Jim Smith Come to Town

I was a Desperate Audiophile -- in need of Getting Better Sound.

Fortunately, last week, I was able to convince Jim Smith to drive up to Nashville and lend a hand.

Arriving after dark with two suitcases of gear and a charged dac, the first step was to listen and diagnose. The diagnosis was grim. He went to his hotel, and later told me, called his wife to tell her he didn't think he could help me. She told him something like: "Jim, you always figure something out."

The problem was a big dip at 40hz which was throwing off the spectral balance. The first job was to correct the dip. The problem was how, as there was no location in the room without this dip. However, in pretty short order, Jim began to fiddle with the Subs while watching his frequency analyser. Amazingly, with raising the sub's crossover and changing phase, the bass smoothed out and made the sound coherent. Big, big change.

All that was left was to move the speakers 1 foot forward into the room, center and refine the toe in.

This all seemed to go pretty smoothly-- the result of Jim's decades of experience.

I used to have a problem listening closer than 14'. The big Avantgarde horns just seemed too aggressive-- like twin cyborgs shouting at me. I now can sit blissfully at 11'6"-- the AG's transformed into music making friends.

Jim speaks of "un-locking the music" and "musical involvement." This is what this system now gives me to a far higher degree. Thanks, Jim! Very grateful.

Awesome, this is great to read. I’m so happy for you now. I’m sure the difference is dramatically better.

Congratulations Willco. I had a great experience with Jim visiting me to set up my Magico Mini 2s. I learned a lot during that day and a half. Jim took my system to a higher level, and I became more emotionally involved with the music. I highly recommend his service. One should not underestimate the importance of proper listening seat and speaker positioning or set up.

I should add that one of the things that has stuck with me from Jim's RoomPlay session is the reference sound that my system had after he left. That reference sound, and its impact on the listener, has guided me forward and helped tremendously when I auditioned a replacement pair of speakers in my system. The sound that Jim created served as a standard to which I could refer back and this helped me to position my new Magico Q3s in the room. I continue to marvel at how completely they disappear in the room and at the quality of Tone, Dynamics and Presence that Jim values and write about in his book.

These tips can be learned and used repeatedly to set up different speakers, but one has to hear that "reference" sound in his system or elsewhere to understand what is possible and has to be willing to make the effort to experiment with very small changes in speaker position and alignment.

Will - congrats on the improvements. I’ve been fortunate to have Jim Smith work his magic twice for me. It’s frankly the best money I ever spent. Second would be room treatments and third was on dedicated power!


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