It looks like Klaus nailed it again! Wish I had attended.
https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2019/06/09/must-see-rooms-day-three-t-h-e-show-2019/
Brett
He did nail it. Again.
When I initially popped in, the room looked awkward with the speakers very close to the side walls, but well away from the Front wall. Klaus had placed GIK Diffusors immediately in front of the speakers and against the wall. It looked like they were very close to touching but there was a small gap. I think those diffusors are about 6" deep, so I would guess that the speakers were 8-10" from the side walls. I thought it would be a challenge to get good sound.
Boy was I wrong. Said Hi! to Klaus (along with other members of the NorCal AC Circle who I hung out with - Cheeseboy, Soundofrockets, and another friend) and chatted briefly about the difficulties this year's room presented. Managed to snag the front center listening chair as Klaus put a vinyl copy of The Door's
LA Woman on the TT and played the title track. A bit too nearfield for my usual preference, but....
[insert jawdrop emoji]
Wow. The depth referenced in the above link can not be adequately explained w/o being there. Palpable presence in between and well behind the speakers for both the vocals and the drums. Soundstage was incredible. Listened to the whole track while the (full) room made comments about the depth and the recording techniques used to record this Album and Song - they were very evident.
**Side note -When I go into rooms at these shows, I tend to notice a few things quickly. if they get the first one right, I stick around to see if they got the second one right, and then the third. In order:
1) Tone, which may include choice of crossover point. Are the singers too "Chesty" or "thin"?
2) Soundstage. Are there clearly defined points across the room between (and possibly outside of) the Speaker locations for the instruments and the vocals, or are they blurred and indistinct. May include space between each of those.
3) Depth. This seems to be the hard one at most shows. If the first two are in place, and then there is depth -
Magic. I just want to sit and listen. So does everybody else.
I went back to the room several times both Saturday & Sunday. Packed every time. Difficult to keep the room cool because there were so many people, even though Klaus usually opened the sliding glass door to the balcony between tracks (thank goodness for cool air coming in off of Long Beach Harbor just a few blocks away).
Was it the best sounding room at the show? No. I enjoyed several others, but at ten times the cost (or more. Considerably more in some cases
). The fact that I enjoyed it almost as mush as rooms with systems that hovered at or above the 6 figure price point singles this room out from the others that I liked.
Once again this is
INCREDIBLY good sound at a price point that far more people could manage to justify and spend. (I think he said everything but the front end for about $7500)(Any of the rooms I though better featured single products that were 5-10x that....)
Thanks for all this wonderful music making stuff Klaus.
