A free tweak revisited


I am absolutely positive that this subject has been discussed before, but last night as I was listening I was reflecting on how big a difference (for me) turning the lights off and (probably redundantly) closing my eyes makes.  My listening room is a quite near field environment, but with the lights off/eyes shut I hear the illusion of a sound stage wider than the boundaries of the room with height and some depth.  (However, the sound stage I get is not as deep as it is wide.)  Opening my eyes and looking at the speakers so close to me is kind of like sticking a pin in the balloon. 

immatthewj

Music is dreamed up in the darkness of the skull, and darkness is its favorite habitat.

Hi immatthewj, thanks for the topic...

I'm in a small, dedicated studio that seconds as a workspace.  Prime Time with the Sweetspot Siren is commonly after 10pm.  I find LED lights and electronic product lights, annoying.  Tube glow rules!  A simple search for LED light blocking stickers inexpensively and rapidly solved the problem.  I suspect, like me, many of my silver haired Peers spent long hours deep into the night, listening to tube radios.  WPTR & WKBW AM radio ruled the northeast during the exciting 1950 into 60's.  A darkened room works much better for me. 

For those, like me, who keep the decibels down at night (wife sleeps above studio) you might laugh, but these have proven comfortable and effective when requiring more volume: 

FOR USERS (earglasses.com)

I recently upgraded my bi-wire as manufactured Cardas Clear Sky X4's.  They are now bi-wired TO the speakers and all 12 connectors changed to FORGED spades.  The results are dynamic, adding more holography and depth of field, difficult to achieve in a small room.   A close, seasoned audio friend with a vast room and big system, is always gob-smacked when he visits by the size of the presentation.  Caution...in bi-wiring the X4 design, I'm not using deep bass information to my mains  it's divided at my Pro DAC, assigning below 80hz to my subs.  I had Tech help from Brian Van Bork at Cardas.

Other "free tweaks"...level all components (Art Dudley) and switch your main electrical box circuit switches and main switch on/off a few times a couple times a year.  

Onwards and More Peace             Pin       (bold print for old eyes)

When I was shopping for stereo loudspeakers at a predominately home theater dealer I was surprised when they demoed by turning the lights completely off.  I thought it was dishonest in a way, since I never listen like that and I wasn't certain what was going on.  I didn't know it was a psycho-acoustic effect I was experiencing.