searching for musical truth: SP Tech Timepiece 3.0

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #100 on:** 10 Mar 2009, 04:05 pm »

Quote from: ted_b on 10 Mar 2009, 04:03 pm

Melody Gardot?

Cheers. That would be the Miss.

ted_b · « **Reply #101 on:** 10 Mar 2009, 04:19 pm »

Interesting story; self taught guitarist lying on her back in bed with head trauma/short-term memory issues due to bike accident, etc. Went from myspace-driven song collection to big time modern jazz diva-in-the-making.

Ok sorry for the thread hijack. Lance, looking forward to your new pics of the music space.

targa · « **Reply #102 on:** 10 Mar 2009, 10:46 pm »

yes. Melody Gardot. i heard that story from a German friend of mine when he was here and we were out to lunch... he played her songs on his iPod for me. i brought her CD to you - Jim - last Sat.. you need to give it a listen again this Sat.. also, bought the Sherley Horn CD that Jim showed me at his place..

will upload the pics tonight.. promised. but hey, want to set expectations now that i am not going to close to anything that Ted has done or other fellows on here.. but it is a start

targa · « **Reply #103 on:** 10 Mar 2009, 11:19 pm »

here are some room updates i applied. focused on first point reflections using mirror technique as outlined in the diagram Ted sent..

rear walls are not treated yet..

added floor carpets:

added side (wood but do help!) panels and covered rear wall w/ 1.5 inch foam:

two little things on the rear walls above the foam wall are temporary placements but do help damp echo in that area

targa · « **Reply #104 on:** 11 Mar 2009, 01:01 am »

good fellows, as you can see on the pics, the room is better damped acoustically. still more can be done.. for example, the slope down ceilings on both sides can be treated like what Ted has done..

however, with the current setting, i already hear significant improvements. also, i use 4 channels to drive the two speakers making this ~240 watts per channel..

here is what i can say:
1. voices are (even) more detailed, fuller (was a bit “lean” before as per Jim), warmer, and more accurate/natural(!) for example, the violin sound is much sharper, just like i had changed the source to a more detailed/better source..
2. boomy bass (Jim mentioned this when he listened) is mostly gone if not completely, making the imaging more accurate and extremely musical
3. pull of center point image over to left side is now corrected
4. soundstage wider and deeper (Jim wondered why the soundstage was narrow before), extending well beyond the speakers, making speakers disappear even better
5. i can better hear the “size” of the recording room, e.g. i hear the room echo in the recording better instead of the echo of my own room (Jim also mentioned this point before..!) this is quite noticeable with the track Philadelphia from a Bruce Springsteen CD.. i can better hear the echo of the (snare) drum beats

simply more enjoyable and musical listening experience. one thing that i clearly notice by comparison to all my past speakers is that the soundstage extended beyond the rear and side of the speakers instead in front of the speakers. the singer voices do not have that typical in-my-face presentation and are not pushed out to the front as typical speakers.. is this a trait of accurate/ neutral speakers with flat frequency response across the bandwidth? i do really like this kind not-in-your-face presentation in speakers..

also, i think that this is a trait of good balanced speakers and associated components.. nothing pulled attention to itself but just let the music comes through exactly as intended.. i also heard a similar, balanced sound last Sat at Jim’s

more later

ted_b · « **Reply #105 on:** 11 Mar 2009, 01:32 am »

Good start Lance. With all the improvements you've documented you've made great progress. Good job! I'm not sure what the Sonex is doing for the front wall (the wall behind the speakers, cuz nothing much goes on back there from a reflection you could hear). Bass traps in the corners would help immensely, as well as damping the ceiling first reflection.

I think addressing the floor and first reflection points on the side walls has done 80% of what you're hearing, as well as overall softening of the room.

targa · « **Reply #106 on:** 11 Mar 2009, 01:48 am »

ted, you know a lot! thanks!

targa · « **Reply #107 on:** 11 Mar 2009, 02:58 am »

ok. i will look for bass traps for all 4 corners, front and rear walls.. what about the ceiling? do i have to do anything?

ted_b · « **Reply #108 on:** 11 Mar 2009, 04:17 am »

For the short term, I'd take some of that Sonex off the front wall and put it at the ceiling reflection point.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #109 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 05:04 am »

I agree with Ted, Lance, it's the early reflection places that are the most detrimental to, well, everything. In your case, I think we want to hear your stage expand and things appear more there. The room, hey, anybody's room just about, can close things down. The way you get there is what you're doing. I still think you're SP's are underpowered, however, unless that's changed significantly since my last visit. We can play with that, you know. I look forward to our next visit.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #110 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 05:14 am »

Quote from: jimdgoulding on 12 Mar 2009, 05:04 am

I still think you're SP's are underpowered, however, unless that's changed significantly since my last visit. We can play with that, you know.

The better the amp....the better the SP Tech's will sound.

Yes....they need good , clean, high power.

By the way....nice review Lance....enjoy the speakers.

Chris

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #111 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 05:52 am »

targa, have you ever experimented with aiming the speakers inward a little more and, perhaps, widening the spacing?
My guess is you could angle them in 10 - 20º more to good effect. By minimizing the side wall reflections, which you would do by angling them, (thus capitalizing on the controlled directivity aspect of the Timepiece design) you could probably get away with positioning them closer to the side walls if you wanted the extra stereo width.
I can't see what you have for upstream equipment, but if you have a mono selector you can speed the whole positioning and reflection damping process by selecting mono and going for the narrowest, most focused image.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #112 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 06:06 am »

I love you cats. Yer on it like a duck on a bug! "Turn your lamp down low" . . Mississippi John Hurt, you know. I spell that right?

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #113 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 06:09 am »

Quote from: jimdgoulding on 12 Mar 2009, 06:06 am

I love you cats. Yer on it like a duck on a bug!

I guess this was the first time you've heard an SP Tech speaker Jim....

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #114 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 06:14 am »

That would be correct, Chris. I wanna help our young brother get the most from them. Me, too, actually. Don't think I'll fugue it up. But, stay tuned. Lance, Chris is our godfather and Russell makes recordings using SP's as monitors.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #115 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 06:27 am »

Quote from: jimdgoulding on 12 Mar 2009, 06:14 am

That would be correct, Chris. I wanna help our young brother get the most from them. Me, too, actually. Don't think I'll fugue it up. But, stay tuned. Lance, Chris is our godfather and Russell makes recordings using SP's as monitors.

See if you can round up an amp to try Jim....one with a little more "beef"....

Those SP Tech's really suck up the watts...and then they really sing.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #116 on:** 12 Mar 2009, 06:32 am »

Thanks, Chris, we shall, indeed, Lance willing.

targa · « **Reply #117 on:** 13 Mar 2009, 02:46 am »

good fellows, thank you for the recommendations... i will add more for sure...

the room acoustics is a bit odd... for example, if i use the certains behind the TV and cover the TV up, i hear a clear change in the soundstage and (more) details. also, yesterday i was testing out a new power conditioner and put it on the left side behind the TV, covering up that area a bit, the center image was then pulled over to the left... when i removed that conditioner, the imaged was centered again... so the front walls - behind the speakers - do have a significant impact of overall room acoustics...

I will also try the SP Tech on more powerful amps with Jim... main concern is that i may like that sound better...

more later. thanks for the inputs...

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #118 on:** 13 Mar 2009, 03:30 am »

The big amp I mentioned previously, Lance, is not at my disposal. We will have to make an arrangement with its owner at a later time. Or, do you have something at your house?

targa · « **Reply #119 on:** 13 Mar 2009, 01:38 pm »

i meant the arrangement...