized and asymmetrically placed doorways, one that is 40″ wide by 78″ tall, starting 11′ 10″ from the front wall, another that is 34″ wide by 77″ tall, starting 28 feet from the front wall, both of which act as aperiodic vents. This large space also houses my small theater at the south end by the fireplace.

Some quick calculation reveals the room is about 600 ft² or some 4300 ft³. Based on room length, it can support full development of frequencies down to about 24Hz, with primary axial resonances at about 44Hz and 78Hz. But the room is amazing sounding, and exhibits remarkably little loading. In fact, during a visit to install and set up my Von Schweikert Audio ULTRA 9 loudspeakers, Leif Swanson, Chief Designer at Von Schweikert Audio said, “You seem to have some pretty cool things taking place with the room. Good length for the bass waves, and those doorways. I notice very little change to the bass walking around the room. You definitely scored with this room.”

The tweeters of my Von Schweikert Audio ULTRA 9’s are centered 1′ 10′ from the sidewalls, and 7′ from the wall behind them, with a toe in of about 8 degrees. The prime listening area is centered roughly 12′ back from the plane of the tweeters.

Room taming is achieved with the use of RoomTunes Corner Tunes, two Echo Tunes (one each at the tweeter’s primary reflection points on the ceiling), and the surprisingly effective Shakti Innovations Hallographs. Two 6-foot-tall by 4-foot-wide panels of Auralex Studiofoam Wedgies act as diffraction/absorption panels at the first side-wall reflection point for the speakers.

Power to components in the listening room is fully dedicated, with a pair of 20 amp runs for amplification, and another pair of 15 Amp runs for all sources. All other devices in that room (lights, printers, computers, etc.) are on an entirely separate, isolated circuit. All circuits in the room were set up for proper ground and polarity.

Those who know me (or have read my work over the years) know that my system MUST be tonally accurate, strikingly neutral, stunningly transparent, and jubilantly musical. However, open, detailed, and layered soundstaging, combined with realistically sized and spatially accurate images, are every bit as important to me as truthful timbre and musical bloom. With the right recording, this system whisks you back to the venue or hall of the original performance for a spooky-real recreation of that event in the here and now.

I have had any number of audiophile and musician visitors’ remark on the power of the listening experience as witnessed from my chair. Musicians from any number of genres of music, from Salsa to Rock ‘n’ Roll to Classical, have actually wept after or during a listening session, and audiophiles of many years have remarked things like, “What more could you ask for,” and “I’ve never heard a rig sound ANY BETTER than this.”

While those are encouraging words, and seem to indicate that I’m doing the right things with component and cable selection as well as room set up, my system (every system? ;-D) must be seen as an ongoing work-in-progress. Every once in a while, the addition of some new piece, be it a source, a cable, or an accessory, allows me to move just a little closer to that actual musical event. The journey continues….