What is Digg?303 Comments
- Kale, on 10/12/2007, -2/+145If you will notice, he has the ceiling and parts of the wall in "wavy" patterns to break up the sound wave. If you have total damping, the music sounds "dead". With a little wood, it can make it sound a little more "live". As long as it's not square where you are bombarded with standing waves and reflected sound, it will be OK.
This dude is some kind of awesome. Every detail of that room is well-thought out. - davidrools, on 10/12/2007, -6/+111Audiophiles are more interested in the gear than the music they supposedly listen to.
- Skizza, on 10/12/2007, -14/+103Half the things in there are the audiophile equivalent of homeopathy: ***** that does nothing (see the cables raised off the floor on special stands, $1000 speaker cables etc). I'd bet you could remove/replace $20k worth of equipment without him being able to tell any difference in audio quality in a double blind test.
- built2spill, on 10/12/2007, -4/+73I wish people would stop digging that site. It's all stolen images with no props to the people that made them, lots of ads and a big DIGG button. And a really lame disclaimer. It's another ebaums world, folks. Thieves.
- JBlaze, on 10/12/2007, -4/+52Because you are used to them on your chin?
- BlindIrishman, on 10/12/2007, -5/+49"Analog is not better than digital"
When it comes to speakers it is. - j10s, on 10/12/2007, -0/+39you must be deaf.
- beerbaron, on 10/12/2007, -15/+52I'm surprised that there isn't more carpet on the floor, and that he doesn't have drapes or anything on the walls to dampen echoes
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+34Here's the original page: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vaslt&1036349020&read&3&4&
which has links to all the parts he used and the costs as well. - jodokast, on 10/12/2007, -11/+43@neoform: You have no idea what your talking about..
- ophilye, on 10/12/2007, -6/+35You would be right, Jeffgtr.
Audiophiles seem to completely disdain MP3's for their lack of true quality sound.
I, however, completely disdain audiophiles for their lack of true depth. - Forestmb, on 10/12/2007, -3/+32Are you serious? How much you willing to put up on that bet?
- thrasher6670, on 10/12/2007, -7/+36yeah, thats just useless.... and expensive for nothing
- Kale, on 10/12/2007, -0/+26Probably behind all the Pink Floyd LPs
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+28I love the cable supports that keep the speaker leads from actually touching the floor!
- Xeppo, on 10/12/2007, -4/+28Double-blind tests are just a standard for which both the tester and the testee do not know which they are listening to. A double blind test is more accurate and gives no scientific bias. Thus, a double-blind test would be better in determining his audio preferences if he were to test himself, which is highly possible (if not probable). His use of double-blind would be completely accurate in that context.
- RealSurreal, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24almost perfect but I didn't see the bong!
- raeanin, on 10/12/2007, -7/+30@SpaceDreamer
Congratulations on not knowing anything about audio. - blakyce, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20It's not about the sound only. I am sure the pursuit and experience of collecting all of these items and setting up the room are where most of the pleasure for this person come from.
- UltimaNut, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19Turn it up to 11 man..
- Shirk, on 10/12/2007, -4/+22All that's missing is a plasma TV. There's a perfect spot there too.
- septicmadman, on 10/12/2007, -16/+34Double-blind is a buzz word used by people selling touch lamps for 3 easy payments of $14.99, so he wanted to use it.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17"Hell, I can play whole tracks in my head from memory."
Watch out. Unlicensed playback--$7000/song. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17And here's a link to the article he wrote on the construction of the room (very detailed, for the curious):
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue16/lavigneroom.htm :) - meshman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17"I'm surprised that there isn't more carpet on the floor, and that he doesn't have drapes or anything on the walls to dampen echoes"
One of the recording studios I've been in had panelling on the walls and a small area rug in it. I asked him why the walls weren't covered in egg cartons or some such gear and he said he tried that. The sound was dampened, flat and unnatural. He ripped the wall stuff down, remove the w-w carpet. Then it echoed a bit too much. The area rug added the perfect amount of dampening for the room he had.
