Beautiful listening rooms

Great pictures.

Not sure I wouldn’t refer to those as really large speakers with rooms built around them to look good. But I guess if you can afford to buy them you can afford a huge room and renovation costs.
 

Aesthetically pleasing room & good sound is THE biggest challenge.

While I get having a "listening room", most just aren't guest friendly-something to have your non hi fi over friends over, for a sit in.  

Everyone's idea of a "good looking" room is different.  While not ideal, a windowless room and  sound treatment with audiophool gadgets is not my bag. Those one/two seat setups are especially disturbing.

A Home theater is completely different situation as far as windowless, sound reinforcement.

Get the best gear you can afford with speakers in the best location, minimal intrusive acoustic  treatment in a beautiful room is where it's at. 

Pour more drink/ingest more consumables  to get over audiophool deficit in your guest's glass to make it sound "better". 

Someone who can develop wall/ceiling sound damping/diffusion panels that are invisible and removeable would make a small fortune.

DeKay

I like um! I like the whole setup. Check out the bowl of different smokes. A few places to set your pipe. Baritone Bing, and Burl Ives. LOL

I like the art work and the custom console. Looks like 3 WE amps for the 3 speakers, under the RtR.
Should work perfect with the C22 and fancy tuner. The Turntable is in the drawer under the tuner, I bet.

Regards

Can’t believe the thread doesn’t include a high-end room sporting brothel-style wall-to-wall red carpet paired with Kandy Kitchen wainscotting.

He’s also sitting in a Herman Miller Eames chair. Timeless creation. 

I wonder what horn/??? lies behind the speaker grill. I bet they sound good too.

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Can’t believe the thread doesn’t include a high-end room sporting brothel-style wall-to-wall red carpet paired with Kandy Kitchen wainscotting.

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Well add it if you like it so much, you haven't been shy to this point, no need to stop now. :-)

I saw that thread years ago and marveled at ... the acoustic nightmare most of those rooms must be. More reflective surfaces than a solar thermal farm.

tablejockey: I completely agree that the visual aesthetics of one's listening room are important (unless you listen in total darkness). Still, jssmith has a point: many of the pictured rooms look acoustically dubious. Acoustic concerns have to come first.

My listening room has a huge picture window with a view of mountains, valley, and a stream below—but that view is BEHIND me when I'm listening. Jim Smith suggests that's as it should be; that light streaming in creates a psychoacoustic effect of "glare" (tip #46) if you're looking directly at it. Still, if I could look at my view when listening, I would. It's just that it would be too difficult to set the system up that way. 

dekay: great photo! But where's the sweet spot?! Can you tell me (maybe in a DM) how to insert a photo here, without it's being in a URL? I know this question has been asked before, but I don't remember the answer.

" the acoustic nightmare most of those rooms must be. More reflective surfaces than a solar thermal farm."

"Beyond hideous, a lot of these."

Last quote lifted from 1st page of the posts.

My thoughts are the same, looking beyond the actual rigs.

Most any design speaker IF allowed can be positioned to sound pretty good in those rooms. Mine is a cross between the first 2(rustic, actual living space, 100+ year craftsmanship-lots of wood/plaster and lots of windows-SQ nightmare)

Those setups however, likely would sound even more convincing in room #3 which appears to be a thought out dedicated space.

If it were my place- Studer playing a recording of early Beatles/Stones LIVE in #2 with proper beverage in hand

Imagining swingin in Franks era, you do the built in not too far from the bar.

“He’s also sitting in a Herman Miller Eames chair. Timeless creation. ”
 

Not so fast, you really can’t tell Eames replicas from an original in pictures 😂

Beauty is one thing, sound is another.

REAL beauty is a little ways down... the four pic group!

What are those Dr. Seuss speakers in the third picture?

Does look like something prehistoric off the bottom of the ocean…lol

@tablejockey , hey that sort of panel is do-able, but costs a larger fortune to do it.  Aesthetically the 'listening room' is but a short step to the AV 'environment' which, imho, looking like screening rooms of yore....
....none of which can be said of 'here'. *L*

@dekay , that looks like Sinatra in a staged shot, and the bowl full of cigpacks would suggest an ad shot for some generic cigarette brand...
...but not one visible, much less lit.  The ashtrays, blank....

