Of all things possible to try when it comes to improving the sound in our system, I have tried them all and then some you can not dream up (ever put a water in a blow, select a stone to put in it and then place the bowl somewhere in your system ?) What I had not ever played with was sound or acoustic panels. I have over time kept my eye out for them, kept somewhat up on information on them, but never pulled the trigger. A friend said a few years ago when I brought up the subject "do not go there, there is no way to stop".
Some weeks ago I held my breath and made an order on Amazon for panels (more like thin foams) that were cheap and had a good return policy. Most of what I ordered got returned. Then I saw Etsy panels from UAcoustics that looked very good and had a very reasonable price. I have absolutely no idea about the quality difference between one from another. I am sure there is. Thickness I can understand, but one type of foam from another is something I have no understanding or knowledge about. Yet.
The UAcoustic panels arrived and my friend Willie, who is more active than I, came over and after a sloppy temporary install Willie just took over and installed the panels on the back wall, behind the speakers. It was sweet to watch Willie take over the project. He is like me, used to working alone so I sat and watched him storm on and talk to himself about the progress, while I took some photos on my phone and provided silent emotional support.
My intention was to buy 2 panels. After my wife made a comment on the one she liked and I had placed as a second option I ordered 2 sets, one she liked and would go behind the speakers and a set that would go to the side (or ceiling, but then I thought about what my friend Mark said about limit and I thought no). To buy 4 also made sense since the shipping was the same.
The impact on the sound was instant. The on the back wall gave more details and resolution to the soundstage. The bass control was better. The sound stage was also somewhat bigger and became even bigger when the panels on the sidewall (facing the speakers) were in place. There were kinds of lots of differences, big in kind of a small or subtle way.
Wille left and I kept playing music in a newfound sound and musical bliss. Somewhere in the process Willie had suggested that we would, should, address the first reflection point on the side wall. I have known for years that this is the first thing to address but I do not always follow the normal path.
So a few days later I called Willie again and he came over and confirmed with me what we had learned a few days earlier about the back and side panels' new effect on the sound. And being neck full of ADHD he stood up and asked "bring in a mirror, let's find the first reflection points". Mirror in use, tape to mark the spot and we had the points. I had bought 12" x 12" stiff foam diffusers earlier that I was doing experiments with, around my mic for my talk when I record my podcast.
Those we put where we found the points to be, 2 on either side wall. I really don't know what to say next. The impact was huge. It was like it completed the 4 we had done a few weeks back. The soundstage became huge. A lot more inner details. The soundstage was deeper. All this and still so very much musical. The big bang was the openness. Willie's comment was "there is no hi-fi in the sound, just real music". This is so true. The system has sprung to life, opened up like this big beautiful flower, free from any strain or boundaries.
From the moment the Aurai Z 165 came into my system, the system has been on a roll. Roll to a much better sound than I have been accustomed to before. The backup, the electronics behind are pretty good. Far from being the most elaborate one can buy, but good. I have said this for years that the only part that can grow in the system and become better and better are the speakers. We can truly upgrade all parts within, different tubes in and feet under and so on. But the speakers can be affected in the biggest way. Aurai is an outstanding speaker. Better than anything I have heard (I wanna say in any price point). What the speaker, with the support, is doing in the room is mind blowing to me.
I do as we all do, play the same tracks over and over to evaluate any change in the sound. A disk that has been my friend for good 20 years now, Kalamazoo Trio from Germany, has not been sounding much different as of late. When I played for Kerstin, my wife, her favorite track of the disk, she commented few times on sounds she had not heard before. There was also room ambient around sounds that had greatly improved.
Do I stop here ? My eyes go toward the ceiling but I think my wife is saying no. She did say by the way when I played her favorite track "wow, This is the biggest difference I have heard yet". She was in for a long passionate kiss.
I will wonder about the ceiling for a bit.
Love and respect
Finn