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westerman@cave.net's The Forbidden Studio System |
| Last Update: November 02, 2001 at 13:04:22 | IP Address: 66.35.72.145 |
| Amplifier: | PS Audio 250 Delta monoblock: 250 watts per channel in 8 Ohms; Input impedance is 30k Ohms; No coupling capacitors/direct coupled; JFET inputs and 30 mHz bipolar outputs; full complementary design with feedback of 9dB and distortion under 0.1% for any output or frequency; true isolation transformer with 12 shock mounted 10,000 mFd caps per channel; very quick slew rate of 150; RCA input and binding posts out; detachable power cord is the Audience PowerChord. |
| Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): | Audience CableDriver with PowerChord. Passive DACT 10k volume control unit. |
| Speakers: | Sonus Faber Elector Amator: full range monitor speaker; 88 dB/W/m @ 8 Ohms; rewired to have a single set of terminals only. Sunfire True Subwoofer Mk II: 18-125 Hz; modifications by Audience include a PowerChord, upgraded power supply and other componentry. |
| Sources: | |
| CD Player/DAC: | PS Audio Lambda CD Drive with 75 Ohm RCA output. Theta DS Pro basic III mod A: 8x sampling; 2x 56001 processors/86 MIPS with 20 Bit resolution; 4.2V rms output level. |
| Turntable/Phono Stage: | None |
| Other Source(s): | NAD 1600 Tuner |
| Other Accessories/Room/Misc.: | |
| Speaker Cables/Interconnects: | Audience Maestro Speaker Cables: a 20 foot pair go from the main amps to the monitors. Audience Maestro Interconnects, a 2 meter pair go from the cabledriver into main amps and a 8 meter pair go from the cabledriver into the subwoofer. Audience Au24 Interconnects: a 3/4 meter pair go from passive unit into cabledriver and a 1 meter pair go from convertor into passive unit. |
| Other (Power Conditioner, Racks etc.): | There are total of six (6) electrical feeds into the room. There are four (4) primary dedicated circuits wired with armored cable directly from the service panel into the metal outlet boxes: two 20-amp lines, 180 degrees out-of-phase, power the main amplifiers; one 15-amp line is dedicated to analog gear; and one 15-amp line is dedicated to digital gear. All outlet receptacles are Hubbell hospital grade with isolated grounds, which prevents all that metal shielding from becoming an antenna. Another 20-amp circuit powers the subwoofer and the remaining 20-amp circuit is wired for general room use. The electrical service itself is well grounded outside the dwelling, which is more important than many realize. |
| Tweaks: | Spiked stands under the power amplifiers. Isolation cushions under shelving. Vibrapods under the digital front-end gear. auricap 600v power conditioning caps on 120v L-N legs of each piece of powered equipment. |
| Room Size (LxWxH): | 17 x 12 x 8 |
| Room Comments/Treatments: | My studio room is designed specifically for audio listening, yet functions as part of a modern home. It is of typical size (1594 cu. ft.) though an excellent sounding room, calculated as a #3 in terms of quality according to the formula provided by M.M. Louden in The Complete Guide to High-End Audio. The floor is a double joist, suspended technique, and covered with Berber carpeting. The interior walls are a double offset construction, set 16" on center, and finished with a total of 2.5 inches of dry wall. The ceiling is double layered drywall with overhead track lighting fed from a normal house circuit . All ceiling and wall cavities are loosely filled with fiberglass insulation. The entry door into the room is a high quality, double paned, divided light exterior door carefully sealed around its entire perimeter. There are two 3' X 5' exterior windows covered with inset vertical blinds. One ventilation outlet is supplied by means of a flexible duct and there is no cold air return. Front and side wall surfaces are treated with a variety of custom made absorbing units that provide the proper damping. There are inverted resonators in the rear corners and the rear wall and ceiling are diffused. |
| Music Preferences and Comments: | |
| Music Used (Genre/Selections): | Classical - a wide range from Adams to Zappa. Operas - over 50 and counting. Jazz's big hitters... Some Rock-N-Roll... And a variety of others... |
| System Goals/Comments: | Reproduce the female voice and piano beautifully. Reproduce the pipe organ's sound with true balance and resonance. Set a stage 90 feet wide by 60 feet deep and open. Plus get the major groups within the whole orchestra sounding right. Reproduce a bass guitar or synth with some oomph.
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| System Strengths: | Voices and piano sound beautiful and realistic. Pipe organ's sound has believable presence and resonance. Stage sounds 60 feet wide and 30 feet deep. Bass guitar or synth do have some oomph. |
| System Weaknesses: | I can always tell it is a recording. Stage height sounds level, does not project high enough...most likely due to a 8 foot ceiling in the listening room. High freqency roll-off above 10k kills open sound and realism compared to a live violin...culprit might be the power amps. Bass is there okay, but a truer bass would be realized by adding a second subwoofer. |
| Video/HT System: None | |