Hi Cwlondon,
Listening distance and early room reflections are the obvious but manageable issues. If you have no problems with listening about six feet from a loudspeaker and have the patience required to massage the best balance between reflection and diffraction with the acoustical treatments, you are on your way to enjoying some of the most fascinating detail and musical expressiveness from your music. It's tricky but well worth the escape!
Sonic holography is obtainable but a side benefit is the abundance of micro dynamics and intimacy with the recording/artist. You may draw new insights listening to old favorites since this type of setup brings on a different perspective. As far as loudspeaker choices, start off with simplest is best a set of single-driver speakers with small tube amps. If that doesnt trip your trigger, move into small two-ways (such as Totem/Meadowlark/AE/etc.) that dont require an inappropriate listening distance to sound coherent. The only real problem I seem to always run across is the imbalance I hear in the treble with most small loudsepakers when placed in a tiny room. Whether by design or not, most sound overly bright and may require a slight padding down of the treble driver to get a natural balance.
Good Luck!
Steve Rothermel
Engineer/Associate
Ridge Street Audio Designs
Listening distance and early room reflections are the obvious but manageable issues. If you have no problems with listening about six feet from a loudspeaker and have the patience required to massage the best balance between reflection and diffraction with the acoustical treatments, you are on your way to enjoying some of the most fascinating detail and musical expressiveness from your music. It's tricky but well worth the escape!
Sonic holography is obtainable but a side benefit is the abundance of micro dynamics and intimacy with the recording/artist. You may draw new insights listening to old favorites since this type of setup brings on a different perspective. As far as loudspeaker choices, start off with simplest is best a set of single-driver speakers with small tube amps. If that doesnt trip your trigger, move into small two-ways (such as Totem/Meadowlark/AE/etc.) that dont require an inappropriate listening distance to sound coherent. The only real problem I seem to always run across is the imbalance I hear in the treble with most small loudsepakers when placed in a tiny room. Whether by design or not, most sound overly bright and may require a slight padding down of the treble driver to get a natural balance.
Good Luck!
Steve Rothermel
Engineer/Associate
Ridge Street Audio Designs