When Did Your System Disappear?

Fixing my room was when my system disappeared. Thanks to GIK Acoustics!

My system just reappeared. But hopefully I can figure this room out.
You know, I have a feeling it’s 7/10 the room you’re in. This new house with my 2nd wife is a wonderful home but the place I had left behind was the best acoustical environment I’d ever known.

I picked it up for a song from the estate of a couple who tragically passed away in an automobile accident. It had been their home since 1957. I became the 2nd owner and it was a complete time capsule. They were a German couple and had kept the place in perfect condition. It was mid century modern dream. And it had many dark secrets that I would discover later.

Since I was living alone after my recent divorce, I converted the dining room to my dedicated listen room. It had the very early acoustical ceilings. The ceiling texture was made from a sprayed on concrete mixture that contained no asbestos. I believe this was a large part of the room’s sonic character. This room had a rock wall on one side and solid wood paneling on the other.
At the time my system sounded fine and I was happy. Then my wife, my new girlfriend at the time, had me move the LP rack nearer to the system just off the left speaker for convenience sake...unknowingly right at the first reflection point. When I turned the system on for a listen, everything snapped into focus. You just don’t know you’ve been listening to smeared music until something like this happens. How long had I been listening to this system for me to finally hear how powerful room set up was!

This set the ball rolling to find out if I had finally fixed things or if I simply stepped in a spot that was just short of many more steps.

A year later, I had gotten as close as I may ever get: the speakers were now on the opposite side of the 28’ long room. The speakers were 36” from the back wall and 42” in from the side walls...alone on a heavy Persian rug with nothing between them. The equipment rack was along the side wall. I had lost some mid bass...but had gained some immense sub-bass. What a strange and welcome trade off. I had no need for subwoofers. My Salk Songtowers had such deep bass extension I had never known before. The acoustic picture was wall-to-wall and floor to 3 feet above the ceiling and the sound stage was as deep as 8’ behind the rear wall and as close as inches from me. I removed all things from the wall that were reflective and replaced them with art that was textural and soft. I have listened to some nice headphones and some great demo rooms...this room simply walked away from those.

Then I moved.

I know my current home will get better. But rooms are their own entities. I will not expect this room to come close but I will try.  My new room has a much better tube amp and two dedicated outlets...but is a country mile behind. It’s the room.

I agree with @david_ten Regarding his first point, when I got my now classic KEF 105's which enabled me to optimize the positions of the subwoofer and the mid-range & tweeter enclusures independently, I achieved incredible imaging and natural sound. 

Almost never, and 90% it's a matter of registration/mastering quality...