Vicoustics

**Cincy2** · July 7, 2023, 09:43 PM

Until now, over the 25+ years I have been involved in this hobby, all the room treatments I have used were purchased and placed by me without any professional assistance or analysis. While I have to say that the end results were satisfying, I always wondered what would happen if a proper computer model of my room was created and the specified treatments installed. Enter Mike at Suncoast Audio and Vicoustics. As you can see from the pictures, the result of the project was aesthetically very satisfying. While I haven't fired up the system yet, I couldn't wait to give a shout out to Vicoustics for their very detailed proposal and measurements and to the Suncoast team for their installation efforts. The install was a grueling task that took place over four days. Every treatment was precisely positioned and expertly mounted. I'm very happy with the result. More on the actual sound in the next few days. I can say even without any critical listening that the ever present slap echo I've suffered with in the room for years has vanished. I have high expectations for the sound.

Slightly off topic, but significant: I live in Florida and was plagued with power outages from the local utility company. The Wadax server and DAC don't like outages and require reboots that are extremely annoying any time there is an outage (usual one or two every week, varying from momentary to 2-3 hours). I cringe when they happen especially the utility's patented on/off/on/off for hours. I wondered how long it would be before my gear had to go back to Europe for a repair.

Mike at Suncoast listened to my complaints and recommended a StromTank 2500 power supply for my pre-amp, DAC and Server. This is a genius device that consists of batteries and control software/circuitry. It operates in two selectable modes. The first (On Grid) charges the batteries from your utility while battery power is available to your gear. This makes the StromTank a very capable UPS. I use this mode for all times when I am not listening to music as I leave my gear on / in standby all the time. Power interrupts are now invisible to the delicate parts of my system.

The second mode (Off Grid) isolates the gear from the grid and feeds your system (minus sub woofers and power amp) with pure battery power. The stored energy will last for hours without the need to recharge.

The design reminds me of Dan D'Agostino's amplifiers with a steam punk gage on the front panel showing mode (in color) and the charge status. I understand that Dan is the US distributor for the StromTank which is manufactured in Germany. After seeing the front gage, I just wonder how much Dan contributed to the design. I have owned several Krell/D'Agostino amps so if he was involved, it is just one more reason to embrace this technology.

Pics of the install below. Many thanks to Mike, Little Mike and Matt at Suncoast and the entire team at Vicoustics. Hello Nirvana.

Eric

**mep** · July 7, 2023, 10:04 PM

Beautiful room and gear!

**Mike** · July 7, 2023, 11:57 PM

Thank you for the kind words Eric. Your room looks INCREDIBLE!

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**jadedavid** · July 8, 2023, 09:48 AM

SUPER NICE!!!! Congrats.
Will be very interested to hear your opinion on the sound quality improvements.
Any chance of some pictures taken from the equipment end, showing the "listening" end of the room?

**SCAudiophile** · July 8, 2023, 10:40 AM

Beautiful room and system!

**Nataraja** · July 8, 2023, 12:05 PM

Congrats, Cincy2!
Am i wrong or you had Magico speakers? If so - you are the first person i know, that have moved from Magico to B&W. Would you tell us more?

**Cincy2** · July 8, 2023, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by Nataraja

Congrats, Cincy2!
Am i wrong or you had Magico speakers? If so - you are the first person i know, that have moved from Magico to B&W. Would you tell us more?

The move is really from Magico to Rockport Orions. They had such a long lead time that I purchased the (excellent, amazing value) 802D4's to use in the interim. They punch way above their weight. I've had four other versions of this speaker over the years. B&W can be trusted to deliver the goods.

Eric

**Cincy2** · July 8, 2023, 12:19 PM

Originally Posted by jadedavid

SUPER NICE!!!! Congrats.
Any chance of some pictures taken from the equipment end, showing the "listening" end of the room?

Thank you. I added a picture to the original post.

Regads
Eric

**rrwmd** · July 8, 2023, 12:40 PM

Right there with you Eric...

When we built our house including a dedicated listening room some 15 years ago I initially went with all ASC treatments (based off of their recommendations for my room), including a handful of tube traps and a bunch of their wall panels. After much experimenting with the quantity and placement of everything I was never really happy with how my room sounded. Based on some others' experiences/feedback I contacted Vicoustics and submitted all the details of my room maybe 5-6 years ago. From their "good, better, best" options I went with "best", which included ceiling treatments like you have. They sent PDFs of all kinds of stuff, including very detailed installation instructions which I followed meticulously. Lots of man hours of labor later...my room sounds fantastic! They were such a pleasure to work with and everything looks great as well. Can't recommend them highly enough.

**u-sound** · July 8, 2023, 03:51 PM

congrats!

i am a bit confused....has the installation / result be done without any listening?

**Mike** · July 8, 2023, 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by u-sound

congrats!

i am a bit confused....has the installation / result be done without any listening?

Vicoustics uses an extensive software program based on drawings, measurements, door/window layouts and photos of the listening rooms to show in depth (graphs) what is required. The customer gets an extensive report showing what is suggested and what they will expect in terms of improvements and why.

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**Audio 1** · July 8, 2023, 04:20 PM

Eric your room looks incredible! Mike B, Mike M and Matt did an awesome job with the Vicoustic products.
You will be ready to get the most from the Rockport Orion’s when they arrive.

**crwilli** · July 8, 2023, 05:28 PM

This is inspiring. I have a ‘dog’s breakfast’ of room treatments and could really use some expert insight. I have products from Vicoustics, GIK and Stillpoints in my room or in ‘time out’. It is almost a quarterly game of musical chairs in my room.

Time to put some real thought into my room treatment scheme.

**Cincy2** · July 8, 2023, 05:51 PM

I spent 30 minutes with some of my favorite files just now. Everything i expected to happen happened. The images in the soundstage appear with pin point accuracy. The stage is broad and deep, much more so than the untreated room could present. Percussive instruments (piano, drums etc) begin and end sharply. Low level detail is enhanced. Bass is as tight as I have ever heard. Backgrounds are black as night. Conclusion: the room is no longer in the way of revealing what the gear is capable of delivering. That is what we strive for. The objective has been achieved. My advice is to let the experts develop a treatment plan for your room. I could only perform a mediocre job of it.

I haven't listened with the gear running on pure battery power yet. Tomorrow. I need to take a shower.......

Eric

**mxk116** · July 8, 2023, 06:11 PM

Originally Posted by Cincy2

The move is really from Magico to Rockport Orions. They had such a long lead time that I purchased the (excellent, amazing value) 802D4's to use in the interim. They punch way above their weight. I've had four other versions of this speaker over the years. B&W can be trusted to deliver the goods.

Eric

Will you keep the B&W subs when the Orions arrive?

**Cincy2** · July 9, 2023, 06:12 AM

Originally Posted by mxk116

Will you keep the B&W subs when the Orions arrive?

Yes. They are an amazing source of bass. The 802's are no slouch but I've gotten used to the added grunt that a sub brings to a two channel presentation.

Eric

**mep** · July 9, 2023, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by Cincy2

Thank you. I added a picture to the original post.

Regads
Eric

What are the dimensions of your room Eric?

**Cincy2** · July 10, 2023, 05:57 AM

Originally Posted by mep

What are the dimensions of your room Eric?

it is 14 feet 6 inches wide and 19 feet 5 inches long.

Eric

**mep** · July 10, 2023, 08:15 AM

Originally Posted by Cincy2

it is 14 feet 6 inches wide and 19 feet 5 inches long.

Eric

Thanks Eric.

**nicoff** · July 10, 2023, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by Cincy2

it is 14 feet 6 inches wide and 19 feet 5 inches long.

Eric

What is the height of the room?

**Cincy2** · July 10, 2023, 12:09 PM

Originally Posted by nicoff

What is the height of the room?

Ten feet.

Running on batteries now. There are 10 LED's lit when the battery pack is fully charged. I listened for an hour and still had 10. Lots of capacity there even if the usage is not linear as the battery discharges.

Eric

**nicoff** · July 10, 2023, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by Cincy2

it is 14 feet 6 inches wide and 19 feet 5 inches long.

Eric

Very happy for you that you are enjoying the results. You started with a room that is properly dimensioned (see below the Bolt-area graphic for your room; notice that your room falls perfectly in the middle of the Bolt-area). However, as you also noted, that is just a starting point since other factors also affect the acoustics including room construction, materials used, furniture location, listener position, etc..
With regards to furniture location, I thought that you had hearing echoing when clapping. This is fairly common problem in larger rooms with sparse furniture (like yours). This issue usually goes away with the addition of some furniture (for example, a non-leather sofa and a rug on top of the carpet).

IMG_3653.jpg

**Cincy2** · July 10, 2023, 02:41 PM

I wish I could take credit for picking the room dimensions but the truth is the size was determined by how many square feet were left over after my wife got all the rooms and decks she wanted. A happy coincidence. Thanks for the graph. It is fascinating.

Eric

**Audio 1** · July 10, 2023, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by Cincy2

I wish I could take credit for picking the room dimensions but the truth is the size was determined by how many square feet were left over after my wife got all the rooms and decks she wanted. A happy coincidence. Thanks for the graph. It is fascinating.

Eric

Your room is similar to the size of mine although mine is an 'L' where part of it opens up to more space. It is great to have a dedicated room!
Nice that the Orion's will work well in your room as I assumed they may require more volume.

**Adyc** · July 10, 2023, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by Cincy2

Ten feet.

Running on batteries now. There are 10 LED's lit when the battery pack is fully charged. I listened for an hour and still had 10. Lots of capacity there even if the usage is not linear as the battery discharges.

Eric

The Stromtank only power the front end? And not M10?

**Mike** · July 10, 2023, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by Adyc

The Stromtank only power the front end? And not M10?

Correct. Cincy2 may consider a 5000 for his amps. When he hears what it does for the front end, that’s going to be difficult to resist!

With our 2500 mk2:

We run:

Turntable
Phonostage
2 MSB power supplies
Digital director
VAC preamp
Taiko extreme

8 hours in the store uses 30% of the 2500's battery. Beyond amazing and the sonic improvement is stunning. Far more micro detail, depth and more. We went back and forth and all heard the same thing.

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**Porsche** · July 10, 2023, 07:35 PM

battery power, you need to research, I bet money that you can run the amps on the 2500.

**brad225** · July 18, 2023, 02:53 PM

Beautiful room Eric.
I remember the days of only one chair. Before my wife decided folding chairs weren't right for guests.

**Cincy2** · July 29, 2023, 11:55 AM

Originally Posted by Mike

Correct. Cincy2 may consider a 5000 for his amps. When he hears what it does for the front end, that’s going to be difficult to resist!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I'm not sure what I'm hearing now is the result of my front end, the speakers, the room treatments, the StromTank or the combination of all of these but the sound is the best I have ever experienced. Pinpoint imaging, three dimensional sound stage, blackest black background, saturated mid range, extraordinary detail from percussion instruments like cymbals and piano and bass to die for. This project is declared a success.

Eric

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