My wife & I are professional musicians/ professors. Our system in its present form is the result of 5 yrs. trial/error. It may not be the end-game yet, but it delivers a beautiful synthesis of clarity, transparency and warmth. As fellow enthusiasts, I welcome your thoughts and suggestions.
System edited: System update 3/15: Traded out the Pro-ject Tube Box for an EAR 834p Deluxe. Also changed out i/cs from the EAR to Red Dawns. With the EAR, I'm enjoying 1st experiments w/ tub rolling - recently tried moving a Mullard CV4004 to the front. Really enjoying a whole new analog presentation now!
Bruce30: Many thanks for your suggestions and reference to G. Cardas' setup formula. Finally had some quality time w/ the system and applied George's equation to the room. With a 28 x 15 room, I wish we had the option to move the speakers to the short wall and away from the pno, but unfortunately do not. Was able to pull the listening spot 2' away from the back wall and bring the speakers out to about 3' w/o collapsing the listening triangle. This definitely added more depth to the soundstage by getting them out in front of the pno, and really tamed some of the mid-bloom we were getting from wall, etc. Also adjusted the toe-in accordingly, which kept instr. placement in check.
On an upgrade-itis note, starting to research on an alternative to our Meadowlark Ospreys (such is this hobby, I suppose). Recently had an opportunity to do some listening down in St. Louis of Dynaudio Focus 360s, and was duly impressed, partic. w/ the Esotar2 tweeters. Have had the Ospreys for six yrs and love 'em, as does my wife, but the synergy w/ the Simaudio pieces, which are my favorites of the system, has never quite been there. Being 3 hrs from civilization makes bringing audition pieces home difficult, but that's the only way. We'll see...
Velodyne does make some pretty spectacular subs. That's really great that you and your wife are both into sound & music - I wish my wife could appreciate sound more. < However, I must respectfully disagree with your statement that (you fear) you'll lose your soundstage by moving your speakers any further away from the wall. Moving your speakers out away from the front wall will in fact greatly increase the depth of your soundstage and increase overall clarity & imaging at the cost of a bit of midbass reinforcement - though I'm pretty sure your impedance coupled transmission line Ospreys are "free-field" types that were voiced to stand away from room boundaries. < In fact, your soundstage would be noticeably deeper were you just to remove the piano from between your speakers. Vocals would probably sound about twice as far away as they do now - especially with some absorption. Before you do anything with your speakers get some masking tape and mark where your speakers currently stand so you can put them back exactly as they were as well as using some longer inexpensive heavy gauge speaker cables to aid in experimentation if your current speaker cables are maxxed out. By all means try moving your speakers 3', 4', 5' even 6' away from the front wall - just be sure that you don't create a speaker/listener triangle where the distance between the speakers is greater than the distance from the speakers to your ears or you'll lose the soundstage perspective that your used to. Additionally, you might even try George Cardas' setup formula... < http://www.cardas.com/content.php?area=insights&content_id=26&pagestring=Room+Setup < Cheers!
