Hi grannyring
Yep, I’m a terrible guy, I know. LOL.
Here’s a simple test you can do in your home, and I have many do, as they take one of my field trips. Put on a piece of music and enjoy it in your listening seat for a while. Now go back to that same piece and start it again only this time listen to it standing up. In most listening rooms with furniture and carpet, when you stand up you hear a completely different opening effect than when sitting down. Tell us what you hear if you want, but no need if you don’t. If you play that piece and slowly repeat sitting down and standing up you are going to hear how the room is reacting to the speaker/room/ear combo. You’d be absolutely amazed at how many people get a hold of me to make the speaker/room/furniture judgement call with them.
I did one of my field trips at a fairly well known HEA audiophile here in Vegas not too long ago. He had me come over to check out his gear and stuff that he had been working on, cool guy! He put on a cool piece of music and invited me to evaluate his system (let him know what I thought). I think he was expecting me to sit in the sweet spot and do all my thinking from there.. So, I listened and took in some cues. After I heard what was going on, I got up and started checking out his space so I could see (hear) where what I was hearing was happening. It took me about 3 minutes to see what was holding the recording back and what was working well, at least enough to get started. He invited me back to the chair to listen to his digital setup. I basically did the same thing. I believe that really puzzled him and it seemed maybe no one had ever done that with or for him before.
Grannyring, I think that so many HEA folks have got that mental picture of a system in their minds that they somehow forget what is going on with the physics of replaying a recording. The common sense factor gets thrown out the window, and somehow they try to create some kind of system that defies the natural laws of our world. My job as a designer is not to create a system of HEA looks or, if I may say, a Stereophile-ish cookie cutter stereo. My designing is all about reproducing the soundstage, and how to do it in a repeating consistent way. Looks of course is a big part of the hobby and I work with a lot of interior designers, but the hobby of listening comes down to one thing, that stage. It’s easy to get so into this thought of a HEA system and completely miss what a stereo is intended to do. Many of my system designs are obviously used in a dedicated sort of way with one listening chair and a SAM directly behind the listener, but not every audiophile lives inside of a Michael Green Audio environment. And many listeners end up frustratingly spinning their wheels when their soundstage is waiting for them.
Michael Green
www.michaelgreenaudio.net