Makeover of listening room finished (I hope)

[Luc]

I owe a couple of members here some pics of my room for which they've been waiting patiently watching progress via another thread( this one>>click) and I stopped posting pics as I thought I might of been chewing up Marc's servers with pictorial indulgence but I don't have that excuse anymore as I think Marc's got new servers and I need to get these blokes off my back. I'll start at the beginning:-

 

My old room

 

It was a warm room and slightly chaotic but I kept moving stuff out of the way so I could hear my very humble sound system and I mean that too, it's cost very little compared to many here and it's pretty basic.

I was a bit frustrated that I just wasn't hearing what I expected to hear, I could of upgraded of course and I nearly did on more than one occasion but I've seen a fair few expensive systems sitting plonk in the middle of really poor rooms more often than not through no fault of the owners as you have deal with the cards your dealt don't you when your renting or purchased or domestic reasons.

So I decided to change the room and with the Handbrake's rather fearsome death stare(she taught Julie Bishop) casting across me like a lighthouse beam I ripped up my beautiful Axeminster carpet and bashed holes in my walls...

 

I drew up some fantastic plans and while not quite draftsman standard they were bloody close and I thought they got the basic idea across really really well...some members were rather rude and used words like scribble+doodles+spaghetti  and with those ringing in my ear I began.

 

See the plans are pretty good eh?

 

 

Our new PM agreed and he said he'd personally come around and knock out any pr!ck who disagreed, he sent me a charming photograph

 

Books+furniture gone

 

Soundcheck 16mm acoustic Gyprock about to go up and Rockwool acoustic batts in walls+ceiling.

 

Window plastered in

 

Major consideration was closing in the room to reduce the noise in the rest of this two storey home and a suitably large door was found (second hand made for a special order that fell through, 2 grand plus for $300) and after numerous emails to various companies it was worked out that double laminated acoustic glass as opposed to double glazed was the way to go and I ordered it to get cut .

 

I had to build in the slider because... I had to build in the slider for aesthetics and it also gave another layer of wall between me and the front entrance hallway.

 

And the glass is in

 

This is my solution to having speaker cables running everywhere

 

 

and here's my benchtop and cupboards and bookshelf carcasses looking all nudie

 

 

Cable management in situ

Looking down with benchtop off into centre cupboard where hopefully the speaker cables coming out of amp will disappear.

 

[Luc]

Bench, cupboards and book cases nearly up

 

$500+ of self closing door hinges and slides and a few of the draws all nudie too

 

 

All the timber used here is select hoop pine 38mmin 4.5m lengths and 300mm+ width and we ripped and thicknessed it down to the required sizes ect. would of cost a small fortune to buy it already dressed, much cheaper rough sawn and you do the hard yards.

 

Here are the individually hardwired p/points that run back to a new board that has a Thor surge protector and RF filter ect and also a bull nose wall plate to bring the wiring from the TV/Monitor unobtrusively to whatever amp is running it.

 

Bookcases up and bench all banged up

 

 

All primed and TV mounting boards in place.

 

 

 

So that's basically the end of the construction stage and then we went into staining and staining and painting the walls which took five attempts to get right.

Reason being that when you use a highly tinted paint like I have to get the desired dark highlighted colour you get what's called ' light sheering' and it's an absolute pr!ck of a thing. Early morning/late afternoon sunlight and the wrong lighting angle just shows up every single bit of stuff that comes off the roller or every single scratch or blemish in the plaster...five f/ing times...and I was paying the painter. Who did re do it twice and only charged me a $100 for basically a days work so I'm not whinging, he took pride in his work and couldn't walk away from it.

He arrived one morning unannounced and said he lost sleep over it and he went a borrowed some of the Handbrakes stockings(I said" Good luck with that matey, she's liable to just glare and set you on fire...) little bugger walked out with two pairs still in their padlocked steel clasps and he filtered his paint three times before he was happy and we vacuumed  the floor and the walls with a special American 'Flatwall sander/vac' for the umpteenth time and I couldn't stand it anymore so I went to work for a few hours then went to the pub for a counter lunch...and stayed there

 

Got home, got one of these

 

But being smooth I told her she should wear make-up more often...it worked and she went all coquettish and allowed me to take a smiling pic of her in this soft+gentle mood

 

Ahh married bliss eh. :lol:

[Luc]

Anyway, here's the finished room.

