jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am
Wilson Watt Puppy 8, Ayre Acoustics, and Rives Audio
Elk
Elk's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 7 months ago
Joined: Dec 26 2006 - 6:32am

Very cool!

Thanks for initial report, Jeff. It's fun to be along for the trip through your report.

smejias
smejias's picture
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: Aug 25 2005 - 10:29am


Quote:
Very cool!

Thanks for initial report, Jeff. It's fun to be along for the trip through your report.

Right on.

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am

And BTW, I'll be adding the farm animals after all the room acoustical fine tuning is finished.

Jim Tavegia
Jim Tavegia's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 1 2005 - 4:27pm

I am wondering where your dealer is in all of this after going back and re-reading (many times) WP's review? If the relatively snippy attitude of Peter McGrath who would fire any dealer not doing a proper set-up, I am curious as to where yours was...if I may be so bold to ask?

I am sure your friends and acquaintances were more than happy to assist (I know I would consider this to be a heavenly science project), but at the price you paid you deserved some professional help.

If you have reasons for not responding to this that is fine.

Happy listening,

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am


Quote:
I am wondering where your dealer is in all of this after going back and re-reading (many times) WP's review?

I'm sorry, it was bad/incomplete posting on my part. Sean Turner is my Wilson dealer! He did voice them for me, and did an excellent job of it. Not only did he voice them, he taught me a lot and let me participate in the process whenever I asked questions about what he was doing. It was a great experience.

He also recommended some great music to me that I got to listen to during parts of the voicing. I am going to put in an order through Amazon for some of the albums that I got to hear that day (if they are all available on Amazon).

My friendliness with the dealer, who is also good friends with an older "Deadhead" friend of mine (who originally introduced us), made me forget to refer to him in a more objective manner.

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am

Unfortunately, the only pics I took so far came out way too dark. I'll post these two temporarily until I get my larger flash set up again and can take some better ones.

Jim Tavegia
Jim Tavegia's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 1 2005 - 4:27pm

Thanks for the info. The bottom line is that if your sound is "the best you've ever experienced", then little else matters including measurements.

The buying of new music...I had this same experience while visiting importer, www.signals-superfi.com last Sunday. I was the only one who brought ample music I was familiar with to the open-house, and most of what I brought was new to the society members who attended, including Tierney Sutton SACD, Michael Buble', Renee Olstead, Christy Baron, Warren Bernhardt SACD Amelia's Song, Michel Camilo SACD Solo, Spyro Gyra SACD and others, including violin works from JMR and piano from Silverman/JA. Hearing great music, beautifully and excitingly reproduced that compells you to find a retailer is what it is about. It always comes back to software. Many left that open house with a shopping list of new artists.

We are envious of your good fortune. Enjoy, as we know you will.

Regards,

Elk
Elk's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 7 months ago
Joined: Dec 26 2006 - 6:32am

Gorgeous set up!

smejias
smejias's picture
Offline
Last seen: 13 years 4 months ago
Joined: Aug 25 2005 - 10:29am


Quote:
I'll post these two temporarily until I get my larger flash set up again and can take some better ones.

Sexy.

Monty
Monty's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 16 2005 - 6:55pm

I'm not envious...nope, not me...not a bit...well, maybe a little...OK, a lot. I'm gonna go meditate for awhile.

Elk
Elk's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 7 months ago
Joined: Dec 26 2006 - 6:32am


Quote:
I'm gonna go meditate for awhile.


Let us know if it works!

You're at post 999 right now, post something quick! A milestone!

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am

For a sense of perspective:

The room dimensions are ~33' x ~18' x ~9' (& ~7.7') (Length x Width x Height). The ceiling is ~9' in the center area (the tray ceiling area with the RPG high profile Skylines on it), but ~7.7' under the larger soffit areas, if you are trying to figure out an approximate volume for the room.

The listening couch is ~1/3rd the distance of the room length from the back wall, the speakers are ~1/3rd the distance of the room length from the couch, and the front wall is ~1/3rd the distance of the room length from the speakers. So the room setup is split into ~1/3rds.

The ratio of the distance between the listening position and each speaker, to the distance between each speaker and the other speaker, is varying currently somewhere between these two limits: 1.1:1 to 1.25:1. Each offers a different and enjoyable experience with the music.