But I'd bet that chair is an Eames original...that ad cost plenty, given the status of the artist as artifact/spokes persona.  Even the dog is trained to sit/stay, and don't leak on Frank even if you howl when his  records are played.... ;)

WTH are we being sold here, anyway?

Those pics range from incredible to atrocious…something for everyone.

Dalek Pleasure Posts....but they're goal is to Exterminate.

Pressure waves that shatter your legs; you fall, and the crunching continues until you're face first.

Then you're simply added to the collective hive...another cranky can, armed. 😬🤪 

Have you seen Mike Lavigne's, wow. I lost the link to the article with pix while it was being constructed.

This listening room is the bomb.

Those can’t true audiophile rooms. Not one used cable standoffs.

@millercarbon   
Literally! 

@DeKay, thought he resembled Sinatra. 

@heretobuy 

👍 Dr. Seuss! Good one!

asvjerry:

There were a series of photos from that shoot, but I can't find them right now.

In one pic the dog is chomping on Frank's hand.

DeKay

What's on your turntable tonight?

I land squarely in the camp of aesthetics matter. I don't have a dedicated listening space and I'm trying to better integrate my system into our aesthetic and great room.

Do any of you have pics of hifi components worked tastefully into a modern fireplace wall? We're replacing our fireplace in a few months and want to figure out a cool way to incorporate the hifi gear while eliminating the traditional rack of gear.

"that sort of panel is do-able, but costs a larger fortune to do it."

asvjerry- is there someone/company doing this seemingly impossible feat?

Do link!

Now...

Here's a room with a view (found it when searching for the other Sinatra pics).

DeKay

Pretty lady.

For most of my life sound quality was all that mattered… since I could only afford a fraction of the cost of a state of the art system which I wanted. So, ugly OK. So, as I got close to retirement and could actually afford great sounding, good looking speakers (system shown under ID) it was really rewarding. 

prentice:

I was referring to the Dieter Rams gear, but...

Diana Rigg was also looking pretty good.

DeKay

The elephant speakers look a little like AER Pnoe's

I vote for the brick room in image 2 with the Rockford speakers from image 3.

Those highly irregular surfaces of rough-surfaced acoustically inert materials would make for a terrific listening environment.

I'm pretty happy with mine. DIY speakers (that sound absolutely great), March Audio P252, Wyred4Sound preamp and SML SU-9 DAC. 
 

From the "Mine is Bigger Than Yours" school of audio design,

Its great now you can post STUPID pictures.

It's all relative.  You either like the shared space living room / gen purpose room or a dedicated space.  The latter is my preference hands down. 

Some of the the examples in the link are really nice others not so much. 

References to "disturbing" with these dedicated spaces are a bit much IMHO, but again its ALL personal preference

Rooms like Mike Levine's are at the upper end / extreme types which I absolutely love, but there are many dedicated spaces that are large existing / spare rooms (not built from scratch for audio purposes) that are fantastic > which is what many of us have or use.  Yes trapping, diffusion, clouds etc.. can all be done tastefully and beautifully which again I'm all in on for sure.

Ultimately, in a 2chnl setup, there is only one main LP / sweet spot.  That's indisputable IMHO.  Sure you can have friends and multiple seating etc,,for entertaining, which is great.  When I want to listen and get the best experience its my one chair which is the money spot - I'd have it no other way.

The brick room reminds me of the basement bar in Inglorious Bastards.  Looks like it could have been filmed there.

Thanks, snilf!

I'm drawn to the large MBL rig, having never heard them...what a setting! 

Local audio bud Chris (retired home builder, age 78, still practicing & playing sax in band) built his modest home near the mouth of Maine's Androscoggin River, near the coast.  His long driveway (Strawberry Lane) winds downhill near the river's edge.  Nature sounds prevail.  His front wall is glass (tuned with Marigo Tuning dots.)  Bald Eagle sightings and other treats are commonplace.  Wife Mary and I are visiting them later today to collect some vinyl and potentially some Native American artifacts, often found near his property.  My audio friends are continually interesting and generous.  We share a wonderful hobby.  More Peace, Pin