 

 

 

A few features; We took a bit of extra effort and dovetailed all the drawers instead of glue+screws, took a lot longer but I think it looks good.

This is the drawer for P/cords/hdmi/usb/firewire/optical/spare cables of every persuassion and some of the contents of the third drawer down..

[Luc]

either end of the bench has filing cabinet drawers hidden behind the doors and an extra drawer , this one has the all important external HDD's in it. I'll be claiming part of this construction in this years tax.

 

 

Next door along has a drawer for speaker cables and IC's....and no, those aren't Eggmiesters Tara Labs IC's and no, those aren't Lebowski's rapport biwires in there..

 

Next door along is for storing whatever(a Mira3 in there at the moment) and it also has a decent size hole so I can lay down and reach around into the next central compartment and change cables ect

 

The centre compartment is the only thing not finished as it needs a removal shelf that also looks good and is height adjustable for future purchases, I got a bit too smart I think in putting those push in wire mesh doors as it's limited what type of shelf I can do. I'll work a compromise out soon. You can see the speaker cables disappearing into their allotted holes and also the IC's and p/cords coming in from the top of the bench to the amp and of course the p/points and bullnose with drawer wire ready for the TV stuff ect.

 

The cables exit here and they have their own individual cable lifters!

 

Couple of more shots of the cupboards

 

Edited September 13, 2013 by Luc

[Luc]

The desk I designed but didn't build(I should of, as the Joinery charged me an arm an a leg and then some for it...my one mistake of the build really but I was in a rush to finish)

It's freed up a heap of space, which is the whole idea.

 

have cable management holes=grommets in the top and a cable management rack under as well which is holding all the mess until we get the second switchboard hooked up with it's surge protector and RF filter then it'll look nice and neat. The hdmi wall plate has a dual/triple plug at the back and at the moment there are two 10m and a 5m hdmi cables connected to it for future proofing. One of course goes to the new TV/Monitor above the bench. Same with the ethernet plate, it goes over to the TV for hardwiring even though it's running fine wirelessly at the moment. FM/TV aerial cable comes in above the ceiling and exits with the hdmi and ethernet cables in a bullnose plate.

That's them coming in behind the wall bracket for the TV/Monitor

 

Couple of random shots

 

I can pull the TV out 700mm and twist it left or right up or down which just gives me a bit of flexibility when I eventually get some furniture in here.(SNA is great on the big screen)

 

The sound in the room is fantastic compared to what I had, the carpet and acoustic underlay have made a quantum leap in SQ and being able to freely move the speakers to where ever I wish is great and not tripping over speaker cables is even better.(he's a busy boy this bloke)

 

Still a heap of things to do like get a listening chair and also some artwork that reflects the new rooms character as the old paintings i had a scummy little Pro Hart and a Ken Johnston and a few others just don't suit it. a splash of modernism or some punk/graphic novel art might be the go...no rush as it's a blank canvas at the moment and it'll happen eventually.

 

Wish list: Valves, speakers,Sansui's(only need a couple more to complete series), CDP, TT and of course a heap of new music and old!

 

Sorry for the long run of pics but I'm a glass half empty man so I gotta keep filling...

[pete_mac]

Looks lovely mate! Very nice indeed.

I've gone for a virtually identical sliding door for the 'listening' room in our new house, which is still in the pre-construction stage. My door has less glass in it though (so its predominately a solid-core door with small glass highlights).

I hope that I can eventually get room looking as nice as yours.

Edited September 13, 2013 by pete_mac

[sir sanders zingmore]

That's effing awesome Lee, nice work....

 

Fancy building one for me in Melbourne?

[Luc]

Thanks guys, it's really nice just sitting here listening once again as that's kinda what it's about isn't it. (Pete..we need pics mate you know that)

[pete_mac]

Thanks guys, it's really nice just sitting here listening once again as that's kinda what it's about isn't it. (Pete..we need pics mate you know that)

Pics will definitely be coming in future.

