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Listening at The Analog Dept. 2-channel audio A refuge from the harsh realities of life on Earth in the 21'st century. At my age and state of mind, I am often content to peacefully exist in this room listening to music as I spin Lps for hours on end. There is a television that does get watched. And movies are watched and enjoyed. But primarily, the audio system and record collection dominates the room and my interests just as I want them to. photo below: 1_28_2012
It's a Saturday and I'm listening to Mahler's 7th symphony on the Otari R2R. Above photo: In case you haven't guessed, this is a bachelor pad (aka waf free zone). View point is looking from just above the listening chair into the system where the soundstage is recreated. Don't trip over the dumbells. After living here for the past 10 years, this is the layout I have found to sound the best. If there is a complaint I might have with this room, it is its southern exposure. The latitude here in the Seattle area is 47.6 degrees. That angle affords the sun (when there is sun) a clear and direct entrance into this room through the glass as it traces its east-west path. From the hours of around 10:00 AM to 4:00 pm, the sun radiates itself into this room and beams mercilessly (and with heat and uv rays) onto anything in its path. To help reduce the effect of direct sunlight onto my record collection and equipment, I have put up a make-shift shade as a temporary measure to block the sunlight. This seems to work. Over time I will work on a more permanent and aesthetic means to block sunlight. Another problem with the room is its 3rd story architecture and springy wood beam floor structure. One of the reasons I have placed the equipment where it is is to minimize the effects of foot fall causing records to skip. In the past I have also experimented with wall mounting to help alleviate foot fall and record skipping. The wall mounting was about as effective as the floor standing layout that is seen in the above photo. However, the current layout affords a better listening position. And room acoustics in this layout are notably superior to any other layout I have tried.
Cat Girl (not your typical jungle goddess) is currently trying out for the position of Resident Pagan Deity on an internship. In that capacity Cat Girl, and her muscular associates, are tasked with the responsibility to ward off any and all bad vibes from the room. I tend to think of it as a kind of room treatment quality assurance program. And I'm quite sure it's working..:-)
Above: a Thorens TD150 mk2, customized with R7 mods.... more info: No.79209
equipment list:
Speakers:
Cables:
Music played: Rock, Folk, Folk-Rock, Blues, Jazz, Classical, Ancient, Baroque
older system shots.
Above thumbnail: wide shot of the room and system as it was 12/21/2008 First day of winter.....and we'd had snow since 8 days before. Close up 12/21/08
above: self photo. While viewing this it suddenly occurred to me that this is the closest I ever get to cracking a smile. Never mind. I'm smiling on the inside ;-) webmaster@theanalogdept.com (aka user510) |