The “Music Womb” (aka my room build thread)

[Weirdcuba]

OK. This thing has taken much more work than I ever envisioned. Had to work on the electronics and swap out the receptacles, flip the speakers and components from one end of the room to the other, FINALLY got the tube traps from ASC (but don’t have the panels from GIK yet) and lots and lots of other stuff. The room sounds much better, but will have a major calibration session on Thursday, from which I am expecting great things. It still looks disheveled, but I plan to post some photos when it gets to a better place.

The R-1s were worth buying nearly two years in advance and storing all that time - scared me to death to have them moved in, but they are absolutely unimaginably great sounding. No stillpoints anywhere, nothing hanging on the walls, etc., but we’re getting there step by step.

Only learning is that if you undertake a dedicated room project, take it in small bites - it won’t all happen in the first weekend (unless you are much better prepared than I was). I will report back.

[Yamaki]

I applaud the persistence you have exibited in sticking with this project.

I'm almost certain there were times this project seemed as if it was the bane of your existence. Still, you kept moving it forward.

I'm looking forward to your "It's Done!!!" post and all the finished project pics!

[SCAudiophile]

Originally Posted by Yamaki

I applaud the persistence you have exibited in sticking with this project.

I'm almost certain there were times this project seemed as if it was the bane of your existence. Still, you kept moving it forward.

I'm looking forward to your "It's Done!!!" post and all the finished project pics!

+1

[audioguy3107]

I'll get to see it.....maybe.....in 2045. Just kidding Jim.......

- Buck

[Weirdcuba]

It’s just not worth looking at right now, and only got worth listening to in the last couple of weeks. Should come together quickly now on both fronts.

[SCAudiophile]

All in fun....we can't wait! Congratulations Jim!

[Weirdcuba]

Well, that only took three months! By that I mean that we moved back into our home after the renovation on June 19 and I think I am just now (September 27) mostly done with getting the music womb up and running.

We were in a rental for a year while the home was renovated (basically an entire remodel, including moving two stairwells). We ended up finishing within a week of our target and only about $400,000 over budget (but the end result was worth it). The driver for the project was a master on the main to make this home habitable for a longer time, but the positive side effect was a room in the basement that I could dedicate to music (which my spouse strongly endorsed after having lived with “that stereo shit” in the living room for many years (and having the whole house hearing basically every thing I played at any level).

I worked with Jim Smith who lives here in the Atlanta area the entire time and that was invaluable. The room is ~19’ x ~15’ x ~9.5’. It has six dedicated 20 amp outlets, fed by 10 gauge lines (twisted) running from a dedicated panel with Environmental Potentials EV2050s on it. The receptacles are AudioQuest NRF receptacles (I tried the PSAudio power ports and really preferred the AQ). There is double dry wall on whisper clips with green glue and Quiet Batt insulation all around, with two entry doors (so when you open one door, you are looking at another and have to open it also). Other than “spirited” listening sessions, it is silent to the rest of the house and even then, it’s just the lower end bass that can be heard (and there’s been no yelling “turn that shit down” over the last three months). The hardwood floors are covered by a wool rug and pad that gets within about six inches of each wall. There is a small attached storage closet that holds all of the audio things and makes the room qualify as another bedroom for resale purposes. I wanted it to look like a regular room when all of the treatments were removed, and that was accomplished. The windows are “hurricane” glass to keep sound out (and in).

Then, I had to get all of the equipment in there, which was pretty easy – I picked a couple guys from my general contractors crew and we moved the rig from the rental to the room. That included my TAD CR-1s. I set the room up opposite of what it is now, but flipped it for various audio reasons, even though now the windows are behind the speakers (couldn’t be helped, and I didn’t want a vault down there (and code required some means of egress other than the door). The room was fine, but too bright when it all began. I added 16 inch iso thermal tube traps in each corner (floor to ceiling, in three sections, with one being a custom length) and that really helped things. I switched out the rug from the intended rug (because it left too much floor uncovered) and had to move all of the gear out again while that happened and then had to move it all in again (same crew doing the moving).

I also had the TAD R-1s in storage since fall of 2018 when I bought them from SCAudiophile (Mark). I got a professional moving crew to move those (they were on pallets that weighed in at > 350 lbs each). That went well and Mark’s recommendation of a particular hand truck (with a long bottom tongue on it) really helped. The speakers themselves weigh 330 pounds each, and those had to come down five stairs (which took four guys). I was supremely nervous, but it all went perfectly – hooked them up and the music began to flow. Jim Smith spent about three days here helping position the speakers and get everything dialed in and it is now incredible (if I do say so myself). I still haven’t set up the turntable, but that’ll happen in the next month or so). I have the REL 212SE’s on Symposium stands and EVPs and also have the R-1s on Stillpoints (forget which ones, but they’re the big ones) – both of those things tightened up the bass and I think got the speakers to go even lower on their own (not including the subs, which basically go subterranean). I purchased GIK 244s for first reflection point, but really favored the form factor of the Stillpoint Aperture IIs, which I have at first reflection point and on the back wall with another GIK treatment.

So, there it is. From the time I bought the R-1s to today, it’s been about two years. It was way too damn expensive, but every audio step was fun and now sounds so worth it. Following are a few (bad iPhone) photos. Thanks for sticking with me this entire time – the music womb is done!

[cleeds]

Sweeeet! Absolutely beautiful!

[PHC1]

Outstanding effort and end result. Now kick back and Enjoy

[streetspirit]

Outstanding!!!!