[mfsoa]

We repainted with River Rock textured finish (PITAss), added a few more GIK panels and some 8th Nerve triangles. And got three Berkline recliners.

The room is ~18' x 13' with speakers on the long wall. Tweeters 7' apart, 8' from listener, woofers ~45" from front wall, toe-in barely perceptable. Due to the small room the camera perspectives are weird but you can see the location of the panels. The rear wall opens up to other rooms at each outside edge so there is no rear wall/side wall boundary.

There are 4 GIK 244s - 2 in the corners and 2 behind the speakers. Each are on 16" metal speaker stands.

Also on the front wall is one 242, horizontally behind the TT and 3 ASC panels I had laying around so I put them along the ceiling.

Since the rear wall is so close to my head, I tried to get rid of it with 4 of the 242s, outer ones offset from the wall a bit to clear a thermostat.

Then there is the one lone 242 I like to put in front of the rack - There was a big cleaning-up of the sound with this in place.

Side walls are bookcases with ever-changing stuff. All art work and other decorations come and go freely.

It's a well-damped room but I think it really sounds great. Simply walking into the room you get that creepy quiet, peacful, calm feeling that a low-reverb room gives you. It makes the room a very pleasant space to be in.

Maybe I could have some of you in the western area of the NY Audio Rave to come out to Hunterdon, NJ one of these weekends if there's interest.

Underneath the suspended wood floor is a bracing system consisting of 2 12' 4x4s running perpendicular the floor joists, along the short axis of the room, located several feet apart. These are supported by 4 of those adjustable metal basement columns. The 4x4s are also attached to the joists by tons of L-brackets, two at each intersection. The joist/subfloor intersections were all silicone caulked. The floor is very solid and this made a great improvement in the sound. All speaker spikes are located directly over joists.  I can post pics if interested.

Here goes:
From right rear:


From L rear:


Listening chair:


From L front:


Thanks for listening to me ramble, guys!

Oh - playing with a VAC PA100/100 soon, my first tube foray! I need to see if I get hooked or not.

-Mike

[gooberdude]

Nice!!!!     

i really dig the peace sign wood carving and the panel covering your rack...i've toyed around with that same idea.

[JLM]

Very nicely done     

That extra panel in front of the equipment rack is a good idea (especially with the limited room depth pushing the speakers back towards the rack).  IME more folks (those with big racks or similar situations) should try it. 

It shouldn't be just for TV's anymore.   

This room/setup makes so much more sense to me than the recently posted Greek U-tube examples.

[martyo]

Very clean look! I can show these to the spouse!

[Housteau]

I see your listening spot is three chairs wide.  I tried something similar a while ago.  But, in my room there is only one location where everything comes together in an ideal way.  It doesn't take much being off to the side a bit one way or the other, or forward or backwards to destroy the intricate images presented.  Sure the balance of sound is always nice, but that grand illusion is gone.  Off to the sides my one ear will get just a hair more from that corresponding speaker, then it all shifts over a bit.  I have found just about all good 2 channel systems will do that to varying degrees assuming that they are focused to begin with, and as a result tend to be set up more for a single listener.  Now I have heard some systems that were more generally diffusive in nature and so will sound very similar and pleasant in multiple locations.  I was just curious which way it is for you, and if you switch around seats when listening with others to share the prized spot?

[PhilNYC]

Maybe I could have some of you in the western area of the NY Audio Rave to come out to Hunterdon, NJ one of these weekends if there's interest.

Would you be interested in hosting the October Rave?  Hunterdon County is great in October, particularly with apple-picking season....

[Bob in St. Louis]

Very nice Mike, good job. I love all the room treatments, you did a good job making them look good too.
Tell me, what do you think of the Berklines, and how long have you had them?

Bob

[mfsoa]

Everyone, thanks for your comments. Hope you don't mind a group reply:

Gooberdude - The peace sign hand is actually a posable model for artists, my wife said she picked it up at Pier 1 or someplace like that.

Goob and JLM - The panel in front of the rack really does help and it's not attached so it's easily moved. I'm sure some would say the room is overdamped but I like it this way for now at least. Even when music isn't on the room has a peaceful, calm feel to it.

Martyo - Thanks. My wife has been great about the room, no complaints there (or anywhere else)

Houst - I think the theater seating works great. Of course the sound is "off" on the side seats, esp because I got 3 seats that form a gentle "U" shape, which puts the outer seats closer to the speakers than I anticipated (not a deep room for such big seats!)
But as always there's one sweet spot so you gotta share!

Phil - YES! I'll post details about the set-up etc. in the NYAR circle. By all means if you guys feel that it's too far, or the house isn't right for a rave let me know.

Bob - I've had the Berklines for several months now and I really like them. I didn't shop around much because my brother is a Berkline dealer so I got the family discount. My old couch, while a nice pc of furniture, was just not comfy enough. The Berks are very comfy and I love having my feet up! We like the microfiber fabric as well. I had previously undervalued the importance that simply being comfortable has in the enjoyment of one's system, but no more.


Thanks for your support again, guys.

-Mike

[pardales]

Hey, nice room!!!   

[Bob in St. Louis]

Cool, good to hear about the seats Mike.
I've had mine for a few years now. I think we have the exact same model.
I screwed up buying an even amount of seats....nobody is in the sweet spot. 
Here's mine:
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2276238840085868784qhgfBg

Bob

[KCI-JohnP]

Mike,
Wow, nice job! I agree with you on the three seats. My room is similar to yours and I went with two seats and that was a mistake as there is no sweet spot(well there is, just no one is in it) so I plan to go pick up the third seat so I can put the center chair in the sweet spot. Anyway, very nice room!!

Regards,
John

[Housteau]

I screwed up buying an even amount of seats....nobody is in the sweet spot. 
Here's mine:
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2276238840085868784qhgfBg

Bob

With a home theater I wouldn't have thought that the sweet spot would be as much of a concern, since the center channel is there to bring off center listeners to the middle of the presentation.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hi Housteau,

since the center channel is there to bring off center listeners to the middle of the presentation.

I wouldn't necessarily say the center is for that. It's more for dialog, while the other channels are primarily for effects or actors off to the sides of the screen.
I do also enjoy 2 channel listening as well. The front mains double as the speakers for the 2 channel stuff.
Ideally, I've got a good arrangement for HT, but is compromised for music. 
I'm mainly a HT guy, so I don't complain too much. When I want the sweet spot, I'll sit on the floor using the center armrest as the backrest. Kinda funky and uncomfortable, but make 2 channel sound much better.

Bob

[Housteau]

Hi Housteau,
I wouldn't necessarily say the center is for that. It's more for dialog, while the other channels are primarily for effects or actors off to the sides of the screen.

yes, that is more what I meant to say.  With the dialog front and center an off to the side listener will still be drawn to the center screen.

Have you tried a portable directors chair for 2-channel listening?  Those tend to work well in situations like yours.

[Bob in St. Louis]

No I haven't, but that's good idea. A little embarrassed I didn't think of that.

[TONEPUB]

Nice room!!!

[aod]

Very nice
I did a bit of treatment with realtraps as I had a massive room mode problem at 48Hz.
what i found eventually is that a combination of Panel and tube trpas is the most effectie solution.
You could make your own tube traps for a very very low cost (about $300 for a set of 4).

Consider the suggestion

cheers
AoD

[bpape]

Nicely done Mike.  I love the nice clean layout on the rear wall. 

Bryan