In another studio, in the control booth, the walls were all covered with sound dampening foam but the wall on one side of the console had a huge hole torn in the sound proofing. Weird. I asked what happened. The engineer said, when the studio was constructed they brought in spectrum analysis hardware and found that with the foam there, it unbalanced the sound in the booth. They hand tore a pile of it out and now the booth is balanced.
You can't always tell by just looking and sometimes, just by listening either. - robbh66, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18@neoform
You're wrong. My father is an audiophile (although not to the huge extent that this guy is) and I've grown up hearing both analogue and digital. There is a difference, you just don't really realize it until you have the good stuff. Kind of like how TV used to look fine - and then you saw what HDTV looked like. - Kale, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Insulation from ground. It's kind of like an e-penis thing for audiophiles, it's supposed to be "hard-core" but it really doesn't serve much of a purpose.
- Xeppo, on 10/12/2007, -5/+19@Skizza (The original post): Saying he could have saved $20000 on that setup by buying lower-end equipment is like telling a Lamborghini owner that they would be better off with a corvette. Yes, they will both go fast, but one looks a hell of a lot better and has much more prestige attached to it.
- strom, on 10/12/2007, -10/+24@BlindIrishman
There is no such thing as a digital speaker. - zttrx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Actually, as an audiophile myself, I can tell you beyond the shadow of a doubt that those cable risers DO NOT MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE AT ALL. If you need them, your setup is faulty in the first place.
And tell the guy who owns the setup in the pictures, if you know him, that he should have gone with McIntosh tube amps and speakers. Rule #1 of all audiophile systems: The single most important element is the speakers, so spend the most money on them. - Xeppo, on 10/12/2007, -16/+28Add two high-quality DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) mats and an overhead projector and that would be my dream room.
- jpenney, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12I'd just once like to see any actual testing from "audiophile" product vendors. Not "so and so said" or these vague "extra detail, airy, warm, open" crap. If you are engineering a product you can measure it.
There are places that sell wooden knobs, special laquer to paint on your equipment and amazing stones to lay your cables on. Although the high end power cables really take the cake. These people really think that a 3ft IEC cable is going to make the difference after hundreds of miles of high voltage lines, transformers, your breaker box and the hundreds of feet of wiring in your house. That last 3ft and copper cable will make the sound. Especially since that just feeds a DC power supply.
Logic is wonderful. - fearofcorners, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11@Xeppo
It's not at all the same as the Lamborghini/Corvette scenario. We're talking about changing the wires connecting the speakers and that sort of thing. It's more like having the Lamborghini, but using really really great engine oil or oil that costs $1000/litre that is actually mechanically indistinguishable from the cheap stuff. - Niffer, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14There were ads on that page?! Thanks Firefox!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16Vinyl for the win
- empeethree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Get the cables off the floor. There are a number of theories surrounding this tweak, but the most plausible focus on the areas of vibration and static electricity. Decoupling the cables from the floor reduces structure-borne vibrations that can reduce focus and cause audible “smearing.” Static charges present in carpet (and other flooring materials) couple to the cable, resulting in increased background noise and grain. Try this experiment: Cut an empty paper towel (or toilet paper) tube into 2 – 3” lengths. Use these to raise all cables off the floor, and as spacers to separate cables from one another. Better systems will often benefit from this tweak, realizing improved detail, air and transparency. If you like what you hear, you may want to replace the cardboard tubes with something a bit more attractive! There are a number of companies manufacturing specific products for the purpose. You can also build your own, but remember to use non-conductive materials, with wood and paper being common choices.
http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/tuningtips.html
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sounds like horse ***** if you ask me.. but each to his own. - JaiHaru, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10What everyone commenting on the carpet and walls seems to be failing to realize is that this is a Music Room, not a recording studio. The latter have eggcarton walls and foam to prevent the echoes from ruining the master recording, when actually listening to music some amount of the music should repeat, otherwise the music will absorb into the walls and sound flat. Think about opera halls and the finest acoustic theatres in the world, they certainly don't have wall to wall carpet and eggcarton walls.
