Re MBLs, rooms etc.
I have a very nice sounding room as fortunately it was a reno done with the assistance of an acoustician. All the acoustic "treatment" is hidden as part of the design, so for instance the ceiling is built down and is actually covered in stretched fabric (you wouldn't even know until you looked because it's so flat), with bass/mid traps at strategic points behind the fabric. And it acts as a first reflection absorber for the ceiling bounce. Big shag rug, huge stuffed sofa, and a variety of velvet curtains, thick and thin, which I can pull along the walls as required. So I can have my room "more damped" or "more live."
I've recently gone "more live" with my room, even have experimented adding a diffusor at first reflection points. I really enjoy the added energy and presence and airiness of the more live rooms in some ways. Though ultimately if I had to choose one, I think I prefer a bit on the damped side (e.g. when I pull my velvet curtain across the first reflection points of the speakers). This cuts out any wall bounce/room hash and the sound becomes lush and smooth, variations in instrumental timbre more nuanced, voices more fleshy and natural, and the finest details of room and reverb on the recording become apparent - different recordings sounding more different.
I'm trying to add a bit of diffusion to see if I can split the difference.
Anyway, I pretty much anyone who ever thought the MBLs sounded bright, harsh, strident or metallic at demos would not find them so in my room. No doubt due to the more damped nature of the room. They sound smooth, easy, yet ridiculously resolving - on a level I still don't think I've heard elsewhere. I agree with Jonathan Valin who long touted the MBL tweeter as the best, or one of the best, in the world. It provides astounding clarity yet sounds so utterly "un-tweeter-like." Sonic objects are just "there."
Back to the Thiel show....and hey, Thiels are pretty good too...:-)
