Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences.
Return to Planar Speaker Asylum
24.115.199.250
In Reply to: Aesthetically Pleasing Rooms, post here... posted by jjcarr on April 20, 2007 at 07:51:46:
I have been playing with the jillion settings on my camera and finally think I have it somewhat sorted for this room. Here is an attempt to do a "panorama" and actually show both sides and the ceiling. The first two are composites of 2 or 3 pics, the last 3 are the pics the first two were made from. Due to compiling them, if the carpet is straight the ceiling is not, and vice versa. On top of that it looks like it's viewed thru a coke bottle. My apologies.Click thumbnails for bigger pic.
Things to note:
Yes, the white rug is gone. I grew tired of anything any everything staining and marking it.
The big things in the middle are the 1.6's from behind. I should have pics by next week.
I don't have 2 Pass amps. It's my friends which I borrowed while mine got fixed.
The "gazelle" in the corner is my wifes and she promised to use it so I allowed it in. She doesn't use it. (but I should)
I am going to make doors for the record cabinet in a chinese style but have not got round to it yet.
Where did the book go? Well, I do have ghosts up there....
Is it aesthetic? I don't know. My wife actually dislikes it. When I put the acoustic tiles on the ceiling she almost cried and hasn't been back up since. My goal was to make it sound as best as possible, while not making it look horrible. (it's not as busy looking in person as it is here) On the near wall you can't see is my CD cabinet, and the door in of course. So far it remains flying squirrel free.
Follow Ups:
One other question, have you tried pulling the couch forward, away from the wall? I would think this might improve the soundstage. (maybe, maybe not, depends on the room)
honestly gave me a flashback just by looking at the pics...I know I way over did the LSD thing when I was younger, as it still effects (affects?) me every day unfortunately. I wouldn't be able to enter your room w/ out some extra xanax!Looks damn good though!
Jon
All I can say is before this "collage" pic nobody here said this room looked that way, and in real life it doesn't. It's a wide angle fish bowl image that shows the entire room for once but not even remotely gives an idea what it looks like when you're actually in it.The general comment people make upon leaving it is "I wish I had one just like it."
Of course that might be the narcotics talking........
I think you misunderstood what I said, or at least what I meant.
I wasn't putting your setup or room down in any way. I actually dig the carpet quite a bit (nice 'modern' look, for lack of a better word).Looking at the pic just reminded me of starring at that type of carpet for hours, while trippin', many years ago and I was trying to convey that. From your message, it's hard to know what meant behind the words sometimes, I think you thought I was talkin' sh** about it. Even if I was...who cares?
Maybe I'm wrong and misunderstood you, but your comment about the narcotics seemed to be an unnecessary low blow...which seemed to be it's intention, as I was talking about experiences with things I did 20 years ago.
Jon
It's beyond misunderstanding. All I was doing was joking about it.I was just trying to point out that the way the room looks, even the colors, is not accurately captured in those images, so that people who perhaps don't like it looking at the pics might actually like it in person, and vice versa, because the images and reality have only a little in common.
The reference to people who've been here and liked it only because they might have been stoned, (which I meant as a general reference which could have included being drunk or anything) was nothing more than a joke in general and was in no way directed at you, I only made the joke in light of your comment, that's all. (and if it depreciated anyone, it depreciated me, because I was saying only a drunk would like my room etc...)
All I know is humor never works in this place. Ever. If it somehow came across to you any other way, I am sorry.
Go in peace, nothing was meant by any of it.
Unfortunately it's hard to get the sarcasm and humor sometimes when it's written out in a forum such as this.I gotta say though you seemed overly defensive. I've seen your work and I think you do a helluva job...doesn't mean I need to like your room, no matter what it looks like.
I have no problem w/ misunderstandings etc... I may have taken your 'narcotics' joke a lil too personally.
Safe to assume if you have 'Dark side of the Moon' in you either have a glass of scotch or smoke a bowl (or 2)...or both---maybe I'm wrong.
Jon
I just got a little confused by the original posters behavior, that's all. He asked to see rooms, and when I showed mine he proceeded to tear me a new cornchute and told me he'd have done everything different. As I said, then it would be his room and I thought he wanted to see other rooms... I didn't see anyone else take heat like that from him either.I also am not offended if people don't like my room, but I just wanted it understood it shouldn't be judged until seen in person. The pics don't convey it well. If you plan to visit however let me know, I'll turn the lights down low :^ )
I only made the joke since you did yourself, so I figured you were OK with it. It's all good, no worries :^ )
I noticed you got some sh** about your room. I dunno, who cares? Maybe it's a sensitive issue w/ you, but as you said 'you have to see it in person'. To me that's completely understandable.I also question the blue color for the treatments (though I read your post about something being wrong with the tan), but it's a listening room, not a L.R. to impress w/ your choice of fabrics, furniture, and setup.