The closer position is more immersive, detailed at the individual instrument level, and seems more timbrally accurate sounding, though also tonally brighter, but the brightness could be a sign that I need more treatment on the ceiling reflection points for both speakers and at the right sidewall for the left speaker (this was confirmed through ETF5 meaurements - an impulse spike is occurring ~6' longer than the direct sound from both speakers according to Richard Rives, as I measured both speakers separately as well as simultaneously).

The further away position is more dry (not as immersive), offers a greater holistic focus of the music as a whole, i.e., greater total detail at the expense of less individual detail, and seems duller tonally and timbrally compared to the closer position.

The first position is great for a cathartic experience with the music, while the second is incredible for album analysis. Though to be fair, both positions offer the opportunity for epiphanies. The first position offers an epiphany of the emotional nature and the second position offers an epiphany of the intellectual nature. The first position places you inside the event so you can be a part of the experience, while the second position places you outside the event so you can analytically comprehend its entirety.

As you can imagine, I will probably never settle on one position, and luckily I only have to move my seating position around 6 inches to go back and forth between the two. The speakers are that refined in their localization and imaging!

Here are some updated photos of the speakers in the room:

CECE
CECE's picture
Offline
Last seen: 5 years 3 months ago
Joined: Sep 17 2005 - 8:16am

Niiiiiiiiiiiice. But it looks like you got a serious mold problem there, fungus hanging off the ceiling. The dark makes mold grow, turn on the lights!!!!!

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am


Quote:
Niiiiiiiiiiiice. But it looks like you got a serious mold problem there, fungus hanging off the ceiling. The dark makes mold grow, turn on the lights!!!!!

Those aren't fungi, those are stalactites. I drywalled the inside of a cave!

cyclebrain
cyclebrain's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 months 1 week ago
Joined: Jun 16 2006 - 11:40pm

Just imagine that setup with a stripper pole and some fine women.
But can anybody provide more info on this area of neutrality? What do they say? Does it matter what their vocal range is, low or high?
Can you pay for a dealer to setup your Wilson speakers if you bought them used from a private party?

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am


Quote:
Just imagine that setup with a stripper pole and some fine women.
But can anybody provide more info on this area of neutrality? What do they say? Does it matter what their vocal range is, low or high?
Can you pay for a dealer to setup your Wilson speakers if you bought them used from a private party?

I'm not sure about paying a dealer to set them up. For me it came free with buying my speakers new.

As for the zone of neutrality. Talk low (in a low frequency I mean), but not too low, right next to a room boundary (not too loud though, but not too soft either). Then move out from the boundary slowly while talking. You will hear a spot where the bass suddenly frees up. That is the beginning of the zone (mine has more than one spot because of my tiered ceiling - that is what allowed me to pull them out that far). The zone peaks where your voice becomes the most focused and natural sounding and then slowly loses that again and eventually loses coherence completely and is swimming in the room, that is the end of the zone of neutrality.

You should be able to find info on the Wilson method online. It is called the WASP method.

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am


Quote:
Just imagine that setup with a stripper pole and some fine women.

My wife opted out of the stripper pole and fine women option that comes with the high-end speakers. Next time I won't bring her with me when I go to the store and place the order....

Bud
Bud's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Jan 7 2007 - 12:47pm


Quote:

I'm not sure about paying a dealer to set them up. For me it came free with buying my speakers new.

Free?

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am


Quote:

Quote:

I'm not sure about paying a dealer to set them up. For me it came free with buying my speakers new.

Free?

"For me it came free with buying my speakers new."

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am

Here are a few measurements. I'm adding more treatments and switching some around as well (to different types of treatments) so I'll have to respost new measurements when I get a chance.

Please let me know what other measurements you would be interested in seeing, as I took page captures of them all. They are all done using long sine sweeps, full range. The nulls on the 20Hz to 200Hz measurements appear to be normal for my room (I had them with the 802D as well when in that general vicinity and not using the Meridian 861 Room correction). While the nulls are likely a room issue, it is possible that the reinforcements between 60Hz and 80Hz are probably due to the character of both the 802D and W/P8, since they both have higher measurements in those areas without room interference.