Our rooms will have a few things in common... Similar door, and black-faced Sansui gear . Very much looking forward to grabbing a bunch of my gear out of storage at Dad's place and putting it on display.

Edited September 13, 2013 by pete_mac

[Guest yamaha_man]

Wicked transformation! Great job, impressed!

Love the cable lifters.

[Guest Peter the Greek]

Neat job, I like it!

[kczar01]

WOW Congrats LUC , looks great, love the color as well, really great to see it finally finished 

[samman]

Awesome looking room, love the final result, well done....

[progladyte]

Fantastic result Lee! All your hard work and persistence has really paid off in spades.

 

This is a real credit to you amigo.

 

Very jealous!!!!

[Willco]

Ha--- Luv the cable lifters--might get some my self!

 

Great looking and "sounding" room-kudos now enjoy!

 

Willco

[audiomuze (R.I.P)]

Great job, the room looks fantastic.

[vinilink]

In one word "WOW" and very impressive indeed. Like the idea of using those cable lifters as Wilco said.

[Tony M]

Gee Luc, you don't do things by halves, do you?!

 

As the others have said, it looks absolutely great.  There's so much to be impressed by, but a couple of aspects stand out for me.  One is the way it all seems to have been so meticulously planned and put together with real care and attention to detail.

 

And the other is that wall finish!  You just don't do a dark colour like that in other than a matt finish and expect it all to go smoothly.  Sure, you had a few drama's but the end result is amazing and has to be worth the blood sweat, tears (and death stares).  I'm wowed by that speaker refection in the wall.

 

Well done and enjoy the fantastic result!

[Luc]

Hey thanks everyone for the kind words I really appreciate them as I know some of you have and are building some wicked rooms yourselves.

 

I should call this room 'The Snaroom' as it's inspiration and many of it's features come directly from the information available here at this great site and I've had a heap of input from guys here via PM and in the other thread. You can't walk into a shop or pick up a phone and get the kind of information that you can here from SNA, the stuff we have here is pure gold.

 

The knowledge on tap here is a wonderful thing and I've been very fortunate indeed to have been able to make use of it and to have it offered so freely.

 

Cheers Lee

[Telecine]

Great work Lee. Good to see a great plan come together. The quality of the finishes in your room are superb.

Putting the rest of your Hi Fi system together will be a doddle after this.

Edited September 14, 2013 by Telecine

[adamg]

Great space Lee. Hope Damo and I can pop through one day

[CraigC]

Nice work Luc. I'm glad you got a sonic improvement as well as a great looking room. There's a lot to be said for carpet and a thick underlay.

[Luc]

Great space Lee. Hope Damo and I can pop through one day

 

Mate we need to organise that actually. It's only a small room and I've got neighbours ect ect but I'd love to hear the Zu's in here along with some tubes and a good TT...I'll have to try and organise something eh.

 

Nice work Luc. I'm glad you got a sonic improvement as well as a great looking room. There's a lot to be said for carpet and a thick underlay.

 

Thanks CJ, yes the SQ improvement was immediate and gratifying and the really thick underlay and pure wool(is that better than synthetic? I doubt it but it's nice to have a natural product) carpet just clicked with the other things I've tried to do in the room, more so admittedly to try and keep the sound in than to improve the SQ.

It's certainly allowed me to turn the music up to levels that would of previously provoked censure from the Handbrake but now appear to go unnoticed..and that is a really good outcome.

 

My pencil thin speakers as you can see have two 3.5" drivers in them...hardly massive but people who have heard them have commented on their ability to produce a very good bass response and that has been improved dramatically now that the room is finished.

I actually was staring at them last night when I had my current fav album on it's best track playing at moderate levels and was really surprised at the bass depth I was hearing. I'd dearly love to do some testing in here and get some graphs on what is happening.

[illusion]

Brilliant work Lee, really classy set up, not sure about that towel on the chair though, hehe.

Seriously wonderful achievement.

[Luc]

Lol, yeah the towel was there to stop all the dust and also I have a bad habit of walking in after work when I'm covered in dust and grease, a habit that is now banned