Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Show Me Your (Gear) Rack!

Wow Vince and Frank- very impressive. Congratulations guys.

Here is a thread which has my pics- its from 2007.

https://www.meridianunplugged.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=65662#Post65662

best regards,
Jerry

Hey JerryL,

As a@a.com stated, that is one sweet pro-style rack install. Your installer managed to make an incredibly complex whole-home AV/automation system look clean and simple. Most impressive!

A little off topic: After rereading the entire thread, I noted there was no mention of any low frequency room treatment in your gorgeous media room. You do describe the (beautifully disguised if I might add) mid-to-high frequency diffusive and absorptive room treatments that are inset into your walls (behind colored GoM fabric panels, I presume?) but no indication of any bass trapping. I read through your adventures with MRC and saw your before and after graphs. The response trend is notably smooth but even after MRC it still exhibits a strongly rising trend at lower frequencies with a substantial mid-bass bump and ringing. The waterfall plots suggest your mid frequency acoustics on upwards have been addressed brilliantly by the wide band in-wall treatments. The graphs also suggest that you could seriously benefit from corner bass trapping and perhaps some further speaker repositioning (pull the front three a little further into the room?) to pull down that mid-bass bulge and reduce the mid-bass reverberation time. Floor to ceiling stacks of 20" or 24" diameter ASC Tube Traps in the four room corners would no doubt work a treat on your mid bass bump. ASC will cover 'em in the same color GoM fabrics used elsewhere in your room. A complimentary color and the sheer size of your room (I'm rather jealous BTW ) will ensure that the large diameter cylindrical traps aren't an eyesore.

In my experience, at mid-bass frequencies on-upwards, passive acoustic treatment makes much more audibly significant differences than electronic treatments. IMHO electronic room treatment like MRC or parametric EQ is best applied as icing on the cake of an already acoustically optimized room and gear set-up. This allows the end-user to realize 100% of the performance potential they purchased.

Happy Trails!
Vince@Freewheelcycle.com

Thanks guys. Vince I agree with your points and its something I should explore. I worked with someone who has an extensive knowledge of acoustics and she felt that given the room dimensions the bass would be most natural this way. So far I can't really argue with her but I also have gotten such a dramatic improvement in sound from the helpful advice of other members here so I would never dismiss helpful advice. Btw- what's "GoM"?

best regards,
Jerry

Hey Jerry,

I PM'd ya further about the acoustics stuff.

GoM stands for Guilford of Maine, a manufacturer of fireproofed acoustic and architectural fabrics. This company's FR701 acoustically transparent fabric is used by almost every manufacturer of room acoustic treatment products (ASC, RPG, GIK Acoustics, etc) and specified by pretty much every architect, interior designer, or custom installer world-wide. Guilford of Maine's apparent near monopoly on this category makes it real easy to mix and match different brands of room treatment, or add additional elements afterwards. Their core colors have remained unchanged for years. I'd be very surprised if the fabric covering your in-wall room treatments wasn't GoM FR701. All my room treatments, both the DIY stuff and the commercial ASC Tube Traps are covered in FR601 "Medium Grey".

Happy Trails!
Vince@Freewheelcycle.com

OK you guys-

I count 32 unique HitchHikers posting over the past 48 hours, many with multiple posts. Who knows how many of you are just lurking but this topic has been viewed 450 times. There is still only four rack installs posted to date and two of 'em are mine!

If you can configure an M system, you can figure out how to post a few pics to this thread!

Happy Trails!
Vince@Freewheelcycle.com

Setting up space for your photos on www.photobucket.com is easy and takes no time at all.

I just hyad my rack rewired as part of a Crestron whole house automation project -- not something for the faint of heart -- and would be happy to post pictures only that I have no webs hostingcapability so, should someone be willing to host pictures I would be happy to snap a few and send them along...

TIA

Thanks Vince- I have no idea if the material is GoM or not. We did have it tested to make sure its acoustic properties would work with the treatments. The final result is very pleasing to my ears.

best regards,
Jerry

my rack, it was for free from one of my previous employers..

OK - here are a couple of pics of my system with the rack in the center. (596, 568.2, 518) The rear channels are M33s. The only new component since this pic is a Sonos ZP80 I use as my primary source component. The other components are the cable box, a DVDO iScan HD+ scaler, and a 61" Pioneer Elite Plasma monitor.

Interesting (and elegant). No center channel?

Very nice setups! Same question re the center.

best regards,
Jerry