 |
| Letters -- April 2006 Gut an existing room? April 24, 2006 Editor, I read your articles on your listening room, and the final product looks great. I’m sure the room sounds great, too. I wanted to ask a question. You used plywood and two layers of drywall on your room. Would you suggest this for an existing room? I have an upstairs room that was originally called a "media room" by the builder. Of course it’s just 2" x 4" studs covered with sheetrock. I do have some acoustic treatment already but do you think it would be worth it to gut the room and install plywood and double layers of sheetrock? The room actually sounds pretty good now. Do you think this renovation would really be noticeable? Robert S. Bates I wouldn’t do it. The main reason for that type of construction is soundproofing. I used that technique because my room was framed only, not finished with drywall over the studs. Additionally, there are more effective ways to soundproof a room if you have the space. One of the best techniques is to build new walls within the existing room, essentially creating a room within the room. Decoupling walls from each other provides an incredible amount of sound isolation. In my case, I did not want to eat into the existing space that this construction requires, so I chose a second alternative: more mass. My other justifications for the plywood were that having solid wood behind each wall allowed a sure-fire surface for mounting my acoustic treatments. Also, I live in a hurricane-plagued area, and I wanted to beef up the construction as much as possible. In your case, you’d be better off starting from your existing walls -- gutting it seems pointless to me. You could go over the sheetrock you have there now and have even thicker, deader walls....Jeff Fritz Simaudio Evolution, Shunyata Hydras, and thanks… April 17, 2006 Editor, As one who owns the Simaudio Evolution W-8, P-8, and Andromeda (along with Induction Dynamics ID1 loudspeakers), I greatly appreciated your glowing and highly perceptive review of these products. I'm using the Shunyata Hydra Model-6 to feed my front-end components, as well as a Hydra Model-2 for the W-8, and I would suggest that you most likely would have been even more impressed with the W-8 if you'd mated it with the Model-2. (For what it’s worth, my listening room includes two 20A, isolated/dedicated power lines, with Hubbell hospital-grade outlets, along with a Transient Voltage Suppression System at my home's load center.) In my experience with the Simaudio W-5 LE dual-mono, differential power amp, as well as with the W-8, the Hydra Model-2 provides for a significant improvement and refinement of the already stellar sound of these power amps. If you ever have an opportunity to again listen to the Evolution system, I would highly recommend doing so with a Hydra Model-2 feeding power to the W-8. Jeff, as a highly satisfied and enthusiastic owner of Simaudio's Evolution gear, I would like to thank you for your excellent review of these products. Indeed, the fact that you found the Evolution Series to be highly competitive with the much more expensive Boulder gear is a testament to Simaudio's ongoing ingenuity and design quality, and it reflects Simaudio's ongoing stature as a world-class leader in the realm of high-end audio, particularly digital audio. Kurt I appreciate your thoughts on the Simaudio article. The gear is everything you say, and is sure to find an even greater following in the coming years….Jeff Fritz RS Audio Cables April 10, 2006 To Mike Silverton, I read your September 2003 review of the RS Audio Cables Pure Palladium interconnects. Do you still hold these cables in such high esteem or have you heard something better? Douglas C. Voorhees I cringe when I get an inquiry like this. I've made significant changes to the system since the time of that review, and I don't have the RS Pure Palladiums on hand. I blush to admit that I'd have to go back to my remarks to remind myself of what I then wrote. However, to address "something better" as honestly as I can, I'm finishing a review of a new NuForce mono amp, the Reference 9 SE, via an Aurum Acoustics Integris CDP and Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy 7s, and have been using Crystal Reference interconnects and speaker cables with the greatest of satisfaction. They're also quite expensive. That's as far as I'll commit to an answer. I do believe that RS Audio will send you the cables you're interested in on a trial basis. Nothing beats one's ears. You might also want to look into Cardas Golden Reference cables for a marginally warmer presentation…. Mike Silverton Electronics for a Magnepan system April 4, 2006 Editor, I am taking a plunge into my "ultra" audio/home-theater setup and need your insight as I'm finding it difficult to get good information. I am an unabashed Maggie fan and will purchase the MG3.6/Rs with Maggie center-channel and rear speakers. I understand the '3.6s take lots of power, but I am uncertain to the best setup for audio listening and movie watching/listening. Here is the challenge: My budget for the entire system is around $25k. The speakers and subs will take around $10k so that leaves $15k for the amps/preamps/A/V control center. I've looked at Classé, McIntosh, and others but have to believe someone out there has better experience than I trying to match Maggies with amps on a relatively small budget. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. John Waters Call me old-fashioned, but I like pairing one company’s power amplifier with the same maker’s processor-preamp. You avoid any potential compatibility problems and typically gain some functionality advantages such as a unified remote control or a linking system that allows the components to operate as one. Having said that, I like both McIntosh and Classé. I’ve had the pleasure of auditioning Classé in my system as of late and can tell you that they make fine gear. Their SSP-600 processor and CA-5200 amplifier would make a great combination for your system. It sounds as if you’ll have a truly outstanding setup….Jeff Fritz
Ultra Audio is part of the SoundStage! Network. |
