All,
I made an important discovery yesterday with a lot of help and assistance from Dave and Randy at Earthshaking Music (ESM). I thought I was having problems with my MiniMax power amplifier mating with the F120A drivers
. However, Dave's listening room helped me diagnose my troubles. I'm just getting back into this hobby, so the music I listen to now is new as well, since my tastes have changed. That being said, I don't know every instrument and note to any single piece of music. As a result, I didn't know what I was NOT hearing until I dragged all of my equipment, including some chip amplifiers I was evaluating, down to ESM.
Long story short, the room, speaker placement, and listener placement make all of the difference in the world. I totally underestimated just how much so. The room allowed the MiniMax to strut its stuff, and strut it did. The music just bloomed and provided that, "you are there" performance. Dave's rooms keep getting better and better, and Randy is a real find. Dave and Randy then proceeded to show off some SET gear, but that's a story for another day. The chip amplifiers are going back. Yes, more power, but...
Lesson learned. You CANNOT set up a room properly (i.e., speakers, sound treatment, listening position, etc.) unless you know EXACTLY what to listen for. I came home and tweaked my room accoordingly. HUGE difference.
Just wanted to set the record straight. Most of you probably already know this basic stuff.
Jim