3D Low Frequency Spectral Decay:

3D High Frequency Spectral Decay:

1/6th Octave:

RT60:

Impulse Response:

FR 20Hz to 200Hz:

FR 20Hz to 20KHz:

CECE
CECE's picture
Offline
Last seen: 5 years 3 months ago
Joined: Sep 17 2005 - 8:16am

NICE Dude....science in action!!! But notice the BLOSE like bass hump around 100Hz.....move the speaker out of the corner a bit... ya gots lotsa space right, not stuck in a small room. nice stuff them things sure am flat ain't they? Cool. Loose teh tea cup nonsense...othwise you are OK...nice plots, nice measurments.....nice nice nice

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am


Quote:
NICE Dude....science in action!!! But notice the BLOSE like bass hump around 100Hz.....move the speaker out of the corner a bit... ya gots lotsa space right, not stuck in a small room. nice stuff them things sure am flat ain't they? Cool. Loose teh tea cup nonsense...othwise you are OK...nice plots, nice measurments.....nice nice nice

Yeah, I think the humps at around 50-80Hz are not going to be coming out. I've moved these speakers and my 802Ds around the room a bit, and those humps always stick around. I think it is partially room modes, and partially the character of both speakers.

The issue is, if I pull them out too much I lose top to bottom coherency (the top of bass notes becomes disconnected from the bottom of bass notes). Where they are now offers the best compromise between imaging and bass integration. I had set them up in other positions before the voicing, but none of the other positions (and some of them measured better than these graphs I posted!) had quite the top to bottom connectivity that this position has in comparison. I think my only choice is going to be a little EQing, otherwise I have to sacrifice other aspects of the sound that are more important to me that are being attained in the current position.

I'm actually going to be setting up my Meridian 861 bass management processing with the two Revel Ultima Sub30 parametric EQs in the next few days and I'll be doing some playback comparisons with those bass humps eased out to see how much I prefer it. I know from my experience with the 802Ds and the Sub30 parametric EQs that it really sharpens up the bass very nicely. I don't expect that experience to vary dramatically as rounding off those curves will allow more of the surrounding frequencies to reveal themselves.

Elk
Elk's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 7 months ago
Joined: Dec 26 2006 - 6:32am

Thanks, Jeff. Great stuff.

It is always sobering to see in-room measurements versus theory. The reality is never as pretty. It's also amazing how much different the graphs look after moving the pick-up mic six inches.

Have you tried using the Rives unit to remove some of the bass energy?

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am


Quote:
Thanks, Jeff. Great stuff.

It is always sobering to see in-room measurements versus theory. The reality is never as pretty. It's also amazing how much different the graphs look after moving the pick-up mic six inches.

Have you tried using the Rives unit to remove some of the bass energy?

Their PARC unit is definitely on my list of possibilities. I'm so far from that point right now that I haven't been considering it too much. First I need to get a lot of other things done, like add some more treatments to the room, add a Wilson center channel and add Wilson surrounds. After that it will be time to consider DSP.

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am

I could use recommendations on amps for my center channel and surround channels. I feel that the Ayre MX-Rs would be overkill (way to expensive) for this task, as I am not as worried about my surround sound elements as the two channel elements of my system.

What do you people recommend? I need balanced inputs. A monoblock in the front. I would also like flat measurements so I am assured the signal isn't being altered enough to affect the front soundstage sound quality. I would prefer something that will go well with the Ayre gear. Cheaper is better, but of course, I don't want to sacrifice measured quality either.

For now I have a Bryston 9B SST to use for the rear and center channel until I save up enough for separates. I would like separates for the convenience of not having speaker wires running across the room more than anything else...

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks,

- Jeff

BTW - I don't mind digital amps either, as long as they measure flat enough to not affect the sound...

Elk
Elk's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 7 months ago
Joined: Dec 26 2006 - 6:32am

Bryston makes nice stuff. It will be interesting to learn what you think when you get the speakers to hook up to them.

Given the high level of reproduction your are otherwise enjoying I would be hesitant to suggest digital amps. Others may have have different experiences but I have yet to hear a digital amp that seriously competes with really good analog amps, either tube or SS. The digital amps have a flat dryness about them that I find harsh.

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am


Quote:
Bryston makes nice stuff. It will be interesting to learn what you think when you get the speakers to hook up to them.

Given the high level of reproduction your are otherwise enjoying I would be hesitant to suggest digital amps. Others may have have different experiences but I have yet to hear a digital amp that seriously competes with really good analog amps, either tube or SS. The digital amps have a flat dryness about them that I find harsh.

