ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Thought people might be interested in my new listening room. This has been an interesting project that has taught me a lot about audio and integration but produced a nice result. I was fortunate enough to have a room that does not have parallel walls which lends itself well to good acoustics.
I worked on the project with Watt Integration who is Arizona's B&O dealer. I have a bunch of B&O equipment and was hoping to just integrate it in a new configuration with a preamp. My overall project goal was excellent two channel sound with good surround sound. To that end, here were my specific goals:
We had originally planned to use my Beolab 5s as front speakers and even had the thing set up that way. In the middle of his project, my dealer made me a good deal on a pair of BeoLab 90s so that changed things with the integration, but the fundamental goals did not change.
High end video was never a requirement for this project. For me, video is disposable technology that changes every few years so I just bought an inexpensive 4k TV. Good speakers last a lifetime.
So the Beolab 90s are obviously the front speakers. They are connected via SPDIF to a Cambridge 851N digital preamp and via analog to an Integra preamp/surround processor. The Cambridge functions as a digital “switcher” and also streams 24/192 lossless music from both my library and Tidal. It has 5 digital inputs. Connected to it’s inputs are digital sources I want to go directly to the speakers. One input had to be unused to function as a mute so the Lab 90s would receive no signal when switching to the Integra preamp. It has 3 digital outputs that are live simultaneously. The outputs of the Cambridge are connected to the 90s via SPDIF and to the Integra preamp via TOSLINK for surround decoding. This allows playing DTS encoded FLAC files through the Integra and gives a connection to the record bus (see below). The Integra is connected to the 90s, a pair of 4000s (center) and Beolab 3s (rear) via analog pre-outs for surround sound. The Integra has 2 reel to reel players, cassette player, a turntable and various surround sources connected to it. The Oppo bluray player is digitally connected to both preamps.
Great two channel sound was always the priority so we decided to use Beosound Shapes on the wall as dampers to reduce reflections. No speakers, no core, just dampers. This was decided before the Lab 90s so I don’t know if they are needed now or not with all the ARC. But, they work and look cool so they stay.
This is all integrated via a URC remote that controls the lab 90s (beam modes, volume, etc), the two preamps and the controllable sources. It treats the system as a "whole", talking to different pieces of equipment to achieve different ends. For example, volume control. The Cambridge sends digital out at full volume, so I wanted the same buttons on the remote to control the volume on the Beolab 90s when in digital mode and the Integra volume control when in Analog/Surround.
It all sounds pretty simple when I write it here (well not that simple), but it turned out to be more complicated than it sounds. Some of the hiccups:
Here are some pictures. Note, this is still a work in progress. There is no trim on the rack yet and the delay box has not been added. Plus the furniture needs a reboot. Watt Integration has been great to work with. This project has been experimental and they’ve been great about helping me experiment. Happy to answer any questions.
--tom
Hi tom555,
Very interesting! I especially love the rack mounted open-reel tape recorders in the custom built alcove......I wish I had thought of this when designing my own listening room!
I have the same view regarding video being the more "disposable" technology when compared to audio, my approach was to use a roll-down projection screen, with a ceiling mounted projector that can be updated in the future as technology moves on.
My speakers are a little more prosaic than yours, with Beolab Pentas at the front and Beolab 3000s on the wall at the rear. My listening room doubles as a recording studio, so my sound deadening panels share the remaining wall space with various musical instruments........
After seeing your photos, I now have a serious case of "listening room envy"
Kind regards, Steve.
Steve.
www.soundsheavenly.com
Founder of Sounds Heavenly Cables and Brand Ambassador for Bang & Olufsen
Sounds Heavenly are proud to sponsor BeoWorld!
Please check out my YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/soundsheavenlycables
Hi
nice B&O tech :)
but..isn't a little bit small room?
marexy: Hi nice B&O tech :) but..isn't a little bit small room?
Yes, a little bit. The pictures make it look smaller than it is. But, it was chosen for a few reasons:
hm....
you say the W..word :)
I support you and I agree that it is not worth it to put on the edge with the master Jedi :)
My wife and I have very different ideas of what moderate volume is
marexy: hm.... you say the W..word :) I support you and I agree that it is not worth it to put on the edge with the master Jedi :) My wife and I have very different ideas of what moderate volume is
Just show the wife what Reference Level is - anything below is moderate
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
"My wife and I have very different ideas of what moderate volume is "
Same here, so I went the doctor - depression news (for me)
½ at right but better at lefr. But nothing came through above 10 kHz
Argh...
