Being a hobbyist and salesman at a high end audio shop for over 40 years I have tried various speaker placement systems. I was using the Wilson "WASP" for several years but find this to be very time consuming, enter Sumiko's MASTER SET, developed by John Hunter when he was the owner. I find this procedure to do an excellent job with some practice. They generally recommend Jennifer Warnes/Rob Wasserman "Ballad Of A Runaway Horse" which is good but I think there are potentially better recordings to use. The most important part of the process is getting the bass right, and there are recordings with more consistent bass runs, I recommend stand up bass on your album of choice. I would include a PDF that someone put together if I could figure out how. I am including a link https://www.audioaficionado.org/showthread.php?t=46634 to another website, hope that's ok, which seems to offer some good practical advise as to using MASTER SET.
Speaker Placement
- Thread starter Toys4Boys
- Start date
I would say tuning a system by ear with one recording is gonna be a pretty rough stab at getting things right. A decent measurement rig is not very expensive these days and can give you a clearer picture of what is going on with the bass response in your room. Granted it requires some study and practice to understand the measurements, but the knowledge gained can be very useful.
I have had excellent results with this method but I do tweak with additional music when I feel it necessary. Generally, I find that a system setup with this method and the one recording get you 95-98% of the way there. I also use a RTA app on my phone to help, primarily my sub woofer settings, but it does indicate other potential problem areas. I also love to double check my positioning by playing Roger Waters 'Amused To Death', recorded in Q Sound. For those unfamiliar with Q Sound recordings they can create a surround sound experience with 2 speakers, but only when the listener is equidistant to both, a really well recorded album and if you haven't experienced it it is a bit of a mind blower.
Not trying to be argumentative Doc, but have you heard systems that you thought were really well setup by ear? We're sort of dancing around the measurement vs listening debate here. I certainly believe that a well engineered product is likely to sound best but many manufactures, I assume you as well, will do subjective evaluations of various parts, and the various prototypes. After all its my ears that determine if the system is singing.
That all being said, I will do some research regarding test gear for setups, I seem to recall a section of the website where that info might be.
Also, I haven't said it before, but I am "Professionally Impressed", an old girl friend used to call me Professionally Unimpressed LOL, with what you guys do. Especially your 'How To' videos and I have gotten a wealth of knowledge from Bottlehead and the forum members. Thank you all!
Not trying to be argumentative Doc, but have you heard systems that you thought were really well setup by ear? We're sort of dancing around the measurement vs listening debate here. I certainly believe that a well engineered product is likely to sound best but many manufactures, I assume you as well, will do subjective evaluations of various parts, and the various prototypes. After all its my ears that determine if the system is singing.
That all being said, I will do some research regarding test gear for setups, I seem to recall a section of the website where that info might be.
Also, I haven't said it before, but I am "Professionally Impressed", an old girl friend used to call me Professionally Unimpressed LOL, with what you guys do. Especially your 'How To' videos and I have gotten a wealth of knowledge from Bottlehead and the forum members. Thank you all!
Yeah, my point was to use both techniques. Measurement vs listening debate seems kinda pointless in terms of getting a room to sound better. Use all the tools available was my point.
I probably have heard systems that were set up by ear and sounded quite good, but I have no outstanding example coming to mind. The best rooms I've heard were set up using measurements evaluated by competent acousticians as well as lots of critical listening to a broad array of music by competent recording, mixing and mastering engineers.
Thanks for the kind words about the videos. Hopefully we will find time to do a few more in the future.
I probably have heard systems that were set up by ear and sounded quite good, but I have no outstanding example coming to mind. The best rooms I've heard were set up using measurements evaluated by competent acousticians as well as lots of critical listening to a broad array of music by competent recording, mixing and mastering engineers.
Thanks for the kind words about the videos. Hopefully we will find time to do a few more in the future.