If I happen to be in town I'll grab a nice bottle of scotch and an extra Xanax and we'll kick back to some tunes ;-)
Jon
out for the night...
I'm not sensitive, but I'm not going to sit back and take crapola from people :^ ) Especially when it's a guy with a room that I can see dozens of problems effecting his sound, and his biggest problem is "what's with the rug dude?" :^ )It was more funny than anything.
In person it's a beautiful color blue. I tried white walls originally and it was god awful ugly. The blue works great there. I tried beige tiles but they were the most hideous shade I ever saw and sent them back for blue ones instead. The ones on the wall, the larger ones, are grey. And true, I never built it to impress anyone, how it sounded was job 1, but I didn't want to feel sick looking at it either :^ )
Man, you just won't let the dog lie...geeze...issues...
I won't let it lie?All I did was respond to a reply that Kiefer posted to me yesterday. YOU are the one following a week old thread which at this point is just between him and me. Stop being such a drama queen.
Why are you so defensive?
Be honest here, a person would have to be an audiophile to want that room. Most people wouldn't put acoustic treatments up, and definitely not blue ones. I think your wife gives more of a "normal person" view. We're audio junkies, so we can appreciate it, but non-audiophiles wouldn't.
Well, now you're batting .500, because my wife picked the new carpet out :^ ) An A frame ceiling has to be dealt with, what choice did I have?I honestly think you're allowing the bizarre nature of that photo to influence you. It's not like that in real life.
Of course I don't have acoustic foam in any other room in the house, but I don't understand why you're singling my treatment out because almost every other pic I checked that got posted in this thread has foam or traps or something that clearly make the space look not "normal". That's what dedicated listening rooms look like.
And while this may look the most "normal"....
I could make a huge list of all the acoustical problems I see.
While wives may like yours better, audiophiles would prefer the sound of mine I believe :^ )
Dude, don't get so defensive. Wasn't the point of this thread Aesthetics?I clearly indicated that an audiophile would like your room, but not from an aesthetic standpoint. It's safe to say that blue acoustic treatments aren't attractive, as you say maybe the tan was worse, but it undoubtedly sounds good. Notice in most of the other images they are making attempts to hide the treatments as they can.
You point out that going "all-the-way" to hide treatments is a big job, and not a high priority for a lot of people. I was trying to make a constructive suggestion...a suggestions, not a commandment.
In fact I don't think the carpet or beams are the visual problem. I think the beams are an asset. It's not the distorted fish-eye in the images that I'm pointing out, it's the color combo. The aesthetics of the sound treatments don't bother you, you're in it for the sound, that's cool. But we're talking looks here, not sound.
I think your system and mine point out clear differences. You went for sound and sacrificed looks. I went for looks and sacrificed sound, there's always a trade off.
Two quick points:I'm not a dude
I'm not being defensive (I'm not angry either)
However, if I am "defending my actions" (in other words explaining why I did what I did) I am only doing so because someone keeps attacking them.
Look. You posted a nice thread asking to see what others do (re: aesthetics) That however is a loaded question to begin with as beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
So I responded, and you proceeded to tell me you don't like the color, you don't like the scheme, you'd make boxes and cover all the tile, you wouldn't have even used most of the tile, you don't like the paint, the rug is ugly, you'd have done this, you wouldn't have done that....
Well, then it would have been YOUR room, not mine. Why did you feel you needed to suggest anything to begin with? I wasn't asking for help. I see lots of acoustic problems with your room, I didn't tell you what to do, even as just "a suggestion." It's none of my business, and you didn't ask.
I also told you repeatedly those images are not correct. The halogen lights up there distort the color of digital photos I take. You can't argue color selection (even when nobody asked you to) when the color you are looking at (and who knows what your monitor is doing to those jpg's as well) is not what it really looks like.
Instead of an audiophile, you sound more like a bored interior decorator to me who happens to own maggies.
Oh well, it's all part of the great mystery of life. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Dude....issues....
Aesthetics, aeshmetics. Gunn has the cooler room. Man rooms are like that. And, I'll bet it DOES sound good.
Thanks, I was seriously beginning to wonder if I needed to redecorate.If you're ever in Allentown pal, I'll buy you dinner. :^ )
And, if you're ever in La Grange, likewise I'm shuah.BTW, I'm dying to know who 'won' the aesthetics contest. Did anyone else get hammered by the judges? Is everyone still on the island?
