Hi Listeners,

Welcome to the Sonic's System thread. Enjoy the chat & pictures as Sonic takes us on a journey of his audio adventures.

You can look at the archives on www.tuneland.info for more details, or simply have fun as Sonic and us enter the "techno-zone"

Hi Michael and friends at Tuneland!

Thanks Michael for putting up that series of pictures of my system. This series of pix show how my system has been changing over the last couple of years. And for sure the Tune is making better and better music in my room.

The last couple of weeks since I put up my genuine Shutters have been a fight. At first the shutters didn't work -- they shut (heh heh) the sound right down. But Sonic is working on it...

First, I used fewer shutters from 14 down to 8. For now the heavier version works better than the "lights". So four shutters on the side wall at ear height and four shutters on the ceiling.

Second -- Sonic found that the Shutters had to me mounted to their brackets with the right tension. Not too tight so the shutter is stuck, not too loose so that it swings too freely and rattles. It sounds best IMO when it is loose but just a little friction.

Third -- my Tune gear may have been set up to work with the cardboard shutters. With the real stuff I got to move things a bit to get the best sound. The front FS RoomTunes have been moved a bit further apart and closer to the rack. The EchoTunes in the front corners came down. The EchoTunes on the side wall and door is being repositioned. And the sound is coming together.

Fourth -- Michael suggested I put a coat of polyurethane finish on the light Shutters. I did one and put it up in the front centre over the rack.

The sound is beginning gaining dimensionality and life. But it is not there yet.

Comments and advice, Michael?

Sonic

Hi Sonic,

The key to all things tunable is to remember everything effects everything else. This is something that especially rings true when making such a bold step as 14 or so Sound Shutters.

Shutters literally grab the sound of the "laminar flow" that travels along the walls of the room. So what you are hearing must go through the Sound Shutters before it pressurizes your ears. The sound is directly related to what the Sound Shutters themselves sound like. To my ears (listening through yours) it sounds like your Shutters are only just starting to cure. To speed up this process may be a good idea.

How do you speed up the process? Preheat your oven (if you have high humidity preheat at 350) , turn oven off, wait 5 minutes then open the door and set the shutters on the baking rack with the oven door open. Let sit for 1 hour, then hit immediately with a light coat of poly. Repeat the baking process till you hear the Shutters produce a clean and dynamic sound.

The sound that you are now hearing comes from the Shutters taking on moisture. In your area you probably suffer with this more than other areas. The more the Shutters cure the more the sound will come to life. This will be where and when the listening will really begin. The interaction of your whole system will once again gel. While we are in the curing mode, look around the other parts of your system that may be holding moisture. You may wish to systematically start drying out your system. While you do this you will more than likely reconfigure a few things.

Temper curing will no doubt be one of the hot topics in the techno-zone. You've heard of freeze drying before (this is when you lock something in) well heat drying is the same thing only you are opening things up instead of closing them in. This is why a lot of people like the sound of tubes. Heat drying sounds very open and flowing. Your cables, transformers, caps, and certainly your panel speakers are effected big time by moisture.

It will be interesting to not only hear the shutters change but also the rest of the system.

we'll get there

Hi Michael

The sound is coming together a bit more

Sonic tried the polyurethane finish on one light shutter. Had to use a spray can because the liquid stuff available was too thick. A couple of light coats just to cover the surfaces lightly. Then let it dry in a dehumidified closet @ around 35% rh.

I mounted this centrally on the ceiling above my rack. Over the next 10 hours of music play I could hear the system change. Now no more deadness, this light shutter seems to have turned around -- the mushy sound has gone and the instruments have gone a bit harder (!) but the transients are faster, with more plosives and snap. Yes, this is getting more like it. Listened Jordi Savall and Hesperion XX's Viva Rey Fernando (a recording of Spanish baroque music) then some Bill Evans Trio and Sonic is hearing from the system music again.

Next up, I'll coat one or two more of these Lights and introduce them gradually into the system and see where the Tune moves.

Sonic

Yes, the tune is heading back into Sonic's system . This is good news.

Hi Michael

The Tune is coming back over the last couple of days. From what I hear, the volume is getting slightly louder and the images are more forward day by day. The transients are much improved and this is with just one lightweight shutter settling in.

Been listening to some McCoy Tyner and Louis Couperin today.

Sonic's listening habit: I generally play two to four CDs per evening's listening. Usually 2 or 3 classical plus 1 jazz or traditional folk CD. Most of the time if the Tune is with me (and the system) I will listen to a CDs from start to finish. My listening volume is low to moderate, with peaks (C-weighting/fast meter setting) of somewhere around and between 78 dB to 82 dB at the listening seat depending on the type of music. Some times I go a bit louder -- rock/jazz -- or softer -- single recorder for instance.

With the room in some semblance of tune and the shutters settling, I find I can go much louder without the room over loading. I've played music with peaks past 97 dB and the room doesn't choke.

I can't wait till I get the remaining lght shutters dried out and I'll set them up one or two at a time.

Sonic also made a small pressure box (about 12" x 12" x 10") with a toilet roll tube 4.5 " from a corner and placed it on top of the CD cabinet under the aircon blower unit. The tube points upwards towards the ceiling. The tuned volume of this Helmholtz resonator is about 34 hz. The effect was subtle but it made the aircon fan subjectiely quieter and the music louder.

Sonic may bring back the bigger pressure boxes/Helmholtz resonators with a tuned volume of 15 hz and see if that quietens the aircon more or expands the rear of the room acoustically but the box will be rather large on top of the CD cabinet and may involve other acoustic issues by its size.

Sonic

Hi Sonic,

I'm sure things have even progressed more since your last visit to the techno-zone.

Can you hear the curing as it is taking place?

Sounds like you listen to a reference each time you start. I like this practice. It burns the signature of the recording (in part) into your brain.

Hi Michael

I got the polyurethane coated light shutters back and I put them up after some drying. There are now 6 light Shutters on the ceiling -- 3 in-line over the rack at the Quarter-width points and 3 in-line over the listening seat (also at the Quarter-width points).

Yes, this is more like it for sure Sonic can hear a halo developing in the room. At first the images were 3D but small and the images have been getting larger over the last couple of days. The effect of the Shutters is coming through -- Sonic can angle a single shutter and there is a noticeable difference to the focus or soundstage.

As I made minor adjustments to the FS RoomTunes, the images are gelling ore. I had decent depth before where I could hear some instruments playing behind others but with the Shutters, they are set "in a space".

Funny though at this stage, when my preamp is set at the number of clicks I used to listen at, the sound is good but uninteresting and a bit of a disappointment given the shutters BUT if I raise the volume by just 1 click (+1.5dB) the soundfield expands, images become real and voices and instruments have weight and "frame of tone" (as Sakuma-san puts it).

I thought with the Tune, it would take less volume setting on an amp to get the same or higher playback levels.

BTW, in my last post Sonic said that in one listening session the system's sound peaked at over 97 dB....yes, but I need to add the peak was a low frequency gated pulse from a synthesizer (some modern 16 tone music for synthesizers and percussion) and it was the efficient 15 inch Altec sub-woofer that did the job. The Maggies just filled in the upper harmonics. It was just one note that peaked this way and the sound was much too loud for my liking. It is unlikely the Maggies on their own can reproduce peaks like this when driven full-range, maybe give them a 500W amp they will but not with what I use to drive them.

Next up once the light shutters settle in, I will introduce a couple of the heavier Shutters to the ceiling or in horizontal mounting on the front or rear wall.

Sonic

Finishing, curing, and settling is the name of the game. Your volume will come back and probably more. Next year I will talk you into a pair of speakers then we will see an effortless system rule the room.

It will be nice to know what you will hear over the next week of curing with the current setup.

Hi Michael

The sound is improving gradually. I've mounted 2 "heavy" shutters on the rear wall parallel to the ceiling and have started experimenting with angling this pair of shutters.

Michael, can you share the theory behind angling shutters?

In the case with the rear shutters, when angled 45 degs up towards the ceiling, the sound was clear but somewhat lightweight in tone. When 90 degs to the wall, things started improving with more girth. At 45 degs pointing down, there was more bass and mid-bass weight and punch. For now, I finally ended up with the shutters near to being parallel to the wall where there was more tone and fullness.

Oddly, on one level, Sonic felt this wasn't the best but something made me feel that if I gave it a couple of days to settle, the sound will improve a lot.

Michael, what does the effect I am getting from angling my rear shutters tell you about my room?

Sonic is glad that the system is advancing and I am past the point of feel "rats....this is a disappointment with real Shutters in use!".

I now have 12 shutters mounted -- 6 "lights" on the ceiling, 2 "heavies" per side wall, and 2 "heavies" on the rear wall. There are still 2 "heavies" and 4 unfinished balsa blades left.

An interesting point I noticed. In the volume behind my speakers towards and beyond the front wall, 4 distinct bands of depth are emerging. Sound images are layered into these 4 bands.

I also found that the tightness of the screws holding the blades to the shutters affects the sound. For those shutters hanging down or mounted vertically, I have them set loose enough so a tiny touch will cause them to swing. It sounds better this way – is this correct in your experience, Michael?

For the shutters on the rear wall, they had to be tightened so they could hold an angle. If it turns out that having them parallel to the wall is best, I’ll loosen them too.

Music heard last evening -- a CD of 18th century hurdy gurdy music, David Munrow's early music soundtrack for a film on King Henry VIII (vocals and instrumental), John Coltrane's Giant Steps and Bach's Dorian Toccata and Fugue for Organ (Richter).

The Tune is getting exciting again, yes!

Sonic

Hi sonic,

It is always remarkable to me to witness curing and settling. It's like one minute the sound will never return and the next it comes back with such promise. After you got your shutters and I heard what you were hearing I said oh no!! I should have gone ahead and put 2 more light coats of poly on. I'm so relieved that you were able to do this out there. I guess the good part of this story is that now you are able to see the curing first hand. Try to keep the room as dry as you can over the next few weeks.

I agree, for myself when getting the setup so that the screws are just holding things in place (this goes for the whole system) then the sound is operating at it's maximum harmonic potential. All of the energy can work together as one creating it's own balance. Tunable rooms are out of this world when set this way.

The Shutters are fascinating because they not only play a role in shaping but also a role in toning. It can be tricky to find the right places for the Shutters but the more they cure it becomes easier. This is because of the shutters give and take nature with sound waves from a vibrating point of view and also the space point of view. Sound shutters are proof that sound does not travel in a straight line but instead spreads out when it hits the wall. If you look at aerodynamic training films you will see that laminar flow stays very close to the surface and then acts like one uniform body of energy as it is shaped. Laminar flow is strong enough to hold planes in the air and with the slightest adjustment move these big objects. Likewise in a pressurized room like a listening room the slightest movement on the wall changes the sound dramatically. As the Shutter cures more of the vibration will get into the soft core of the wood to give you the tonality and the outside will harden to give you the direction or shaping of the pressure zone. Moving the angle on the Shutters to an open setting allows the sound to flow down to you faster and softer whereas angling the shutter into the zone builds up more of the laminar energy and sends it down to you with more built up pressure. You see angled away from one zone will cause the pressure to double up into the next pressure zone area which you now have chosen the size of by your placement of the Shutters.

Shutters also help you decide which of the pressure zones become the most prominent in your room. The shutters also will tell the pressure zone what to sound like. Tightening and loosening a shutter will act like an acoustical tuner for the laminar energy (sound pressure) that builds up in that particular zone. As the air pressure hits the Shutter it then vibrates the Shutter causing the waves to reform their pattern hierarchy. This sets the priority of the harmonic structure for that zone. Once you get the hang of this you can start zone shifting between the different pressure zones in the room.

Think of your Shutters as zone pressure gages if you will. They can take on more or less energy depending on their angle. This will allow the zones to interact with each other. It's kind of like inflating a bunch of balloons at different pressures and filling the room up with them, then jumping in the room. When you hit a balloon that was more full you would go flying across the room with more velocity. When you hit a balloon with less you would have more of a sponge effect and not move as far. This is what is going on in your room right now as the sound waves move around it. Once in a while during the second's cycle frequencies will spike and peak but the more your system is in tune the more you will hear pure pressure.

So yes, the tightness, placement, and curing all play a big part in the Sound Shutters ability to shape the pressure in the room. The Shutters should also be thought of as an aid to the other acoustical products in the room. Putting up Shutters change the formula of energy that heads toward the other objects in the room so it is good to consider making not only Shutter adjustments but other tuning adjustments when tuning these. This type of thinking should always be on our minds when making tuning adjustments.

great questions as always