I just finished building a dedicated listening room in my new apartment. It took me one year and a half to complete, but it was well worth the wait. I simply love it.
The room size is 14 x 19 x 8 feet.
The room was designed by a company that specialises in acoustic design. Not the popular Rives Audio, since I live in Europe and that would increase the costs of the Level 3 project well past $10k mark, but a reputable local company.
The room acoustics was was first designed in a digital domain and then improved upon with the real world measurements taken during all stages of construction work.
The room is soundproof and - among other things - features soundproof windows, double doors and 11" thick double walls. The measured noise level inside the room is 26dB during the day (measured during rush hours, at 16:00), so it is almost dead quiet.
The room has two dedicated lines, each rated 20A @ 230V, one for analog and one for digital gear. All cables, circuit breakers and mains outlets are of audiophile quality.
MSB DAC IV Signature with Diamond Power Base - replaced the dCS Scarlatti, which served me as my reference for the past 3 yaers.
MSB S200
Fully balanced 200 Watt stereo amplifier. Class A, Zero Negative Feedback design. Fluid, palpable, a bit on the warm side of things. An amazing piece.
Magico S5
New addition to the system. Replaced Wilson Sasha speakers.
MUSA S21T USB
Computer based transport with SOtM PCIe USB card, SOtM sata filter, fanless PSU, fanless i5 CPU, SSD, 8GB RAM and Synology 2x2TB NAS. Running Win 7/64 with Jriver and Jplay.
AudioQuest WEL Signature
Replaced Tara Labs The RS-1 interconnects.
AudioQuest Diamond USB
USB cable.
Shunyata Anaconda Z-Tron
A new model from Shunyata. Replaced van den Tara Labs RS-1 cable.
Shunyata Anaconda CX
I have two of those, powering Dart and dCS.
Pure Power 2000
Battery powered AC Regenerator.
Finite Elemente Pagode Master Reference HD09
Top of the range component stand from Finite Elemente, with their resonator technology (3 used). I favour those over a 4-tier Pagode rack, since they do not interfere with soundstage when placed between the speakers.
Finite Elemente Ceraballs
I have two sets placed under my speaker cables. Very unussual location, I agree, but works a treat.
Finite Elemente Cerapuc
I have two sets placed under my speakers. A simply stunning improvement in low-level detail retrival and microdynamics. Worth every penny !
HMS Energia SSDB mains outlets
Two of those finish off my two, 230V/20A, dedicated power lines.
AHP Klangmodul 3+
Audiophile circuit breakers. Gold plated, solid copper contacts. Each of the two dedicated power lines has his own breaker.
ACS Diffusors
Diffusors made by german company Acoustic Control Systems. I have 3 sets of those, one on the rear wall and two on the side walls. As you can see on the pic, the whole part of the rear wall, to which the diffusor is attached, pertrudes 12" into the room.
Custom absorbers
The whole room is fitted with custom absorbers, tuned to specific frequencies. The pic shows one of the six absorbers fitted to the front wall. If you look carefully, you wil notice, that there is an MDF plate with lots of small holes fitted inside, which divides the internal volume of the absorber into two smaller chambers. The sound enters the traps by the front gaps, goes to the first empty chamber and then through the holes to the next chamber, where it can dissipate in a mineral fiber (not fitted on this pic).
Custom diffusors
Set of 5 custom diffusors fitted over the listener's head.
RT-60 curve
This is the RT-60 curve of my room. Black trace is our target curve, blue one is base curve (empty room, no acoustic treatment, no floor), red curve shows how the room responded after ACS diffusors, wooden floor and sand stone were added. Green curve is the most recent one. It is still not perfect, but we are working on it.
Room Frequency Response curve
Room Frequency response. Quite nice if you ask me :-)
Daikin ultra quiet A/C unit
Daikin A/C split system replaced McQuay unit. The difference in noise levels generated by those two units is staggering. Daikin is so quiet (22dB) that you can barely hear it from the listening chair. There are CD-players that generate more noise than this ! The other outstanding feature of this unit is that it can work when outside temp drops to 10'F - so it can be used during winter too.
System edited: Sold my beloved AudioQuest Kilimanjaro speaker cables (they are really incredible) and went all the way - just got the AudioQuest Everest. As much as I like the KJ, the Everest is even better. I also replaced my Transparent Reference w/MM ICs with AudioQuest SKY ICs. They offer MUCH improved resolution over TA, without sounding thin or etched.
Colinandsue - thanks for your input. I haven't heard the 302, but I have heard several other ICEpower based amps and all lacked some midrange warmth and harmonic completness, which - at least for me - is essential. It is a shame Rowland stopped making the old, Class A models - 8 and 9. The old ones could really make a perfect match.
BTW - Jeff Rowland didn't started Avalon. Avalon was started in 1988 by Charlie Hansen (of Ayre fame) and then sold to Jeff Rowland, who in turn sold Avalon (just after a year of ownership) to the current owner and designer - Neil Pattel - in 1990. Not many ppl know that.
One of the best combinations I have heard with the Avalon Diamonds is using Jeff Rowland Design Group amps. Neil Lucent and Jeff Rowland are good friends and Neil uses Jeff Rowland amps to power his speakers. A little known fact is Jeff Rowland actually started Avalon in the mid 90's and sold the company to focus on his amps and preamps. I would suggest the 302's either in stereo or mono depending on your budjet. I live in Colorado Springs and if I can help you with the purchase, assuming their are no dealers in your area, I would be happy to do so. I currently have Sonus Faber Creomona's but will be using them in a theatre setup after I get my Avalon Diamonds. I built a room almost identical to yours in size and did many of the soundproofing techniques you used. All in all I am very satisfied with Jeff Rowlands build quality and sound. Thirty years from now after all my other equipment has failed or considered obsolete I will still be using my amps from Jeff. Best regards and good luck with your project. Colin
I have heard it many times that Eidolons reqire LOTS of Watts to drive them properly. Interestigly, so far I got best resouls using GM70 based SET amp, which was only 30W per channel. Funny, isn't it ?
There is neither VTL not Manley dealer where I live, so I will probably have to skip those two. Plus, I have heard ppl having too many reliability problems with VTL gear, to take it into serious consideration.
Cello amps are no longer made, so I will rather skip those as well. But I'm not giving up Cello completly - after I got back from CES I will try Viola Labs amps in my system. I was told that Viola Labs is run by former Cello engineers, so who knows - maybe they will sound as good if not better than Cello Duets you mentioned.
regarding amps worthy for the Avalons: consider tube or SS powerbeasts with a Wattage rating over 200 Watts. The Avalon can handle it easily. Suggestions: VTL, Manley, Cello. I've heard once the Eidolons with a Cello Duet (350W) and it sounded wonderful. Where are you located in Europe??