Be-Bop and Mahler
Yeah, it sure looks like I got voted off first.Well, if you're not going to win it all you might as well be first. Now I can sit by the hotel pool and imbibe coctails and eat from the buffet while watching everyone else suffer.
La Grange Texas? Sounds like barbecue country.... count me in :^ )
A suggestion, you'd make it look a lot better by making wood frames, stretching white fabric over them, and putting them over the tiles. Given the number of tiles, it would take a while, but it would really dress things up.Also, the bright blue and wood don't go well (subjective, depends on what you like). A more neutral light tan would look nice.
"A suggestion, you'd make it look a lot better by making wood frames, stretching white fabric over them, and putting them over the tiles. Given the number of tiles, it would take a while, but it would really dress things up." - First I'm not sure what you mean, and second wouldn't this be a redundant treatment? And as a redundant treatment it would not diffuse the same way the tiles would so it would be innefective. Also, you really are getting a poor impression of the overall scope. Those pics make the ceiling look very high. It is not. The cross beams are only 72 inches above the floor (I'm 6 foot and just fit under them standing, my friend is 6' 3" and has to stoop when in the room) It's much smaller looking and "cozy" in person and the amount of tiles are not so obvious.
"Also, the bright blue and wood don't go well (subjective, depends on what you like). A more neutral light tan would look nice." - Obviously I can't change the wood color, and I did actually order tan tiles first when I did this only the color was atrocious in person and I had to send them back and use blue for the whole thing. It really didn't work. It was the old case of making due with what was available.
The idea is to cover the tiles with an acoustically transparent fabric. You build a wood frame that goes around the tiles, and is slightly deeper than the tiles, then stretch the fabric over it. The tiles sit inside the frame. They still do their job, you just can't see them. You end up with what looks like professional sound treatments, rather than bare blue foam.Definitely don't change the wood, that's an asset. You are correct that the perspective is off, but if it's a small room, then you really want to avoid dark colors, as they make it look smaller. The blue paint I'm talking about is on the side wall and on the doors to the crawlspace. It's possible that's not paint, can't tell from the images.
Oh God, the room was all white originally and it looked awful, just awful. It really didn't work at all. I understand fully the clean nordic ski lodge look you are talking about and that was my original goal but it just was not working up there. I don't know why but it did not, and everyone agreed it did not.Your foam covering plan is never going to happen. It's 2 years and the door to the record cabinet isn't done. Do you see wood and fabric frames getting made for ALL those tiles? I don't :^ )
All this visual information! Sorry no offence intended.
As I said, this is a fish bowl view to show the whole thing. It doesn't "look" like this in real life, it only "looks" like that..... er... something like that.
Cool Man Room. Does your wife really care that much?
Be-Bop and Mahler
She was genuinely sorry I put the tiles on the ceiling. However she understands it's "my" room (she better, I did all the work and suffered for it) but like most wives she couldn't care less. She likes music, and the music I like, but the car is just as fine for her to listen as anywhere, and that says it all. The notion of just sitting and listening she doesn't get at all.In fact, here's one for Duke. When I had the Swarms in the room, she couldn't tell when they were on or off. I was simply dumbstruck, and told her I really pitied her. My father I get, he spent 4 years in a tank in the army and then 30 at Bethlehem steel, so I know why he can't hear. But she's young and healthy and her hearing is "normal" yet she can't hear it. It boggles, and it's so sad too. It's like being audibly color blind.
Those days are numbered. I think most peeps think it's really weird. Perhaps it is. Maybe that's why I like it.My wife's the same way as yours, 'cept she doesn't care for it in the car, either. Music's O.K. as long as it's Broadway shows(!). Doesn't 'get' jazz and classical is pretty good for background.
Look at it this way. Our wives are lucky. They can't use this audiophile baggage. I want all the pity.
We better watch all this sexual innuendo or Mart will wipe the whole board clean for a week. :^ )I suppose you could look at it that way. I've known people as dumb as a post and they're the happiest ones I've known as well. "Don't know, don't care, lucky bastard". Perhaps enlightenement is a curse but I'd rather live with it at this juncture. The drawback has always been being an outsider and alone, but places like this have made that problem much more bearable. We can now find each other. :^ )
Having a kid helps too. She won't just sit, so I have to get up and dance, chase her around etc... so it becomes something to share as well. However she couldn't tell when the subs were on either :^ )
| ||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: