The Method of Tuning

Thank you guys for letting me do this thread at my own pace, speed and way. Sometimes in this hobby of forumizing the temptation to jump in and be a part doesn’t always go as planned. There’s a sidetrack waiting around every corner and opinions and ideas generated by others that are just going to bust out of the chest like an episode of alien. I just want you to know "it’s all good". I’ve been doing this since 1981 everyday so believe me, I’m in no hurry. As you have ideas, comments or been there done that moments, it’s all part of mingling. If I had more than one brain I wouldn’t know where to put it, so having your brains on this thread is welcome.

So this next part gets a little tougher, but it has had to happen sooner or latter.

HEA is cool, it looks cool, it sounds cool and it’s in a way like a status trophy (for guys mostly). It’s just plain cool! But what happens when the paradigm shift takes place and it becomes all about the soundstage? For example, what if someone told you, you had to place your equipment in the closet so that you could hear the soundstage better? Some of you are freaking out right now, I can see you lol. Your running to your key board to tell me where to go lol. Well, what if you walked into your room and all you saw was the soundstage. You and your wife sitting there enjoying the concert, either looking at a screen/wall to go along with the stage or just the soundstage by itself? I need to tell you that day happened a while ago, but it’s being refined to the place where the connection between audiophile and videophile has met. In fact in a short time from now you will be able to take in your concert by means of hologram, yep right in your living room.

But lets back up to now. What if you were asks another question, what if you were told you would get a better sound and able to play more of your music collection by mounting speakers on the wall? Do you know that most of you who have floorstanding speakers in a room with furniture are loosing at least half of your soundstage and music content? I get emails every week saying "what can I do" from folks who are trying to make a dedicated room speaker work in a living room environment. So that’s two simple things right off the bat, do you have the right room and do you have the right room setup. Why spend years trying to do something that wasn’t meant to be, simply because something got a great review at someone else’s place? One thing we need to rethink is we are not going to force physics.

OK I realize I’m jumping around a little but it’s important to paint these pictures.

Michael Green

www.michaelgreenaudio.net

Hi grannyring

Yep, I’m a terrible guy, I know. LOL.

Here’s a simple test you can do in your home, and I have many do, as they take one of my field trips. Put on a piece of music and enjoy it in your listening seat for a while. Now go back to that same piece and start it again only this time listen to it standing up. In most listening rooms with furniture and carpet, when you stand up you hear a completely different opening effect than when sitting down. Tell us what you hear if you want, but no need if you don’t. If you play that piece and slowly repeat sitting down and standing up you are going to hear how the room is reacting to the speaker/room/ear combo. You’d be absolutely amazed at how many people get a hold of me to make the speaker/room/furniture judgement call with them.

I did one of my field trips at a fairly well known HEA audiophile here in Vegas not too long ago. He had me come over to check out his gear and stuff that he had been working on, cool guy! He put on a cool piece of music and invited me to evaluate his system (let him know what I thought). I think he was expecting me to sit in the sweet spot and do all my thinking from there.. So, I listened and took in some cues. After I heard what was going on, I got up and started checking out his space so I could see (hear) where what I was hearing was happening. It took me about 3 minutes to see what was holding the recording back and what was working well, at least enough to get started. He invited me back to the chair to listen to his digital setup. I basically did the same thing. I believe that really puzzled him and it seemed maybe no one had ever done that with or for him before.

Grannyring, I think that so many HEA folks have got that mental picture of a system in their minds that they somehow forget what is going on with the physics of replaying a recording. The common sense factor gets thrown out the window, and somehow they try to create some kind of system that defies the natural laws of our world. My job as a designer is not to create a system of HEA looks or, if I may say, a Stereophile-ish cookie cutter stereo. My designing is all about reproducing the soundstage, and how to do it in a repeating consistent way. Looks of course is a big part of the hobby and I work with a lot of interior designers, but the hobby of listening comes down to one thing, that stage. It’s easy to get so into this thought of a HEA system and completely miss what a stereo is intended to do. Many of my system designs are obviously used in a dedicated sort of way with one listening chair and a SAM directly behind the listener, but not every audiophile lives inside of a Michael Green Audio environment. And many listeners end up frustratingly spinning their wheels when their soundstage is waiting for them.

Michael Green

www.michaelgreenaudio.net

Hi jafant

Now that's the question of the decade! I keep putting in my request for 72 hour days, but so far the lord has not seen fit to grant it.

I do try to post them more on my facebook, but even then, it's not enough. What's even worse, is I have moved into a place so I could be on the strip and also close to the arts district here, where I plan to put some of my systems into the galleries. So (arrrggg) I've moved from my 6 listening rooms to this little space, which I'm enjoying but miss all the rooms. I have a feeling in the future I'll do more rooms here or rent a place above one of the art galleries on one of the streets here. BTW if any of you visit Vegas, come on the 1st Friday of every month and hang out with us on what is called "First Fridays". The town is completely restoring the off strip from Sahara to Downtown. I grabbed one of the Apartments down here so to be close to the action. The property manager was also nice enough to let me rent another apt here which I'm using for a wood curing space but will be putting another system in there for visitors as well when the space is not being used. Would be kind of fun to have a place where audiophiles could come to and have their own little private listening hang out, we'll see.

Anyway back to music, yep I'm pretty serious about getting my listening in. Last night was "Close to the Edge", the stage was huge. The electronic effects were coming from way behind me and then into the frontal area and then by my head and back behind me again. It reminded me of playing "wish you were here" where at lot of stuff starts behind you and come wushing onto the stage in front. I give a lot of credit to the SAM setup and the new Revs.

fun times in Vegas for sure!

Michael Green

www.michaelgreenaudio.net