Chops' Current System Pics ....

Al M. said:
Charles, nice to see you have returned to a monitor/subwoofer combo! I have always loved this kind of speaker system, and have stuck to the type over the years, and through my latest upgrade (see signature). I hear great systems with larger speakers in my friends' houses, but there are special things about a monitor/subwoofer combo.
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This is very true. There's something to be said about sub/sat systems.

Though I'm still fighting to get decent imaging and sound staging in my room. If my listening position was about a half meter forward, it'd probably be happy with the results (leaning forward in my seat proves this), but it's realistically not possible in this room with our furniture. And I can't pull the speakers any further out in the room either.

I think the biggest issue is that there's a part of the right side wall that jets out about two feet into the room, which puts that wall two feet from my right ear. On the left side, the nearest wall is about 15 feet away. This apartment stinks.

In fact, you can see that wall in the TV reflection that I'm talking about. My listening position is right there.
 
chops said:
This is very true. There's something to be said about sub/sat systems.

Though I'm still fighting to get decent imaging and sound staging in my room. If my listening position was about a half meter forward, it'd probably be happy with the results (leaning forward in my seat proves this), but it's realistically not possible in this room with our furniture. And I can't pull the speakers any further out in the room either.

I think the biggest issue is that there's a part of the right side wall that jets out about two feet into the room, which puts that wall two feet from my right ear. On the left side, the nearest wall is about 15 feet away. This apartment stinks.

In fact, you can see that wall in the TV reflection that I'm talking about. My listening position is right there.
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Can you have a seat, or couch, on rollers? This would allow you to move forward to a better listening position anytime.
 
That's a thought, but I'd rather have a more permanent solution. There's a few things I may try messing around with this weekend. Also, the shop that I bought the Venere's from is attempting to assist via email, with me supplying them with dimensions and pics of the room, seating position, etc, etc. Really really great guys at that shop!
 
Trying out an absolute MINT pair of Monitor Audio Silver 3i's. These little things sound really really good!

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I'm still rocking these little Silver 3i's. Today I decided to ditch those cheesy homemade Monster Cable 16awg wire jumpers and swapped out the AudioQuest 72v DBS CV-8 cables for my old Wireworld Aurora 7 bi-wire cables. I haven't used these cables in quite some time, so they need to work in for a little bit. So far however, the treble seems to be just a touch airier and smoother. The biggest improvement though is in the mid-bass/midrange. Fuller, cleaner, clearer, more natural.

The way things are going, these little 18+ year old Monitor Audio Silver 3i monitors are going to stay in the main system and the Sonus Venere 1.5's are going to remain in the bedroom system.

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Excellent. I love the Monitor Audio. They are well underrated brand. Enjoy it


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I have to admit, these little speakers are extremely impressive. I'm getting a lot more "quality" and naturalness out of these speakers than I thought I would have.
 
Charles,

I love that space, so inviting and comfortable. I just can’t get over how perfect those speakers look. I’m sure they sound great as well. Enjoy!
 
joeinid said:
Charles,

I love that space, so inviting and comfortable. I just can’t get over how perfect those speakers look. I’m sure they sound great as well. Enjoy!
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Thanks again for the kind words, Joe! I have to give credit to my girlfriend for all of the "coziness" part of the room. I must admit, I like the room this way as well. I'm sure all of that stuff behind the speakers helps with reflections and such.

These speakers go back to the days of when they were still hand built in the UK and not outsourced to China which I think most of Monitor Audio's line is these days. And yes, they DO sound mighty fine. The combination of these speakers with the JL's, they produce quite an "upscale" sound. Definitely a lot better than I was expecting.

Honestly, I was expecting the Sonus faber Venere 1.5's to trounce these little Silver 3i's, but boy was I wrong. It's quite the opposite!

Come down to FL sometime Joe and I'll give you a demo! LOL
 
Thanks! Mike is trying to get me down there, now another reason to come.
 
Charles , the thing that is most apparent (surprised no one has mentioned it) and without question is an improvement is you've brought your speakers a little further into the room (comparing against original set up in your first post). This is a major pet peeve of mine, the number of times I've seen system pics with high end gear, uber expensive cables, etc only to be restricted by poor speaker placement ........ grrrrrr !

Congrats, looking good !
 
They're only out about another 4" vs that first pic. It's about 46" from the front baffle to the wall. Can't really do a whole lot more in this room unfortunately.
 
Not that it matters a whole heck of a lot, but I wanted to correct a "typo" if you will in post #125. The Wireworld speaker cables are Oasis 7's, not Aurora 7's. The Aurora's are my power cables. LOL

Anyway, just a recent pic from today. I now have to ordered yet another IsoAcoustics subwoofer stand. Even though they are the same exact model/part number, apparently they decided to redesign the stand, so the new one is a more open design and shorter, and I prefer symmetry. Looking at the system, it's somewhat annoying to see one sub higher than the other.

With that being said, there is a great improvement in sound with these JL subs placed on these stands. The presentation is larger and cleaner, there better decay on how each note is resolved. There's sense of actual space around instruments and the room. Integration with the mains are even better. Very pleasing performance from such a small un-expecting tweak.

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Charles,

I am very disappointed you did not compare the performance of the high stand vs the low stand. For shame. Please surrender your audiophile credentials immediately.:trouble::notreally:
 
Dizzie said:
Charles,

I am very disappointed you did not compare the performance of the high stand vs the low stand. For shame. Please surrender your audiophile credentials immediately.:trouble::notreally:
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Well, for some kind of comparo of the two stands, the old one stands about 1.25" taller than the new one, yet the new one is a lot softer, as in the sub wobbles a lot easier. I guess they used softer rubber in the new stands to help with better isolation. Yes, it wobbles more, but it's still plenty stable.
 
I moved the Sonus faber's back into the main system, and replaced the Audioquest Jaguar IC's with my old Wireworld Oasis 7's. Also installed my Ortofon 2M Bronze which maybe has about 30 hours on it if that.

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Put the Oppo 105D back in the system, maybe temporary, maybe permanently. Helping out one of my musician friends as he's doing a "remaster" of one of his old albums and we're using my system to "proof" his work before sending it off to print, both on CD and vinyl. This may end up being a one time thing for me, or it could possibly be an on-going thing. I won't mention his name right now, but I will say that he was the music director, guitarist, wrote for, recorded and toured with Carole Fredericks, a.k.a. - Taj Mahal's sister.

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