I thought it couldn't be done at first, but Ellen approved of N803 and Verity Parsifal Encores (which I couldn't resist), but NOT Revels or Aeriel 8. Hanging the ugly Aleph monos UNDER the floor joists proved wonderfully elegant for allowing short cables, heat control, and aesthetics!
Getting a HEAVY Arts & Crafts leaded-doors cabinet from Drexel ($1400) was a gorgeous, sturdy solution for BOTH the Aleph P, MD100 tuner, and now the Alesis Masterlink (to record my Steinway behind the Encores!).
She even approved the (gorgeous) Electrocompaniet EMC-1 MkII ABOVE said cabinet (phew!), between dried flower arrangements. To maintain audiophile rigor all components sit on good-looking Neuance iso/absorb shelves.
Dedicated mains, PCs, interconnects all run UNDER the floor in the basement's ceiling save for the two pretty ribbons of Red Dawn flowing from the baseboards towards the Encores.
I even hid the mic cables up in the ceiling (attic floor!), so the Earthworks mics sit hidden behind the crossbeams on the ceiling! The Grace mic pre sits velcroed UNDER the piano
front edge, mic cables dressed behind doorway edges with those $5/6' sections of paintable wire tubing from the Depot.
So I have a nearly completely hidden ref system AND recording studio in a formal late-colonial/A&C parlor.
Ellen still feels the need to refer to it as our "music room" in deference to a formal living room, but a nice piece of jewelry each year while we're on vacation seems to mysteriously keep us both on an even keel (balast works both ways?!).
I'm actually quite surprised how elegant the gloss-black Encores look in front of my striped-mahogeny B. So I get to sit in an 8' near-field triangle 8' in front of the front wall, providing a HUGE and ultradeep soundstage, NOT
a severely compromised flat mural the common result of wall or shelf-mounted speakers in high-end "decorators" luxury installs. TV has its own place in a 5.1 HT system in another room...as it should be! Cheers.
