Mike.
Put fresh batteries in your camera, will be interesting to see how they go together.

Rg
Mark

redscouser October 17, 2012 06:59

Mike...thanks for the clarification. Have a great time with the MM7s and let us all know how they sound and the celebratory scotch :-) pans out! I'm headed out for a side trip to Legacy tomorrow after client site presentations in STL to hear the new AERIS and the Whisper models in a non-show environment. 14 crates....wow, what a project!

zephyr24069 October 17, 2012 04:55

hey David,

congrats on getting your VR9's back. have fun getting acquainted again!

the MM7's come in 14 large wooden crates, for a total of around 3500 pounds total shipped. 2100 for the speakers, 1400 for the crates.

i'm only getting 6 of the crates this week for the main towers. it will be 8 crates next week for the bass towers.

i'll have 3 people here to help me; my 'stout' son plus a couple of audio friends. i'm figuring a few pizza's and appropriate other things. since i've unpacked and set up the MM3's already i know the drill.

i do have a $200+ bottle of Scotch (that was given to me as a gift for just this occasion by an audio friend...thanks Mark)) ready for when the bass towers get set up for celebration.

you can have the Q7's, i'm ecstatic with the MM7's.

mikelavigne October 16, 2012 18:36

Hey Mike, i just got my speakers today (the VR-9's). three crates btw.
I will get some help (two guys from the local audio store) on friday to set them up. then i have to twist some knobs (all over again i'm afraid) for a couple of weeks to adjust the treble and bass to the mids. should be loads of fun.
and just how many crates do the MM-7's ship in? inquiring minds want to know. and, um, how many people are going to be on hand to assemble them?
I just hope you have plenty of chips and beer handy....good luck, D.
P.S.-Plus NOW i'm longing for Magico Q7's after reading the reviews. too bad they cost more arms and legs then i was born with..

french_fries October 16, 2012 16:27

i just got word that the main towers of the MM7's are complete and tested and will ship out tomorrow and will arrive at my home on this coming Friday.

finally!

bass towers could ship next Wednesday to next Friday at this point. if they ship next Wednesday i'll have them next Friday.

mikelavigne October 16, 2012 14:00

Mark,

you do make a very good point that nothing be taken for granted to make sure that a quite complicated product like the MM7's really all works properly.

Kevin has been working exclusively on my MM7's since September 17th, and everything has been throughly tested as he has gone along. building and testing the crossover as he went along took almost 3 weeks just by itself. assembling the cabinets and testing each driver is not quite as complicated but also part of the process.

and where it all will come together is that after i have my MM7's in house for a few weeks Kevin will travel up to my home and do the final set-up. at which point any issues can be resolved if necessary. any product can potentially have problems and i'm confident that ultimately i'll have proper 100% performing MM7's.

mikelavigne October 16, 2012 12:07

Mike: That's great news that your MM7s are getting close to being ready finally! Have you considered asking them to hold the shipment of the main towers until the bass towers are assembled and the whole package can be tested and voiced together? This is something I would strongly consider...

Good luck with this massive upgrade; I bet the result will be amazing!

zephyr24069 October 16, 2012 05:57

well i hear you, but i still wish i had two sons who play linebacker for New England, so they can help me with the stereo during the off-season.

french_fries October 10, 2012 12:44

French fries, don't feel so bad. I need two people to move something that does fit in my trunk - a Vibraplane platform - and I have three of them under amps and turntable. I'm about to add 130 lb. ballast plates to pre load them and that will be a two-man, 90 minute exercise. Perhaps we are crazy, but hey, we all want to hear the orchestra (or girl with guitar) in our home. The wait and the fun.

peterayer October 09, 2012 18:21

dear Michael, good luck with your speaker project! not to be a know-it-all, but unless you're being facetious, the parts being assembled into your speakers need to be tested one-by-one before they move on to the next part/driver. then of course once they screw the back on,
the speakers need to be auditioned at some length to make sure etc etc etc.
that's apparently why i had to wait an extra week or two for the Von Schweikert VR-9 upgrade. they test each board and each connection in some pre-determined order. since i am getting new subwoofer amplifiers as well ($4k)
they had to modify more "stuff". I am told they will sound "twice as good" as before. Jeez, i just want to get them back and set-up again. i never EVER thought i would end up with a pair of speakers i couldn't put in the trunk and connect them to my amplifier myself. i feel a bit powerless dealing with manufacturers, shippers, and installers just to extract a bit more realism from the "3 B's". What the heXX have i done? am i living in the real world or am i becoming a character out of stereophile letters, searching in vain for happiness by getting equipment so huge and cumbersome that i need two people to move the speaker 2 inches to the left?
is there a special place in Hell for people with 500W amplifiers and 400 pound speakers? maybe i should start saying my prayers....
BTW, my speakers shipped yesterday. so i should have them by Friday or Sat.

french_fries October 09, 2012 13:40

tonight i got word that the MM7 main tower cabinets were complete and were being 'stuffed' with crossovers, drivers, etc. starting today and over the next couple of days for shipping by Friday assuming all goes well.

if they ship Friday i should have the Main towers at my home by next Thursday. the bass towers to follow 2 weeks after.

