The Listening Room Reality

I ended up going quite the opposite way with what was a basement dedicated music room. I ended up stripping out the treatment, or most of it, treating the power supply at source to tighten the bass. Not absolutely ideal but it does leave a room which is more livable and pleasant for the rest of the family (which I am also glad about as I have been holed up down here for a week now with Covid… although I wish I had windows!!!)
In my experience it is the obsessive details that come together to lift a system from good to great. And this definitely looks obsessive! I imagine the results will be a testament to the lengths you are going to :blush::+1:
Did you consider a false floor to isolate the neighbours downstairs?

BTW are those artnovian alps on the wall?

Careful, if he does that it’ll be accessible only to Hobbits

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We bought this flat in 2016. It is new and meets the current standards (which are quite strict in Switzerland for this type of construction). The insulation between floors is very good.

Obviously, one must avoid Massive Attack at high volume! :joy:

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It’s true that I pushed things quite far.

But I told myself that in terms of room usage, it wouldn’t change anything.

I completely closed off a window and glass surfaces. But I still have a door-window which will be perfectly usable, which was not the case before.

I’ll have to open a door to get to it, but it will be accessible. This very thick door can be left open if one wishes. It will create a living room feel.

As for the treatment. It won’t be visible. The room will look smaller. The walls will be made of a nice white fabric. Like real walls. No more absorbent panels. The walls themselves will be the absorbers, ~50 cm thick absorbers!

Only when entering the room will one realise : the door itself will be 52 cm thick ! :sweat_smile:

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Yes, acoustic treatment makes such a difference, it’s a crazy thing!

My wife had a moment of hesitation when we were at our dealer’s.

She felt our 500DR and Magico S3 system sounded better than the top Soulution 711/760 with the Magico M2. I kind of agreed…

She was then not motivated to buy… I had to convince her that the reason for the difference was not the gear, but the room (no treatment at my dealer’s).

She was only really convinced when I plugged in the Soulution at home. Then she realized and loved the Soulution. Just like she had loved them when she first heard them (at that time I had little acoustic treatment installed)

I’m glad that you have reached the end of your journey. I must admit that I’m getting a bit tired of all these modifications. I can hardly see the end of it… in 3 weeks, maybe 4… :face_with_spiral_eyes:

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Here is a massively and correctly treated mastering room (thus a listening room). Everything is in the walls hidden behind fabric.

Notice the floor. No treatment, at least not visible.

I’m planning something similar. But a completely different palette. White and light grey.

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Good to hear - I was unable to enjoy decent volume in our old apartment, but this was a conversion of an old building so I guess the usual standards were compromised.
I imagine the treatment you are building in will also remove a lot of the bass frequencies that would usually be most problematic.

Dear Thomas, yes it turns into a long journey once your hearing starts to pick up little anomalies frequency wise. It’s almost as if one’s hearing doesn’t actually adapt to the sound if it is very slightly ‘not right’ and the gremlin jumps up on the shoulder……again🧌
I take my hat off to your persistence, but retaining daylight and my garden view in my case was simply something I couldn’t go without whilst listening to my dodgy Blues at room wise unrestricted volume :yum::

ATB Peter PS have you received is it M2s yet?

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Ok that’s alot of work good man.I put the vicoustic 64 diffuser behind my speakers this week with excellent results

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Yes, it is interesting. We get used to hearing what’s wrong quite quickly.

When I listened to the superb Magico Q7 system with the Soulution 701 monoblocks and Soulution 760 DAC at my dealer’s two things struck me: the incredible resolution/airiness etc. and the comb filtering from the ceiling. It was so obvious.

It was the same for the second listening session of the Magico M2 with the Soulution 711 amplifier and the Soulution 760 DAC.

In the latter case, it was almost a disappointment.

The room really is a major part of a HiFi set.

You did well not to block your window. There is no substitute for a peaceful view.

On the other hand, having a window as a back wall is probably the least problematic. So no regrets really.

Especially since yours is well centred and you can deal with the corners (I’d put a pair of AVAA C20s in there, by the way).

Thankfully, I haven’t received the M2s yet. I wouldn’t know where to put them. The carrying crates are huge! I will not install them until the room is finished.


The Taiko Extreme is coming next week. I will put it in my office with the Soulution. I’ll connect the whole thing in with the Valhalla 2 cables for 2-3 weeks of break-in (I have a pair of speakers in the office).

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Exciting times Thomas. Looking at the photo from your dealer I can help wondering, if not only the ceiling angularity but also the angle of the leather sofa’s plays into what you heard. It was a sonic relief for me to get rid of my 2 seater leather sofa for the same reason in my room. Oh yes, isn’t this hobby just mad! :crazy_face:
Keep posting and all the best Peter
PS. I hear what you are saying about the AVAAs, but can’t really justify it at the moment ( I have even got an electrical plug socket in each corner for them, damn :roll_eyes:)

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Maybe put the speakers in first before you add the walls and Caruso Iso Bond…

Fantastic progress Thomas. I find your thread very educational…keep the info coming!

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That looks great @Hawkmoon - can you describe benefits of the Vicoustic diffusers?

Yes the sound is more open and spacious


the vocal is at a more realistic height, it’s more focused with the instruments it’s difficult to explain you would need to hear it.I also have diffusion to the back of the room the multifuser 36 i have 2 of these i also have gik bass traps and first reflection covered though i might get the vicoustic bass trap at some point in the further.

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Why place the speakers first? :thinking:

I’ve had speakers in that room before. And the room has already been treated once.

The Listening Room Reality - #879 by Thomas

I’m just restarting from scratch.

The speakers do not change the room’s behaviour. Large or small speakers do not change the room’s acoustical profile.

The room is what it is. You can treat it independently of the speakers you place in it.

However, it is obvious that if your speakers do not go below 40 Hz, there is no point in treating the room below 40 Hz.

Or more simply, if your speakers start to weaken at 50-60Hz you’re not going to focus on a treatment that can absorb a lot at that frequency either. This has a cost! :money_mouth_face:

In other words, and to make a long story short, the room’s acoustic problems are specific to the room, not to the speakers.

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I suspect he means to make it easier to get them into the room, so you don’t have to manoeuvre them through a 50cm thick doorway…

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I get it now! :sweat_smile:

I do too many things at the same time. I didn’t get the context. Sorry @Yorkshireman

The doors will be easy to operate. They will be on small rollers.

The door to the balcony window will be narrow.

The door to the room will be 1 metre wide (in two parts). I will be able to get the shipping crates in easily.

The Magico M2’s do not have a protective grill. The tweeter is fragile… I prefer not to have them in the room during construction.

I also need the whole surface of the room to work with the Caruso Iso Bond and the two huge rolls of cloth.

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Just to make it easier to get them in the room.

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