joshvito's small listening space

[joshvito]

I plan to document the transformation of my office to more of a listening space. My wife will be helping with decorations etc.

Current use of the space is for a couple desks and computers for a home office.

Floor plan

Here are the before images:

Currently, I am running an Yamaha CR 420 with B&W 685 S2's and waiting on delivery of an Orbit Pro TT.

 

[joshvito]

My wife updated the color in the room.

We are thinking that we would like a comfy futon couch and at least 2 shelf/stands for the speakers audio gear.

I would like to have a portion of my records out in front facing bins, and I want a combination of metal/wood. For example: https://img0.etsystatic.com/049/0/7814711/il_570xN.720392872_saaj.jpg It's a bit pricey tho.

 

[joshvito]

We picked out a futon. This will be a bit more comfy than the office chair.

 

[frankbooth]

Should be fun!

 

[Drugolf]

Are the two workstations going to need to remain in some form?

 

[joshvito]

I will need to have 1 desk/workstation as I occasionally work from the house.

 

[joshvito]

My U-Turn Orbit Plus arrived this week. Here is a shot of the space as it is today. Im waiting on the custom furniture shop to get back with an estimate and production drawings.

 

[PJ62]

My first stereo was a Yamaha CR450, still have it buried in a closet somewhere. Love those little Yammies!

That should be a very pleasant listening space when done.:thmbsp:

 

[joshvito]

planning some upgrades

I'm still on the lookout for furniture. I have a few pieces I like, but they are way out of my price range, so I am going to get my soon to retire father to help me build some similar.

Currently, I am considering some upgrades to my system with a ~$500 budget. My goal is to get the cleanest, warmest sound from my vinyl with the best instrument separation I can attain with my current amp/TT/speakers.

Current System

• U-Turn Orbit Plus: Grado Black Cartridge
• Yamaha CR-420
• B&W 685 S2 speakers

I am considering the following upgrades/additions.

• B&W STAV24 Speaker Stands - $150
• Sanus Systems NF 30b Natural Series Speaker Stands - $71
• Orbit Cue ​– U-Tu​rn Audi​o - $40
• Parasound Zphono MM/MC Phono Stage - $200
• Bellari VP130 - $275
• rolls VP29 Phono Preamp - $49
• 2 x Audioquest Evergreen RCA Cables - $35
• Grado Prestige Silver Phono Cartridge - $225
• Grado Prestige Blue Phono Cartridge - $125

My local hifi store suggested a new amp, Marantz PM5005, and/or Bellari VP130. But I am not sure I want to drop the vintage Yamaha sound and look. I almost pulled the trigger on the Bellari, but there are a lot of reviews that say the tube is just for looks, and that the unit has a lot of "humm".

I'm not sure if upgrading to a better grade of Grado cartridge will improve my sound, but I am new to cartridge swapping, and not sure if I can add any other carts to the U-Turn.? Is there an Ortofon or Shure that would be better and match my table?

 

[Rybeam]

Hang a blanket in that echo chamber :}

 

[joshvito]

Hang a blanket in that echo chamber :}

I have some heavy cotton curtains on the back wall facing the speakers. That is a good idea to play with, thanks for the suggestion.

 

[mdev]

Looking good

 

[joshvito]

I added some gear today to the listening space. B&W STAV24 speaker stands and the Bellari VP130 preamp. I definitely notice a difference in the sound due to the speaker stands. Probably due to their updated placement and a bit tighter bass.

I filled the stands with pea gravel, they get pretty heavy.
I dried it in the sun for a few hours.

Then slowly filled. Took about an hour.

I added the Bellari, but I have some Audioquest cables and some speaker cable sheathing on its way, so I will be tearing the setup down and re connecting everything real soon.

 

[joshvito]

I would still have the TT on a better shelf. It can still get vibrations from the speakers.

Thanks. It is in the plans. I'm going to move the desk too

 

[Darksyde]

Nice but your TV is mounted too high .

 

[joshvito]

Nice but your TV is mounted too high .

Yes. I put that on the wall when the primary function of the room was an office. There was a desk below it. I may move it in the next week, because I have another to mount in a different room.

My first impression of the Bellari VP130 is a positive one. I can only compare it to the phono stage in my Yamaha CR420. It does get one negative point for having no on/off switch. I guess I could turn it off at the surge strip, but then it's got to be on even when listening to other sources. [emoji52]

 

[joshvito]

I added some Audioquest Evergreen cables to my TT audio path today. I also have a Grado silver stylus that I plan to try on my Grado Black cart.

 

[dogn4u]

You might consider thrift store shopping for furniture and getting some bass traps for the corners, etc. Cube shaped rooms are the hardest to get sounding good. At my old place, moving my head a foot could completely change the sound for better or worse. Last fall when searching for a new apt, I purposely got one with a long, asymmetrical shaped room (eaves cutting in on one end) for my recording studio/listening space. I wish I had known about standing waves and comb filtering and such a long time ago.There are many good articles all over the web.

I really like this magazine, Sound on Sound and have been reading it since it was hard copy only. I like the way they explain fundamental stuff without condescending. For all I know, you might know all this stuff. For all I know you are an acoustic engineer. I just personally knew nothing about acoustics and wish I'd seen this long ago. Also it's a lot easier to treat a room BEFORE setting up racks of gear: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec09/articles/beginnersacoustics.htm
I'll tell you one more funny thing - Prior to the 2000s, I had two huge racks of recording and playback gear. Outboard compressors, reverb, vox processors, ADAT machines, EQ, mic preamps, drum machines and a huge mixing boad, PLUS HiFi equipment. There was enough crap in there to change the acoustics of the room.

Today? Much, much sleeker. 2 compressors and a channel strip to run a mike through for the front end and an iMac. Once Universal Audio got serious about plug-ins, almost everything could be done "in the box". Some of these plug-ins are just as good as top shelf outboard gear. Brave new world.

Good luck with your project. Should be a lot of fun.

 

[joshvito]

You might consider thrift store shopping for furniture and getting some bass traps for the corners, etc. Cube shaped rooms are the hardest to get sounding good. At my old place, moving my head a foot could completely change the sound for better or worse. Last fall when searching for a new apt, I purposely got one with a long, asymmetrical shaped room (eaves cutting in on one end) for my recording studio/listening space. I wish I had known about standing waves and comb filtering and such a long time ago.There are many good articles all over the web.

I really like this magazine, Sound on Sound and have been reading it since it was hard copy only. I like the way they explain fundamental stuff without condescending. For all I know, you might know all this stuff. For all I know you are an acoustic engineer. I just personally knew nothing about acoustics and wish I'd seen this long ago. Also it's a lot easier to treat a room BEFORE setting up racks of gear: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec09/articles/beginnersacoustics.htm
I'll tell you one more funny thing - Prior to the 2000s, I had two huge racks of recording and playback gear. Outboard compressors, reverb, vox processors, ADAT machines, EQ, mic preamps, drum machines and a huge mixing boad, PLUS HiFi equipment. There was enough crap in there to change the acoustics of the room.

Today? Much, much sleeker. 2 compressors and a channel strip to run a mike through for the front end and an iMac. Once Universal Audio got serious about plug-ins, almost everything could be done "in the box". Some of these plug-ins are just as good as top shelf outboard gear. Brave new world.

Good luck with your project. Should be a lot of fun.

Thanks for the help. I'm definitely not an audio engineer. [emoji4]

I'm going to look into that magazine, sounds like a good read.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Drugolf]

How are things shaping up for you here in this room Josh? Been a few months.

Question, do you sit at the desk much if at all?