Located in an open 40' x 40' space with concrete floors, rug in front of system, big soft couch that seats 6 . Sheetrock walls with one 40' long glass wall to one side, with thin curtains. Ceiling is 18" deep open wood trusses, 2' on center. Deck is at 10' and covered in 1.5" lined acoustic fiberglass. Listening area is nom. 16' by 40' and loosely defined by a 5 -4" high open shelf storage wall opposite the glass wall. The wall behind the system is covered in paintings and acoustic diffusion panels.
The room also supports a HT system with a Pioneer Elite 50 monitor on a rolling track to allow multiple options on placement. The Receiver is also a Pioneer Elite, the 7.1 speaker system is Totem Dreamcatcher with an SVS powered sub, Sony Blue Ray and a knocked out Dell media server.
The 2 channel system is the result of many years of fooling around with this stuff. I have become a committed Tom Evans junkie, his plain black boxes are amazing, taking the signal from the cartridge and stepping it up carefully, producing a holographic sound set in a background that is as quiet as the vacuum of space. Evans obsession with power filtering pushed me to pursue more careful work on my front end power. I have installed an Isoclean breaker panel with beautiful Seimens breakers, two PT3030G transformers and a lot of high end wire work. The elimination of noise in the power, via Isoclean and Tom Evans allows the most subtle of sounds to emerge. The music coming from the Meadowlark time coherent speakers offer a breathtaking playback of the instruments and voices. The nuances of note decay places you in a beautiful and accurate soundstage that is addictive.
My analog source is from my good friend Mehran who has helped me find everything I want and need for vinyl playback. The Amazon Refrenz turntable is deep and rock steady. The Triplanar arm is beautifully adjustable and hold its settings forever! This is one responsive and agile arm. The ZYX is well know for a reason, it is so effortless and responsive. Overall and rather trouble and fuss free front end.
My rack is custom made by yours truly, as is the rolling TV rail system. I like to fool around in the wood shop and weld steel and aluminum. The rack is made from solid 1.5 square carbon steel, The shelves are 1.5 Baltic birch with the turntable shelf resting on an Aurios bearings. The Tom Evans gear sits on soapstone slabs on top of more Aurios bearings. The rack is clad in perforated aluminum panels that attach magnetically to the steel barstock with magnetic tape. The turntable is under a sliding wood cover that protects the turntable. Since the turntable is on an isolated shelf, the sliding of the cover has no vibrational impact on the turntable. The result is a quiet looking rack with only the glow of the lights coming through the perforated metal. It also protects this stuff from my drinking friends and my 3 yr old daughter.
The room is a trial and error and intuitively tuned space that makes a serious difference to the experience. I am also interested in art and can pour more cash into that than even my audio hobby. It is a wonderful place to entertain, listen to music, watch tv movies, and work.
I have not bought any new equipment or tweaks in many many months, I am not even inclined to, Amazing!!! I will keep my Evans boxes up to date and dont feel the urge to replace them. The one ongoing investment has been vinyl from Tom Port at Better Records. I have sunk a fortune into Tom and he has been my best investment. The sound from his offerings are shattering and mind blowing. I have no problem putting a record on and within minutes drifting away to a small night club or studio somewhere in the time space continuum.
Very good. The meadowlarks have a beauty and coherency to them that is bewitching. I still do not hear that quality in a lot of current generation speakers. I would be slow to "upgrade." Evans is obviously a genius and very original designer from what I can gather. I was eyeballing one of his more exotic amps not too long ago which I did not pull the trigger on.
thank you for your comment Agear. this thread has been quiet for several years. i do need to update my gear info as there has been improvements/upgrades in the Tom Evans boxes, turntable/cartridge, and cabling. The Meadowlarks are still performing well, responding to upstream upgrades beautifully. I figure my next move (with luck and a $ windfall) will be to the Vandersteen 7's.
The 2 channel system is the result of many years of fooling around with this stuff. I have become a committed Tom Evans junkie, his plain black boxes are amazing, taking the signal from the cartridge and stepping it up carefully, producing a holographic sound set in a background that is as quiet as the vacuum of space. Evans obsession with power filtering pushed me to pursue more careful work on my front end power. I have installed an Isoclean breaker panel with beautiful Seimens breakers, two PT3030G transformers and a lot of high end wire work. The elimination of noise in the power, via Isoclean and Tom Evans allows the most subtle of sounds to emerge. The music coming from the Meadowlark time coherent speakers offer a breathtaking playback of the instruments and voices. The nuances of note decay places you in a beautiful and accurate soundstage that is addictive.
You were well ahead of your time. Dealing with noise and hash is fundamental to an analog presentation. I am also a fan of time and phase aligned speakers. Too bad meadowlark is no longer with us. Love the art in the backdrop....
Man I have drop ceilings in my room that are low and after you brought this to my attention I am seriously thinking of ripping it out for more height, plus I kinda like that look!
thank you for your kind words, i really like the head and heart comment. i do think that what we do is more of an art form than science. of course, good art often has science in it. i will get some more and updated pics up soon. i have made some upgrades in the system and room. have a safe and fun new years eve and have a good 2010!
Man,oh man..just clicked on to check out your Meadowlark setup(might add a pair to my listening room soon),and then -as others have done-completely forgot my initial reason for stopping by. As this year winds down,it's nice to know that the "best" systems are those that can include both the head and the heart...as yours does. Beautiful,personal touch and layout-well done,bro!
Jaw-dropping room right there! I forgot about the speakers and just admired the space. The shelving is my favorite thing. Please show us more pictures!
Wow-just came across your "big room" for the first time. Simply amazing! I dont know what grabs me more-the art or the system setup(even the record rack looks cool-and about a country mile wide). Sometime we music lovers dont know when 'enough is enough',making us miss the profound in search of the profane. It looks-and sounds-as if that is no longer an issue for you(if it ever was). Continued good listening to you..
Samhar, Skushino, Jsawhitlock, thank you for your comments. you all have good taste! ha!
I do like balancing aesthetics and acoustics. As with most things in my life, it is a slow process. The rolling tv is fun and smart acoustically. I will eventually hook it up to some device like a garage door opener to move it back and forth, what the hell, girls dig it. I am working on securing an new couch as well, ( http://www.bebitalia.it/collezioni/scheda_foto_gallery.asp?qString=1|1|71|1|0|1|0&lingua=en ), it is going to be expennnnsive The interesting thing that make me a little bit nervous is the fact that I have not messed with the stereo for so long. It sounds so great and steady. I suspect I have Triplaner to thank for that.
Nice Rig!! Hard to belive there have been no responses in almost a year! I also am a big fan of the ZYX UNIverse S-SB (0.24mV) and the Woo Audio 3 head amp, I still use them both as my reference. I've also used and appreciated Nordost Valhalla and the Meadowlark Blue Heron 2's came in a close second to my current speakers, Verity Audio Parsifal Encore's.
Thanks for the comment. Unfortunately, that bookshelf is custom made by yours truly. It is 26 feet long and constructed of 1-3/8" baltic birch plywood. I actually fabricated each piece, finished it and assembled it in place. It is assembled with wood biscuts and polyurathane glue. I saw some interesting plastic grid shelving at Design Within Reach, similar in design, but not wood, not cheap either...
Hey G_M_C -- love the room. Can you tell me where you got the bookshelf on the left in the top pic? Been looknig for one of those for my place (in an old factory actually...similar setting I think). Thanks
Mac.. the piping is stainless steel. I cut it on a big metal band saw. You can cut tubing with many tools though, from a hand held hacksaw to many power tools. Those fittings are made by Hollaender, try this link