;-)

mikelavigne October 09, 2012 01:29

Mike,

I just noticed that MSR acoustics has a bunch of Youtube videos. This is the one I saw and was thinking about for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJKwJWHxLgQ

Moved my whole system to the basement so that I can start playing with treatments. 18'x 33' x 10'-2" so not a bad room size!

mikeba316 October 07, 2012 10:45

hey David,

isn't waiting a b*tch! i'm getting pretty damn tired of it too. originally my new MM7's were supposed to be here in July, then August, and then.....so on and so on.

and i'm not getting any younger either. whine, whine, whine!

i did get some 'brand new' Von Schweikert Unifield 3's loaned to me back in late June, and brand new they were not cutting it, congested and veiled. but the last few weeks (200-300 hours in) they have finally settled in and are doing pretty good. not close to my MM3's but they make good music and i can enjoy them.

i used the last few months to further burn in all my Evolution Acoustics interconects and speaker cables. i now have 15 days on the Audio Kharma cable cooker on all those really thich heavy cables. previously i had 'only' had 5 'cooking' days on them but had used them for many months listening.

big, big, improvement with the additional 10 days cooking. i can't say where in the additional 10 day period they improved, but only that the additional performance was really dramatic.

anyway; i know you will love your new Mk2 upgrade on your VR9SE's. it will be worth the wait.

mikelavigne October 06, 2012 11:21

hi Shawn,

tod bad you did not have more time here, tough duty having to go to Italy. :)

sounds like you do hit the audio high spots; i've not been to the Analog Room but would like to sometime i'm down there. don't know the MF or Simaudio phonos but i always find Simaudio to be high value and high performance gear.

enjoy your travels and look me up next time you come around.

best regards,

mikelavigne October 06, 2012 11:07

hi Mike,

great to hear from you!

i miss my Garrard 301, i'm glad it's in a good home and being enjoyed. i can see myself getting another 301 at some point if i ever have more than one tt again. i loved that tt.

i did go to that Youtube video and it looks like a great idea for WAF for acosutic treatments. in my dedicated room in my barn it's not as big an issue; but for anyone trying to improve a living room system or anywhere where you need stealth treatments i can see the value. thanks for the heads up.

mikelavigne October 06, 2012 11:02

Mike,

Hope things are well. I'm stilling enjoying the Garrard 301 I got from you.
If you're looking for some nice looking wood diffusers go to Youtube and type in MSR acoustics. I saw these at CAS this year, and I'm in the process of trying to arrange for a demo. I saw them up close. Very well made.Not sure of cost though.

mikeba316 October 04, 2012 13:36

hey Mike, guess what...? i am also waiting for my VS-VR9 upgrade to be completed at the same time you are waiting for your new speakers to show up. So are you looking at a big empty space in your room like me, or do you keep a pair of "back-ups" around in the meanwhile? i was hoping to get my speakers a week ago, but... they are still "testing" the crossover boards and burning in the wiring, etc. But i last saw my speakers on 8/23, and i ain't getting any younger...
luckily i have a pair of Sonus Fabers in an extra bedroom, and while they are small, they're remarkable substitutes for a big pair of floor standers. Everyone is different, but personally i get used to whatever i am listening to right now- even if it's 4 drivers instead of 14....

french_fries October 04, 2012 11:34

Mike,

Just returned to Italy. Stayed north bend for two days. So busy with family, so did not get the chance. Did walk away from Definitive with Transparent cables and music fidelity phonostage. Went to visit daughter in san jose and went to the Analog room. Great place, Brian is a hoot. Listened to the Simaudio phonostage and decided to return the MF to Definitive. I was ok with the decision since my system consists of simaudio. Im in the navy, move around so simple is better for me.

Did not realize you worked for....(respect privacy), but my nephew worked for the same company both in Bellevue and bremerton prior to locating to Arizona where he is the finance manager there. He seems to do quite well for your company. His name is Victor Zarate if you know him.