/Leif
Steve at Sounds Heavenly: I especially love the rack mounted open-reel tape recorders in the custom built alcove......I wish I had thought of this when designing my own listening room!
The smaller 7" reel one from circa 1980 is a Pioneer RT-707, which I also own. It was designed for rack mounting, with notches in the faceplate on the left and right sides for the mounting screws
MediaBobNY: The smaller 7" reel one from circa 1980 is a Pioneer RT-707, which I also own. It was designed for rack mounting, with notches in the faceplate on the left and right sides for the mounting screws
Good eye. Yes, RT-707. The upper deck is a Tascam BR-20 2 track 7.5/15ips recorder. The Pioneer is 4 track (2 sided stereo) so that's why both players are there. Above and between the two of them are some rack fans. Those old R2R players generate a fair amount of heat.
We added the trim to the rack yesterday and had a small issue. See if you can spot it! Made it look cool though. We decided to Velcro the trim on so it could be removed in the future.
Just to finish off the rack description, below the Pioneer open reel on the loose shelf is a Sonos Connect, a Raspberry Pi used for control and the a 5 way switch which selects which device is receiving the record (Integra zone 2) output. Next is a Nakamichi 3A cassette player. Below that, rackmounted, is a Denon DR-700R digital recorer/player. Moving down, the red leds are from the the digital delay for the rear speakers which sits next to the remote control unit and an apple TV.
Next down is a Oppo DVD player for HDCDs and a Oppo Bluray player for everything else disc-ish. Oppo eliminated support for HDCD and I have a bunch of them hence two disc players. Then there is a 12 port patch panel which has every rear USB connector from all the equipment so it can be accessed. We also pulled the USB, microphone and SPDIF connectors from the Lab 90s into this panel since they are hard to access. A Watt box power control is below that followed by the Cambridge 851N and an ethernet switch for the rack. Finally at the very bottom is the Integra preamp. Hiding back there somewhere are a Chromecast Audio connected to the Cambridge and a Chromecast Ultra connected to the Integra. I built this for serious listening and as a bit of a playground.
This is a complicated rack because most everything is multiply connected. For example, the Denon digital recorder has it's inputs connected via AES from the Cambridge. It is also connected via analog from the Integra record bus and the Nakamichi outputs (for tape transfers). Its outputs are connected to the Cambridge via AES. This lets me record from either preamp and play digital direct. But this kind of multi connection can lead to feedback loops and nonintuitive modes that integrators normally work hard to avoid. I accepted Watt Integration's reservations about this but decided in favor of the functionality. I have a cheat sheet so I can remember how the beast is put together.
The remote control simplifies much of this but for some real oddball modes, the routing will have to be performed manually (like listening to the play head on a reel to reel while recording vinyl). In these cases, I just have to really think about how to route this stuff (Zone 2 gets phono input. Main zone gets Reel to Reel)
Almost forgot, in the rear of the room is my Project Classic Turntable and preamp. It is connected using baluns to the Integra preamp via cat7. You can see it in this picture with my small but growing record collection and some tapes.
As you can tell, I am a true gearslut. My main goals in these posts is to give people some good solid technical info on how to do a complicated integration like this and to document it for myself in the future.
'Can only see that the rack is more professionally fitted in its enclosure in the newer photos. And I see you have the original Pioneer metal reel. At one point I noticed they were selling for around $60 on eBay and decided to sell mine. I never liked it anyway. If you had the original Nakamichi Dragon I would have noticed that as well. I had a Pioneer Elite CT-93 cassette deck; very high-end in the day.
Looks like you had to cut away some of the trim, looks better in actual fact, fabulous setup
bidstonhall: Looks like you had to cut away some of the trim, looks better in actual fact, fabulous setup
Right you are. We did not measure the reels when we decided on the trim. The Watt guys are good with all kinds of routers. Thanks for the positive feedback. I have done some revision to my recent post with more technical information. As I added in that post, I am using these posts to give people some technical "red meat" of how a complicated integration was done and using it as a sort of self-documentation tool. Hopefully, others can benefit from my experience.