The Importance of Audio Furniture

Kenscollick,

All speakers need room to breathe. must be that WAF thing.

I agree about the WAF being a major determinant in most systems, after all we share our lives and abode with our better half. Your highly respected and excellent speakers definitely need room to breath as they actually radiate an opposite polarity sound field backwards (in the mid and treble) whilst radiating an omnidirectional (same polarity) sound pattern in the bass. So your speakers are not at all suitable for an entertainment center, for sure.

However, some worthy speakers can be designed to go in walls (soffit mount examples & soffit mount technical description). This can actually create the most even sound field possible as everything radiates forwards in the same polarity (bass, mids and treble) with much less comb filtering effects from first reflections.

Many acoustic studio designers support soffit mounted setups and there are a great many out there. This is much more complex than an "entertainment center" and often requires more bass absorption/trapping - especially on the far wall behind the listener....but the there is really nothing that matches how impressive and coherent these soffit-mounted designs can sound ( why else do you think studios would go to so much trouble and huge expense to build these show case soffit-mounted main monitor systems?) Basically these extremely expensive custom installations are designed to impress musically astute studio clients (artists/musicians) by sounding better than anything else the artist/musician has heard anywhere; if these systems can impress a major artist than it helps bring in more business to the studio.

Your great system clearly identifies you as a serious audiophile and therefore I thought these details may interest you. Enjoy!

Cd players have clock and lazers prone to micro vibrations,as do lp tables prone to vibration.Amps,preamps,Everything you can do to isolate components from vibration helps.There are cheaper effective ways to do this.You just have to find out what works for you,money wise and appeal wise.Most importantantly can appreciate the differance.

have you ever heard of "Listening the Audio Furniture"?

Kenscollick,
May i ask what your Krell and Wadia are sitting on and have you had them on any other supports? If you have,did you hear any difference in sound.

I've found Billy Bags audio furniture to be situated in a nice sweet spot with regard to function, aesthetics, and price. My wife quite likes their modernist form/function looks, as do I. Rather than going for spikes, I opted for the glide feet so that I can slide the rack out into the room for major cleanings or rearranging. Their stuff is very strong too, would support anything. I cruised their site's "blow out" bargain basement and got just the piece I wanted at half price!