by timn8ter » Thu Nov 11, 2004 5:24 am
Mike Levigne, who lives nearby here, had a listening room constructed recently. This description was written by the president of our local audio society.
The room was constructed with maple hardwoods and fabric covered fiberglass (1” and 2” thick depending on location). The corners and ceilings were designed as bass traps. The room is approximately 29’ x 21’ x 11’ and all of the walls are non-parallel creating an oval shape. Acoustic treatments are usually expensive, Mike wisely uses treatments that also look great. The semi-cylindrical diffusers at the sides of the room are both attractive and effective. A twofer. The listening and speaker positions were designed to be at 1/3 the distance approximately along the length of the room. The speaker end has a 10’ deep hardwood floor and the remaining floor area is carpeted.
Mike plans to add multi-channel music in the future. However, the room width was for two channel reproduction. The rear speakers would not be in the ideal 110 degree ITU Standard location, but would be equidistant to the listening position.
The ceiling design is excellent and includes 6 chambers, 3 on each side of the room. The center 2 chambers include an ingenious cloud which consists of 8 angled diffusers about 48” x 18” x ¼” maple plywood with 1” x 2” solid maple border mounted on chains.
The Lutron lighting system has several preprogrammed scenes which can be activated by his remote control. With the lights down, we are less distracted and the listening experience is more relaxed. Mike damped all of the down light cans with lead so they don’t ring. The HVAC forced air system is essentially silent. The only noise I could detect was the fan in the EMM Labs DAC6 (which is almost non-existent anyway).
So what does it sound like?
Well… it doesn’t. You can hear everything on the recording… the system and room disappear. And the music just flows. It’s a great thing. Room reflections are the enemy of sound reproduction in the home. Here, the non-parallel walls and distance from the listening position are all greater than 20 milliseconds away, so reflected sound from the speakers do not mix in time with the direct sound (at about one foot per millisecond = 20 feet round trip for a reflection, ideally a reflective surface should be at least 10 feet away). The hard wall surfaces do not absorb sound, so the sound is lively and not dead. There is no image smearing and you can hear the micro detail on the recordings. Usually that low level information includes the original recorded acoustic or venue, which greatly enhances the listening experience. With a virtually zero noise floor, the dynamic contrasts in the recordings are preserved. The only compression is usually what was in the recording. And bass response was natural and extended. The cloud enhances the illusion of image height. A recording in a concert hall sounded like the concert hall.
The classical music pieces were particularly enjoyable as they had great width, depth, layering and scale which I think is the most difficult thing to reproduce convincingly. Frequently suspending disbelief, the music could sound real. Christophe Changnard, a friend of Mike’s who is the music director for the Northwest Sonfonietta (which Mike also contributes) thought that music which he brought and had recorded, was reproduced like he remembered during the original event. You can’t get a better endorsement than that.
What about the music?
Mike played a smorgasbord of tasty music. Such as: Linda Ronstadt Crazy, The Doors Riders on the Storm, Shaggy Hey Sexy Lady, and IZ Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World. There were male and female vocals, Jazz, Rock and Classical too many to list here. Mike compared identical recordings on vinyl (typically 45RPM reissues) and CD/SACD. One comparison was between the new FIM release of Midnight Sugar by the Yamamoto Trio and the 45RPM vinyl reissue (highly recommended). I usually preferred the vinyl, but hey, well recorded digital was still great, so you don’t have to be a format bigot at Mike’s place because it all sounded great. Just kick-back and enjoy. No analysis paralysis necessary.
Bottom Line?
Mike hits it out of the park! The new room joins a very short list of rooms and systems which define the state of the art in sound and aesthetics in my opinion. I congratulate his achievement because it reveals what is possible. We can learn from and adapt aspects of his design in our own systems and thus we all benefit from his effort. And most importantly, the music was magical, which is the goal we seek. His is truly a music lovers room. Bravo Mike!
Mike Lavigne’s Music System
As of October 2004
Analog source: Rockport System III Sirius,
Lamm LP2 Delux phono preamp
Digital source: EMM Labs DAC6 and CDSD
transport
Pre-amplification: passive Placette balanced
remote volume control and custom Jena Labs
balanced switcher
Power amplifier: Tenor 300Hp hybrid mono
amps
Loudspeaker: Kharma Exquisite 1D
Interconnect Cable: Nordost Valhalla single
ended and balanced
Speaker Cable: Transparent Opus MM 8’
Power: Dedicated circuits with Jena Labs deepimmersion
cryo’d duplex receptacles
Power Conditioning: Shunyata Hydra for
sources
Power Cords: Elrod
Stands/Isolation: Zoethecus all with Z-slab
shelves, SAP Relaxa 1 Magnetic levitation base,
Black Diamond Racing shelf
Room: 21’ wide x 29’ long x 11’ height
Acoustic treatment: see article
Accessories: Walker lead filled pucks, porcelain
cable elevators