I originally linked some Google pictures and they didn't show. I relocated them to OneDrive and they still didn't show. Now, they are hosted on "imgur" and the links are working
Here is my actual setup.
The audio rack is designed and handmade by me. It is based on a commercial model I have seen in a shop but tailored to my exact setup. I initially expected to tri-amp but...
Left shelf bottom to top: Arcam Alpha 8 FM Tuner | Alpha 8 CD that now acts as a transport only since it's fed through the SM6 DAC (when dinosaur friends come by with CDs...) | Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6v2 | Linn Kairn.
Right shelf bottom to top: Tripp Lite surge protector w/ ampmeter | LK85 | LK140.
Ninkas, aktiv
Fot those who wonder, the left speaker is 76½cm from the left wall and 70 cm from the back wall.
The two speakers are 185 cm apart.
TrippLite w/ampmeter
Before I converted to digital streaming and ripped all my CD library, replay gain differed from one album to another, hence the volume level on the Kairn was not enough to ensure a perfect neighborhood relationship. I phone-called my upstair's neighbor and, with trial and error, we agreed that whatever time of day, "1,3A" on the TrippLite ampmeter was of no concern for our relatioship and, that during the day, there was no sound level that would still be enjoyable to me while bothering her. Nice!
Now that I FLACked everything with replay gain tags, I would say that a volume "70" on the Kairn is most enjoyable with most albums. As it happens, it's still "1.3A" on the TrippLite and, quite a coincidence, also happens to be "70dBa" on a soundmeter I borrowed for testing.
Room configuration
The second picture shows the plant racks I designed and completed assembling last week and, more importantly, without this idea in mind, are now an essential part of the system in it's whole.
While I always had pleasure listening to the system, I also felt something was not the way it should be. The exact same kit was listened at the dealer and sounded better. The dealer's best guy came to install the system, and position the speakers.
Since I moved in back in 2005, I was pretty sure the room's acoustic was deteriorated by the 2¾ m patio door (9'). But, because the condo's orientation allows only for dim sun to get in, heavy curtains were not an option I have considered.
My girlfriend moved-in this summer and the garden went from 5 plants to 20 so I had to find a viable solution. As stated above, since there is not much light coming from outside, I decided to design the plant rack and install fluorescent tubes on the ceiling. Damn! With all those soft plants in front of the window, the acoustic is now pure bliss. What a sound improvement came from those racks!
A box to hide the fluorescent tubes is still to be made, hence the wood planer on the ground.
We live three in a 90m2 condo, so it needs to look like a family apartment, not a man's cave. The plant rack allowed this to happen, since I did not want to add some sound proofing panels on the walls and endup with an ugly living room.
This is it.
Nicolas
