Well, I have had the room for a year and have resisted any big changes or additions. Finally, I have got around to measuring the room response and have ordered some minimal room treatments from Echobusters, including two Echobusters absorptive panels for the first reflections from my Kharmas and a pair of Phase-4 bass absorption/diffusion towers. Also, we finally ordered a sofa to go in the back of the room, behind the Barcelona chairs. Once they arrive, I should post pictures.
I do want to add a TT, but perhaps a new SUV may be required instead.
Dmurfet: I hate to say this but my Lamm M1.1's kicked out serious heat and I could barely touch them. So make sure there is air flow around them. Download the Lamm Manual online and see what they recommend for space around the amp Plus the on/off switch is a toggle switch on the back that you have to get to. They do support DC trigger but it has a special connector that only the Lamm L1 preamp could turn on.
How much heat do your amps kick out? I thinking about putting a pair in a cupboaqrd with an open back and grilles all round. Could I get away with it, or will they need to be on stand behind the speakers?
Awesome setup! Love the minimalist room and equipment layout. Seeing your M1.2's makes me miss my M1.1s already..
I totally understand your view on the Real Traps and I have a bunch of them. But I didn't want 3x as many ASC tubes either. Now that I have been using my Tact for room measurements and speaker placement I've been removing treatment except for the corner Real Trap Mondo traps as they allow for loud dynamic Techno, Trance, and Organ music without the room overloading. Since they offer diffusion wrapping them in an attractive cloth could help. The Tact won't work in your EMM Setup, the Rives Parc would if you needed to take out a serious bass hump.
The acoustic sweeps with the Tact has allowed me to position my speakers, sub and listening position to minimize room nodes/nulls for the bass frequency build-ups. Not that you want to have to lug your speakers around but this was probably even more important than the actual treatment. I am waiting for my large Sound Anchor Coasters (SLOW service from Sound Anchors) with hard felt on the bottom to reposition my speakers easily. Chris
Yes thanks for the recommendations. Don't take it personally, but I find the RealTRaps rather ugly ... I am hoping to find something a little more asthestically pleasing.
Thanks for the compliments. I will have to listen to those Cash Brothers. I must say, up until recently I have purposely ignored Canadian artists. With groups like Arcade Fire, Dears, Stars, BSS, New Pornographers, Black Mountain, Great Lake Swimmers, Constantines, etc. I have changed my attitude.
The Denon DVD player is connector to the projector via a component video cable that runs behind the front wall and through the ceiling into the ceiling mount. I don't know what brand cable the installers used, but it was 'bout $500 for the 20+ foot run. It is extremely stiff and not too user friendly.
Thom, Check out the Cash Brothers. They are Canadian and are one of my favorites. I love your room. When i get my next house i want a room like yours! Kale
Yes, I am always reading pitchforkmedia.com, cokemachineglow.com, dustedmagazine.com, various mp3 blogs, nme.com etc. to help discover new bands etc. Being Canadian, I no longer have to apologize for Bryan or Celine, given some of our more interesting exports recently.
After reading about your listening prefernces, I'm going to assume that you frequent pitchforkmedia.com correct? By the way your system looks incredible (envy).
System edited: It took months, but I finally got some new pictures showing the Zoethecus rack with the equipment off the floor, the new rug, and the bookcases in the back. Now, still need a sofa behind the Barcelona chairs (for movie night) and some of my photography on the walls.
The speakers are 5 feet from the front wall (wall to front baffle) and 27" from the sidewalls (wall to mid-tweeter). I have not tried to move them closer in from the side wall. Part of the problem is there is a retractable video screen and I need the speakers to allow unobstructed view of the screen. The screen is 100" diagonal and about 90" wide.
do you mind I ask how far away from the speaker to the side wall? and front wall? I noticed that your speaker is relatively close to the side wall, have you tried to bring them further to the side wall?
z-Slabs arrived for Zoethecus rack. Now my wife is happy with the emmlabs and DVD player off the floor. She is hoping I could hide the amps behind the speakers for some reason ! ONce the area rug finally gets here I should post some newer pictures ... Too busy watching Lance in the TdF.
Too busy listening to music to update pictures. Still waiting for 2 of the z-slabs to come for the Zoethecus rack to get the emm labs and Denon 2910 off my floor. Also, waiting for large area rug and bookshelves for back of room for my CD/DVD collection.
