New Heathkit AS101 owner - First post.

[alancohen]

Not familiar with Jim Smith's work, but unless it's very current and a thousand or two pages I suggest Googling for room acoustics websites and browsing the various DIY audio forums for DIYing room treatments to fill it out somewhat, though using horns with the proper polar response, speakers and listening position for the room, etc., treatments other than carpet or area rugs typically aren't required since LEDE rooms are best overall for horn and other 'focused' systems.

GM

So I watched Jim Smith's DVD and started reading his manual, "Get Better Sound". He seems to be a very hands-on guys, with decades of experience setting up rooms for speaker manufacturers at trade shows like: Acoustic Research Corp, Magnepan, Dahlquist and Advent as well as running his own audio shop in Atlanta for years where he has personally set up hundreds of systems. His claim to fame is being able to set up a room to get the best possible sound. He currently works as a consultant for hire, where he will come out and analyze your room and set it up for you.

His thing is more about working with the room rather than overtreating it. He does advocate well placed diffusing and absorbing panels, but spends most of his effort "finding the best bass" in the room and setting up the speakers and "THE" listening chair in exactly, and I mean exactly, the right position where the "sound just pops and the walls and speakers disappear". His mantra is, "If you don't get the bass right, you'll never be happy with your system". He advocates taking the time to get the best out of the system you have and have it "play the room" before you even think of buying a new component. His claim is the room is the most important component in your system.

Like has been mentioned here before, he believes the "out of context" frequency response of a speaker is irrelevant. After all, most speaker manufactures are pretty good at making speakers. It's what happens to the sound in real time in a room that matters. Peaks and suck outs can be enhanced or eliminated depending on where you and your components are located. He uses gaffer tape to set up a grid on the floor and a laser tape measure to perfectly align everything. He uses specific reference CDs that he knows well. He speaks of a certain chime at a specific part of a particular song that is supposed to be located just inside the right speaker of the stereo image. If the right speaker is located even as much as 2" too close to the listener, the chime will be more centered.

He cited one system that he had set up where the customer called him back after a couple of months noting that the mid bass had become mushy. When he got there, sure enough he measured a 6dB peak around 100Hz, I think. He measured forward of the listening area a foot and it disappeared. He thought that odd since nothing had been moved. His marks were still on the floor. So he moved the sofa up a foot and the the peak was back, but had disappeared 12" back where they started. This was puzzling at first, but then he noticed from his notes, that the sofa was different. The customer had bought a new one. It was leather with a firm back panel that was found to be resonating at 100Hz. They damped the sofa back and the peak was gone.

Now this might be all well and good, but he's using "conventional" two and three way "tweeter" loaded speakers. He likes Vandersteens to give you a reference. But I'm curious as how all this relates to horns. I do notice an uptick in image when I get my head perfectly centered between my Heathkits, but I get a nice stereo image throughout most of the room as well.

So how directional are Altec horns compared to "conventional" speakers? And if there is something to this, do I need to either get them off the floor or tilt them up a bit?

As far as this "sound just pops and the walls and speakers disappear" stuff, I think mine do that already. If I close my eyes while listening to a well recorded piece of music, the sound stage is huge and I can pick out every instrument in the band and where they are sitting (or at least where the engineer has them sitting). But I will need to "get the bass right" in the new place before anything. I hope the best bass is in a place I can live with. I will not have a dedicated listening room.

BTW, here's an article where Jim won the 2001 Soundstage Reviewers Choice Award while working for Avantgarde. He had a day to set up the room that was supposed to have 3 rows of 3 seats each for listening. He realized that was impossible due to the acoustics of the room and strong-armed the powers that be to setting up with only 1 row of three, 'cuz that's where the right bass was. Of course this meant a lot less people would get to listen and it was a very risky play, but it worked. People were lined up all day to hear the Duos and he won the award.

http://www.soundstage.com/earmarked/earmarked200110.htm