I'm considering the PowerPac 300 SST for my center channel and surround speakers. Perhaps later on I will put a third Ayre MX-R in the front, but I think the biggest discrepancy will already be the differences between the center speaker and the main speakers anyway, making any difference in amps unnoticeable in terms of picking it out in the melding surround field.

Perhaps I will buy the PowerPac first for the center channel and use the 9B SST until I save up for another PowerPac, then move the 9B SST to the front, use the PowerPacs in the surrounds and decide if I will save up for another PowerPac or the MX-R.

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am

My Sophia 2 speakers for the surround channels should be arriving Friday! I'll be calling tomorrow to set up delivery times, etc. I'm not sure the ETA on the center channel yet. My dealer is having some custom built, sand-filled MDF stands sent to me as well for the Sophia 2s (around 8 inches high) so they are a better height for reaching over the couch. I'm going to put red oak veneer on them to match the wood in the rest of the room and stain them the same Dark Mahogany.

I'm very excited, LOL..... I just had to post!

I'll be using the Bryston 9B-SST until replacements arrive (monos for each surround channel and the center, Bryston Powerpac 300s). It should be a good mix with the Ayre MX-Rs if my 9B SST is any benchmark of the Powerpac 300's character, minus of course a little extra stability on the 300s at higher volumes due to the lower power output (I may eventually replace the center with another MX-R, but not for awhile - not sure if it is necessary since the surround field may likely merge consistently enough tonally to not warrant anything more precise).

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am

Yes.... This means I'm settling in to keep the W/P 8s for the longer term, or at the least, on upgrading higher up in the line if I change the mains at all in the next few years.

I'm dedicating part of tomorrow to marking out the 1.25:1 to 1.1:1 distance from the speakers to listening position on the floor and taking ETF 5 measurements at 1" intervals. I measured at two points 6" apart and the further one was flatter FR wise. The closer one had a larger null than the one in the above measurements. I'm going to see where the best listening position for the mains occur in preparation for setting up the surround speakers.

Here is an overlay of the closest position to compare with the other measurement above (one is with Meridian 861 bass management on and the Sub30s working, the other is with bass management off).

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am


Quote:
Jeff, take heart that at least it is not a trough in your frequency response - you can never fill these in no matter how much you through at them. I recall you were interested in trying the Rives unit for the bass. Have you done so?

Yeah, it is a consideration still. I was sort of hoping to keep the two channel equipment section completely pure. I do have the Meridian room correction for the surround setup, though they use notch filters that likely aren't as extreme as parametric EQ. I can do two channel sound through the Meridian as well and compare the two systems and see if I like the difference between them enough to push it further. If I keep the two channel setup pure, it still leaves me without frequency response correction for LPs... And, if I use the Meridian for the LPs it will digitize the signal before outputting it again in analog, LOL... Oh well.

The bass management crossover alone on the Meridian 861 helps with the really bad mode reinforcement at around 60-80 Hz, and helps with the nulls as well a little by balancing out the signal.

The other solution, that would require that I use the Sub30s as a pass through, is to use the Sub30 EQs instead. That would give me three parametric EQs per main speaker at 80Hz and below. The issue with this is that I would then have no way to listen to the Watt Puppy 8s on their own without subs....

This is the bass management and non-bass management comparison.

I don't want to hijack this thread, so I will post this in my W/P 8 thread as well in case anyone wants to respond further with any ideas. God knows, I could always use more options to consider!

BTW, I should mention, that comparison might look better now if I redo the sound measurements as I have fine tuned the levels and distances since that was originally taken. Also, it added a null as well in the above comparison, so perhaps you just can't win in these situations.

Elk
Elk's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 7 months ago
Joined: Dec 26 2006 - 6:32am

I really understand wanting to keep the two channel pure. Plus, the idea of digitizing analog for the purpose of room correction would really bug me.

I wish I had suggestions for you. I've done lots of measurements and set things up as best as I can, but finally got to the point of no longer worrying about it. Now I occasionally get the equipment out, but as much to play as to try to improve anything.

Monty
Monty's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 16 2005 - 6:55pm

Your 1/6 Octave graph looks fantastic. That's about as good as I would expect to get without a dedicated, designed room. Hell, that's good on its own merit.

I think you need to spin some records and sell your measuring equipment.

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am


Quote:
Your 1/6 Octave graph looks fantastic. That's about as good as I would expect to get without a dedicated, designed room. Hell, that's good on its own merit.

I think you need to spin some records and sell your measuring equipment.