Now in constant rotation:
Beck Guero Bloc Party Silent Alarm Decemberists Picaresque Iron & Wine Woman King EP Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake ... Arcade fire Funeral The Dears No Cities Left The Stars Set yourself on fire Keren Ann Nolita Kathleen Edwards Back to Me Ryan Adams Heartbreaker Lucinda Williams World without tears LCD Soundsystem
congratulations! your system speaks volumes of your good taste. even your listening chairs make me drool : ) have fun fine tuning your room and let us know what placement/tweaks works best. scottie
Howie, thanks for the compliment. You're right ... not everything is optimized. As you can see from the picture the room is bare (no furniture, rug, or acoustic treatment) at this time. So, I have to take that in account. Plus, some of the stuff is still breaking in. Nonetheless, everything I loved about Kharma's on my auditioning (included Midi Exquisites + Ceramique 2.2's) is just as I expected. Believe it or not, I never actually auditioned the Midi Grands, but just went on their reputation having heard speakers from either end of the product line. The disappearing act, the luscious midrange, the driver coherence, the front row presentation, and the musicality is there. It is not the MidiExquisite, but it is a pretty good slice of that sound I first heard in Montreal this summer @ Tenor. What is amazing, I just had the movers plop the speakers down in a predetermined position (5 feet from front wall and 2 feet from side walls, no toe-in) and the imaging, bass, soundstage is wonderful. I am sure I could fine tune this, but I have certain limitations with viewing the video screen (100"diagonal). Plus, they are so nice where they are, I am not ready to start sliding the 180lb monoliths.
The one thing I worried about was could these speakers do bass, and if anything the bass response (since my SRA stands and Jena cables arrived) is there alright ... but, it is tight, focused ... perhaps some might want a little more visceral feeling thud?
Great to hear that you're enjoying your system. It's certainly one of the best out there. You probably haven't have everything optimized yet, but how does it compare to your previous auditions that made you fall in love with the Kharma speakers in the first place?
The sound has been changin' over the last week or so as new equipment arises and as stuff starts breaking in. (Some things like the speakers are already broken in as a dealer demo) At first, the emmLabs wasn't here, so I was using a Cambridge Audio Azur CDP and integrated amp from downstairs for my source/preamp and cheap IXOS IC and speaker cables. Nonetheless, the sound was encouraging, but perhaps a little deficient in the bass. The midrange was luscious but, a bit to airy and echo like without enough raspyness to some voices. Then, the emmLabs arrived a few days later and I started to play the CDSD/DCC2 24/7 for a number of days to start breaking in that stuff. Certainly, the detail and resolution and tonal balance improved compared to the Cambridge AUdio. Then, almost simultaneously my SRA stands arrived and Jena cables. I set up the SRA stands first which dramatically changed the bass presentation. Bass was seemingly more dynamic and focused. Especially, for some rock stuff (e.g. White Stripes etc.) the sound became more full. Then, switching from cheap cables to the Jena Symphony cables changed everything again. The missing bass is now well defined and present, tight and focused. Suddenly, I am hearing details in the upper end that weren't present with the cheap IXOS cable that was filling in. At first, I wasn't sure if the midrange was as luscious as the first few days, but many voices developed a little more backbone (e.g. Ryan Adams) and the sound is less echo sounding. As I got used to things and started to use the cables more and more I am now loving the overall presentation. Since the SRA stands arrived and the Jena Cables, I find I am listening at lower settings on the DCC2 and still producing similar SPL's. The room desperately needs more furniture, a large area rug in front of the speakers extending to the back of the room and I have large bookshelves (for CD's, DVD's, and books) on order for the back wall which may help diffuse things. Anyways, I am impressed with the Kharma disappearing act, the luscious midrange, and amazing driver coherence. The system is very musical and you really find yourself getting more into the music rather than picking apart the sound. Certainly, some of my rock/ alternative rock CD's are not that well recorded, but most discs can so far can be enjoyed on this system. Then, take an excellent recording and suddenly you realize it was worth all the time researching and fretting over the ultimate decisions. In fact, I am constantly torn between playing a whole disc or sampling other artists/discs to see how it sounds on the system. The soundstage is almost wall to wall and extends close to the ceiling. Interestingly, it seems to be primarily coming from behind the plane of the speakers. Some electronica/dance stuff is projecting sounds from all over, including close to the 9.5 foot ceiling. THe speakers were placed in one predetermined spot and I haven't played around with moving them. They are roughly 5 feet from the front wall (to front baffle) and over 2 feet from the side walls (to the middle of speaker). Unfortunately, the width of the room (12.5') doesn't allow much more space away from the side wall. I also have to leave enough space between the speakers to ensure easy viewing of the video screen (retractable).
All that is missing now is a my Denon DVD 2910 player, as I use a cheaper one from downstairs, my Zoethecus rack for the emmLabs gear and DVD player, and my remote for the CDSD. They are still finishing off the room darkening shades. Probably, could also use some room treatment for primary reflection from Midi Grands. (By the way, there is no multichannel sound or subs for movies at this point ... although the walls are wired to allow future 7.1 if desired).
System edited: Feb 10 2005: emmLabs gear arrives today (minus a remote). Out with the Cambridge Audio stuff. Now I need my Jena cables to see what this really is going to sound like.