- sammyc53, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10My coworker knows this guy. Guestimated the cables being worth over 35K. Seattle area.
- dignation, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10thats because you haven't been exposed to anything better. For example, for about a year I listened to music with the ***** iPod earbuds. I thought they sounded great. Then I got some $50 sony In ear earbuds, i couldn't live without them. After that I got some $200 sure headphones, again, i couldn't live without them. My advice: stay with the ***** stuff. You'll never really know how much better you can get to, so, in the long run, you save a ton of money. So, i must say, more power to you!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11How did I know this was Knuttz again? I can tell just by the title.
- rediculous, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina44.htm
audiophiles are strange dudes, for sure. - burstaneurysm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9There's a whole lot of audiophile snake oil in that room... some of it works, but a lot of it is just an excuse to brag at parties.
- therippa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I wonder if the guys at best buy tried selling him the extended warranty?
- Kale, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Many audiophiles spend $10K or more on speakers to get ultra-high sensitivity, so they can use their 15W tube amps at a good volume. Others audiophiles get those ultra high powered amps and use really low efficiency (but accurate) speakers. It's all a matter of taste.
- jabberwonk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Here's the hardware rundown for that room:
Turntable: Rockport Technologies System 3 Sirius ($53,500)
Cartridge: Koetsu Rosewood Sig Platinum ($5,500) or van den Hul Colibri XCP ($7000)
other cartridge: Dynavector XV-1s ($4,250)
RCA cables: Nordost Valhalla ($3,200)
DAC: Meitner emmlabs DAC6 ($9,995)
pre amp: darTZeel NHB-18NS ($23,500)
CD transport: emmlabs CDSD ($7,995)
darTZeel 'Zeel' interconnects (pre-amp to amps - the ones on the insulators) ($1,900)
AC power cords w/ inline conditioners - Jena Labs Fundamental One ($1,850 ea)
amps: darTZeel NHB-108 ($37,000 ea.)
speakers: Von Schweikert VR9SE ($60,000 pr.)
speaker cable (2pr - bi-amp) Transparent Opus MM Solid State ($67,000) [yes - that is correct]
audio stand: Grand Prix Monaco with Formula Shelves ($15,000)
Total: $343,940
Here's some comments from the owner of the room:
Siriusly, the room's the thing!
this room and system is the result of 10 years in High End audio. my system has been stable for a couple of years (except for transport and amplifier upgrades within the same brand). the room has been in the planning stage for about 18 months and i actually moved in a little over a month ago.
my audio philosphy is to have the system get out of the way of the event. i like as pure and simple a signal path as possible and, at this point, prefer passive to active gain stages. i love all the formats and enjoy having lot's of music.....vinyl is my favorite but i listen to at least 60% digital. the new room really reveals the benefits of SACD over redbook.
the system and room truely allow the event to be recreated before me. i love the way the speakers disappear and i am transported to another place/time.
i have choosen my cables, sources, amps, speakers to have as little of their own sound as possible.
recently, i upgraded my digtial transport from the modified Philips SACD 1000 to the new emmlabs CDSD.....this was a significant step upward in performance.
i have written an article in Positive Feedback regarding my room building experience.....here is a link;
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue16/lavigneroom.htm - rayearth42, on 10/12/2007, -10/+18Wouldn't it just be a single-blind trial?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_blind - InternetUser, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8kidding? this has to be a post-divorce purchase.
- master_of_fm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8also dont forget about demagnetizing your CDs!!!
http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/demagnetization.html - Kbennett, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Even the architecture of the interior it set up to maximize the sound quality.
- cmatteson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Does anyone realize that the turntable alone costs over $70,000? I just looked it up. I mean I love vinyl as much as the next record geek...but...$70K?! Not to sound like a bleeding heart, but couldn't all that money be used for some other purpose? I guess I'm just a poor Grad student and can't even afford records right now. But I can't imagine spending more than a few thousand for my equipment.
Here's a link:
http://www.audiofederation.com/catalog/turntables/ -
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