Howdy!

[thaddeussmith]

Texas member here. I've been mostly on the HT side of audio, but recently acquired some 15" double bass bins and am beginning to build up a 2-channel system in my garage office. Starting out with Crites woofers (bass bins are tuned as Klipsch Cornwalls) and the Faital Pro HF140 + LTH142 and custom passive networks. Still trying to decide between solid state and tubes for amplification (between the Yamaha A-S2000 or BottleHead SET amps). Audio is all 16/44.1 or 24/96 FLAC files on a music server in the garage, connected via ethernet. Source will likely be an Oppo BDP-105, and control everything with Linn Kinsky.

Then there's room treatments, etc. The room is sort of wonky, with the speakers about 7 ft apart and the listening seat at 7 ft away, against the rear wall. 10ft ceiling. It's a multifunction room that has my nearly refinished Neo-Geo arcade cabinet, built in closet desk, bathroom, etc. I'll just have to make do with the odd shape and try to minimize reflection points.

Cheers - Michael

[MartinT]

Howdy pardner and welcome to AoS! How have you treated the garage? I would expect some 'interesting' acoustic issues although American garages are possibly differently constructed from ours. We're going to need photos!

Which part of Texas are you from? My sister lives in Houston and I've been there several times, planning on going again next year.

[thaddeussmith]

Thanks! The room used to be used as a HAM radio room, so it's standard stick construction with insulation, stand alone AC unit, etc. Drop ceiling tiles. I've pulled out the 30yr old carpet and will eventually be replacing with the thickest padding I can find and then carpet. Planning to make DIY Corning acoustic panels for every flat surface I have. I'll essentially be nearfield listening, so not sure how much of an issue the room will actually present.

We (me, wife, 15mo old daughter) live on 10 acres about 45 miles NE of Dallas.

I'll dig up some photos and post later today. Caveat: the whole room is in a constant state of refurbishment, including the chairs which I hope to re-upholster in a nice grey tweed or something. Still have paint, paint, and more paint to apply as well.

[MartinT]

Sounds like a great project.

Is your handle a homage to Alias Smith and Jones? I used to love that series.

[thaddeussmith]

definitely a long term project. hoping to have the system put together by the end of next year. unfortunately I also enjoy sport shooting on my property (shotguns mostly), hoping to acquire some livestock, continued house renovations, etc all in that same time period. so we'll see..

thaddeus smith came about way back when I was trying to find an online pseudonym for various website accounts so I didnt have to be michaelray10384567. it's more of a homage to great gatsby era I wish I had grown up in. ;)

[thaddeussmith]

This should give you a better idea of the room. Like i said, thick padding/carpet and acoustic panels wherever possible, up to and including the window boxes.

This shows the room from just inside the main entrance. networking gear under the window goes to a tower outside for my brother in-law's ISP business (free internet for us, woohoo). I plan on building a 3-sided box with sound insulation to put in front of it. Should allow for air circulation while reducing audible fan noise at the listening spot. Hideous, but comfy, chairs will be recovered.
http://www.synapticjunctions.com/shared/room/room-1.jpg


A little more inside the room. Shows the closet space on the left, my pipe tobacco chest in the middle and arcade on the left.
http://www.synapticjunctions.com/shared/room/room-2.jpg


Another view from basically the listening spot. It's my desk and "vintage gaming" section of the room.
http://www.synapticjunctions.com/shared/room/room-3.jpg


View from the arcade. Left door is bathroom, so not easy to block. Middle door is main entrance. left door goes to the garage.
http://www.synapticjunctions.com/shared/room/room-4.jpg

View from closet area. Hopefully shows the speakers a little better and their size in the room, relation to the listening position, etc. I don't have any lenses wide enough to capture everything from the main chair.
http://www.synapticjunctions.com/shared/room/room-5.jpg

[julesd68]

Hmm - 10 acres near Dallas, of course I'm imagining a ranch - am I right?

Great 'man den' you have there - I'd completely forgotten about the Neo-Geo - must be great fun!

Welcome to AOS.

[MartinT]

That's cosy for those speakers :eek:

[thaddeussmith]

Hmm - 10 acres near Dallas, of course I'm imagining a ranch - am I right?

Great 'man den' you have there - I'd completely forgotten about the Neo-Geo - must be great fun!

Welcome to AOS.

Some day, maybe. Right now we just have some donkeys. Eventually I'd like to get some goats, chickens, guineas, and do a bunch of raised bed/greenhouse vegetable gardening. Love the Neo-Geo and was always my favorite system as a kid. I've got it modernized with a computer and mame, but have limited it to strictly the Neo-Geo catalogue and 4-button control panel configuration.

Eventually we'll tear this house down and re-build, at which point I'll make sure my music room has golden ratios, sloped ceilings, so-on and so-forth. In the meantime, I'm forced to cram several different interests and hobbies into a single room ;)

Thanks for the warm welcome guys. I had initially found this site while investigating Jabo KH-55 horns. The previous owner had a them paired up with Faital HF-200 drivers and these bass bins before moving on to Oris horns and Tang Band drivers. Definitely some cool stuff to absorb from your collective experiences. :)

[thaddeussmith]

That's cosy for those speakers :eek:

Bookshelf monitors would surely suffice, but what's the fun in that? Overkill or go home. :eyebrows:

I didn't fully understand their size until I got them into my room. I just didn't want to miss out on free cabinets, so I immediately laid claim before anyone else could. :/