It is a dedicated, designed room.

Though, it wasn't built from scratch. I had to use a pre-existing space.

Elk
Elk's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 7 months ago
Joined: Dec 26 2006 - 6:32am

Were there dimension limitations that you feel have caused you problems? I had assumed that it was purpose built from scratch.

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am


Quote:
Were there dimension limitations that you feel have caused you problems? I had assumed that it was purpose built from scratch.

The room was already built, though I could have altered the dimensions if necessary. Rives said he wanted to preserve room volume when I tried to be pushy about changing the dimensions for better ratios.

The big problem, is the one I listed in the other thread. A few modes overlap in the 60 Hz region and another mode is close by in the 70 Hz region due to shared room mode multiples.

The dimensions are ~18', ~9' (~7.5', under soffit), ~33'. Though it is irregular so this general shape changes in some areas of the room.

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am

Here are overlays of the bass management and room correction frequency response graphs in all possible combinations. I am putting links to larger versions as well so people can check out larger versions if they are interested.

bm = bass management
rc = room correction

Here are the links to the larger versions:

Low Frequency Overlay

1/6 Octave Overlay

Elk
Elk's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 7 months ago
Joined: Dec 26 2006 - 6:32am

Do you know why Rives wanted to preserve volume over better ratios? Was he concerned that you needed the larger dimensions for bass propagation for example?

I would have thought the primary concern would be flat frequency response with good time characteristics. Perhaps the timing gets more difficult with smaller spaces.

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am


Quote:
Do you know why Rives wanted to preserve volume over better ratios? Was he concerned that you needed the larger dimensions for bass propagation for example?

I would have thought the primary concern would be flat frequency response with good time characteristics. Perhaps the timing gets more difficult with smaller spaces.

I never asked, but when I think about the two offending dimensions, the 9' ceiling and 18 foot (front of room width), and consider that the room length is 33', it seems like a lose/lose situation. I either need to change the 9' ceiling or 18' front of room dimension and proportionately it really begins to screw up everything even more to change either one. Here is a schematic of the room, so you can see what its dimensions are, plus a link to a larger version. It is hard to describe the room irregularities, so this should help.

Larger Version

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am

Wilsons are built to be placed close to walls. So the funny thing is, if I put the screen down, it acts like a wall and the 60 - 80 Hz issues disappear because of the dimension change and the Wilsons don't voice any worse! Of course, at the time of designing the room, I didn't know I would have these speakers yet, so the W/P 8 dispersion characteristics and placement needs weren't incorporated into the design.

The only problem is, I have the screen hooked up to a trigger on the VPL-VW50 projector. I can remove it though and will likely do so in the future to put it back on a dedicated switch that we put in the wall in case of just such a situation.

Elk
Elk's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 7 months ago
Joined: Dec 26 2006 - 6:32am

The screen acts as a wall?!

I would think that the bass frequencies would easily zip through the screen and would also go around it.

Intriguing

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am


Quote:
The screen acts as a wall?!

I would think that the bass frequencies would easily zip through the screen and would also go around it.

Intriguing

Yeah, I'm not sure what is going on. The screen is at 1/4 of the room length from the front of the room (it is in the longest soundwave's anti-node for my room), so it could be having an effect on the largest wave in the room that has a 2nd mode in the 68.5 Hz region. Perhaps it is partially absorbing it through bending with the air pressure. The screen isn't transparent, so it shouldn't go through it. It could defract around it though, I think, on the bottom at least where it doesn't touch the floor (the screen is recessed, it comes out of the ceiling) and around the sides.

Another possibility I have considered is that it is acting like a diffusor that is placed off the front wall. If that is the case, it would affect any wave whose wavelength is 7 times the screens distance from the front wall or less.

I'm just guessing though... I can't find any solid proof that these would be the reasons

I think I will go back and remeasure when I get time and see if it was an error.

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am

I remeasured, and it must have been human error (my human error). I think I had the bass management on by mistake when making the measurement the other day. It is very similar to the measurement with the screen up.

Elk
Elk's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 7 months ago
Joined: Dec 26 2006 - 6:32am

<whew>

This makes much more sense.

jkalman
jkalman's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 20 2005 - 7:04am


Quote:
<whew>

This makes much more sense.

Yep. I had looked into every possible acoustic cause, and none of them would have caused the extreme differences I was seeing at all.

Log in or register to post comments
-->
  • X