Choices of lightings for the listening enviroments?

We could choose a simple lighting mood, for best effect, as in this room.


Or a simple yet subdued lighting, in the comfort of the living hall.


Or a tint of warmth as in this listening space.


Or a diffused form of lighting, as in this living hall.


Or a natural subtle lighting up in the attic.


Or some natural yet seemingly artistic lighting in this music room.


Or artificial lighting with a slight warm tint of colour.


Commercial settings maybe different, as is shown here in a showroom condition.


But yet it's up to the internal decorators to do their best
to bring out that friendly mood, as shown in this showroom.


Pics taken: Kodak DCS, Nikon system and Olympus 4/3 system.

CS's diyed setup

CS is one of several very hardworking diyers
that I have ever met. Climbing up a few floors
to the attic to reach his hifi cave and we were
greeted by the subtle lighting in the room and
it was a very welcoming sight and the atmosphere
very comfortable too.


The view of the rig from another angle, noticed
the light that comes in from the windows that
faces the sun. Just beautiful sight, if you asked
me!


For the purpose of illustration a camera flash light was
used to illuminate the room.


The frontal view of one of the speakers:
an open baffle type diyed to a fine finished.
A ribbon type tweeter, a mid range and 2
units of 15" drivers made up the combination.


A wooden panel for the first side reflection
standing next to the speaker.


The rear view of the open baffle speaker.


The main equipment stands that housed the
paraphenalia of hifi components.


A Lenco turntable was installed for the purpose of
the visit. One of several turntables that CS owned.


A LEAK amplifier was used on the day of the visit.


CS's other amplifiers and other hifi components
that take turn on the hifi racks.

We listened for a hour or so, and finished the
listen session with a tea session downstairs
in the kitchen. But not before we 'ransacked'
his vinyl collections, and ogled at his collection!


Picture taken: Olympus 4/3 system, E300,
14-45mm f3.5-5.6.

Rimu Isoation Pyramid (not including the cable riser) . Hand made and will arrive in Malaysia on July. Made of Rimu timble material. Email wwengyeap@yahoo.com for any enquiry or bulk purchase. RM120 for set of 3.

C's setup part 2: Just arrived from Japan by courier

C called about a package that just came in
from Japan. We were excited about the surprise
package, and hopped over to his place to take
a look see and hopefully be able to have a listen.
So I arrived at C's place with The Wise One and
Chan, for that meet up and listen session.


It was a pair of Yamaha NS-700X Monitor. It
now replaced the Harbeth HL5 which was
mentioned in part 1 of a very short pictorial
presentation of C's setup. Initial listening
suggest the speakers have not being used
for some time.


So we suggested several weeks of running in
before we have another proper listen session.
(And another chance to have a lunch feast.
We take whatever opportunities we can get,
sort of excuses to get together for food, drinks
and chit chat session, besides the listen
session of course).


Later after a few weeks of running in, I returned
to listen a 2nd time and this time I find the
speakers were able to sing tunes worthy to be
called 'Monitor'! Now the highs sure appeal
to us Uncles whose hearing sensitivity are
already declining in the high hz range. But
what about how the younger listeners find it.
More of that in the upcoming part 3, which I
hope will provide some insight into vintage
speakers of the '80s which some younger
audiophiles may be intrigued by and maybe
interested in a listen and be able to understand
what their parents have being listening to
during that period in time. Those who are
interested to find out more could contact
any of the contributing writers from this
blog, or e mail them directly if you can.



Description of the speakers:

YAMAHA NS-700X Monitor (3 Way, 12" Carbon
Fibre Woofer) Technics SB-8 (3 Way Honeycomb
speaker system). Tweeters were a diamond
titanium type combination.



Pic taken: Olympus 4/3 system, E300,
Zuiko digital14-45mm f3.5-5.6 with
electronic flash light.

R's setup part 2: room acoustics

If you recalled, in part 1, R's setup is made up
of the Proac 3.8driven by the Parasound
monoblocs. In this part 2 writeup I will briefly
highlight the room acoustics treatments being
used to its best effect! At least that's to the best
of my understanding and perception of the
sound heard whilst seated at the sweet spot!



2 pieces of Auralex acoustic foams with the
easily recognised ribbed pattern foams were
placed over a wall mounted flat HD television
screen. Matching cloth materials were used
to hold the 2 pieces of foam together. This
custom made tv cover which act as part of the
room treatments could be easily placed when
listening to music and as well as easily removed
when the hd screen is being used for viewing
movies or tv programmes!


A close up view of the tv cover.


There is even a piece of the Auralex being
placed behind the listening position to control
some of the unwanted sound reflections
reaching the listener's ears.



A closer look at the purpose made screen
behind the listener, will show a wooden frame
which holds the whole piece of ribbed foam in
place.


I find the sound reproduction more
contained within the soundstage in front
of me and there were little or no disturbing
sound towards the listener at the sweet spot!
I would say I'm comfortable with the sound
while seated at the sweet spot, which to me
have contributed towards an enjoyable evening
of listening to music with the setup!


Pic taken: Olympus 4/3 system, E300, zuiko digital
14-45mm f3.5-5.6 with electronic flash light.