Take care

Shawn

harris4crna October 04, 2012 10:25

Shawn,

i hope you enjoyed your visit to the Seattle audio ghetto.

at this point the main towers of my speakers will be delivered to me either late next week or the following week, with the bass towers following a couple weeks later. so it will be November sometime before it will be all here. if you are still in town then you are welcome to visit for a listen.

best regards,

mikelavigne October 04, 2012 08:27

Paulo,

i looked at the Vicoustic Wavewood diffusers and they are not for me since they are absorbtive so would have an effect on the tonal qualities in my room. i do love the way they look and could see why they would work well in many rooms.

i am attracted to the Vicoustic Multifuser Wood 64 as an alternative to my RPG Skylines between my speakers. i would much prefer the look of the wood to the painted foam i now have. my only concern is (1) would the wood be too absorbtive and cause unwanted tonal shifts? and (2) will i lose some of the clarity from the Skylines switching to the Multifuser 64. i like them enough that i may buy three panels and try it.

thanks for bringing this product to my attention.

i wonder if anyone out there has compared RPG Skylines to the Vicoustic Multifuser 64, or maybe have a good idea of how they would compare. i'm not quite technical enough to be able to understand the difference completely.

mikelavigne October 04, 2012 08:21

thank's for your kindly response Mike,
I will follows your system evolution with the new incoming (hope soon for you) new fantastic speakers.
I will test the Vicoustic diffuser Wave-Wood

caliaripaolo September 25, 2012 08:26

Mike,

Taking your advice. Heading up to the seattle audio ghetto as you reffered to check out some hifi equiptment. Let you know what i find out. Thanks again for the sound advice.

Shawn

harris4crna September 20, 2012 13:04

i have not tried any diffusers on the wall behind my listening area. i suspect there is some additional benefit to be found by doing so, and i have looked into it but not pulled the trigger.

the only thing is that in a 29 foot long room, my speakers are approx 9' to 9.5 feet into the room, and i sit another 9' farther into the room. which means a back wall diffuser would be 9' away from my ears....which is a long distance for rear-wall reflections to have much affect.

on either side of the back-wall of the room there are diffusive Lp shelves, then there is a 5-6 foot inset where the door and a flat side panel is. any diffuser mounted there would need to have part of it on the door. then there is the HVAC control panel and the Lutron lighting control panel there on the wall along side the door. so any diffusion would need to be build around those panels.

it's alot of screwing around for something that likely would not have much affect. you can see why i have not yet done anything with it; but at some point i will try something.

mikelavigne September 14, 2012 18:14

Audioblazer and Paolo,

the Skylines are similar to the PRD formula. i have not compared this approach to the QRD type diffusers.

my viewpoint is that diffusers are most agressive when designed to be in nearfield first reflection points (on a wall between speakers, on a ceiling at first reflection points, on sidewall first reflection points in relatively narrow rooms) and that the PRD type diffusers are the best of these. these type diffusers try to keep reflections coherent and minimize smearing. my room is quite wide (21') and tall (11') so i only really need agressive diffusion between my speakers. and my ceiling has those angled panels that eliminate any first reflections completely.

QRD type diffusors are medium level diffusors that can be put anywhere and do have advantages in lower frequencies compared to the PRD type. my built-in side wall cylinders are a type of medium diffusion which are more for whole room diffusion. i am cautious about any diffusion that deals with low frequencies because it will change the tonal balance of the room in unpredictable ways. careful to not lose the body of the music in the pursuit of more detail and image focus.

the Auralex T-fusors i use in my room are mild diffusors that break up slap echo but should only be used where there are not first reflections. they can be loaded with absorbtive material but then will change tonality.

my goal is to retain as much musical energy as possible (hardwood floor at speaker end) all the surfaces in the room are 'live' and diffusive. absorbtion should be minimized, although smaller rooms need some absorbtion to allow for coherence at higher SPL's.

mikelavigne September 14, 2012 18:01

thank's Mike.
I see what you means.
I just tried to remove the picture (which has a glass) installed behind the loudspeakers and sound seams to be more "dead".
Looking for diffusers, I found the QRD Difuser like the Razorblade Quadratic Diffuser (from Primacoustic). This kind of diffuser is mainly used to be set backward the listener position, especially when the virtual reflection points are more then 2 meters far away.
Did you never used this kind of diffusers and if is the case, why did you abandon the way?

caliaripaolo September 12, 2012 08:45