Audio Related Topics

Could it actually change the sound? Possibly. We all know that almost anything placed in a room can change the sound a little. A diffuser can. A bookshelf can. A plant can. The real question is whether it performs better than: a small diffuser, a decorative sculpture, a bookshelf full of books, at its selling price. That's where the burden of proof belongs. My assessment From an acoustics and engineering standpoint: Reflecting/scattering high frequencies: plausible. Generating even-order harmonics: highly questionable. Making a room "acoustically transparent": marketing language. Producing dramatic soundstage improvements: unproven. Worth the asking price without independent measurements: doubtful. If someone handed me one for free, I'd happily fool with it. If someone asked me to spend my own money on it, I'd want to see controlled blind-test results and measurement data first. Right now, the description reads more like audiophile marketing poetry than acoustic engineering. Give me some solid data and I'll hit the "I believe button". But for now, I'll assume it is much like the "super-whamodyne, mega-twist, copper/silver infused premium" audio cable and take a hard pass.

Agreed! I really enjoy mine. I also have a Wiim Mini that I use in my metal working shop.

It's a crazy dilemma. two of my local audio friends got in to the MoFi releases, early on..., and have purchased everyone. One of those guys then has the various original pressings..., from Japan, from Europe, etc of key albums, like DSOTM, Beatles classics, etc..., He swears he can tell the difference. I bought a few MoFi, but caught myself at the mental "budget" for that hobby (watching the frenzy of my two frendis)..., and that's when I got into Roon and streaming..., I haven't bought many records, since. 😉 I hope I have it nipped. LoL

The Eagles Hotel California (Album)

Yeah, I had to have a conversation with myself about how many more albums I may buy. The cabinet design ChatGPT and I came up with will hold about 300. (did the math on record album thickness, drawer length, etc) Right now, I have about 200 and I'm about "tapped out" on music I actually would listen to regularly or music that I truly like. At one time, I thought about trying to collect all 1001 of the Rolling Stones' "1001 Albums You Must hear Before You Die". But, honestly, so many of those albums are just not music that appeals to me. So, I had to decide- am I just buying records I like to listen to, or am I a record "collector". And, I think it's the former. And, I think space for 300 is enough.

@3M_Audio and @AndrewJohnthank you. I've found a few selections i like. Plenty of different types and shades to look through. I'm going to try some things out on a pair of ol Bose 301s and a Formula F-12 Subwoofer before I work on the Carverfest sub. And once again @jeffs, your speakers look very sharp!

Deep Purple Machine Head (Album)

The Damned Machine Gun Etiquette (Album)

I think it also is affected by the simple number of how many albums you have. while I like the record-shop bins, I have too many unless I had 6 or 7 of those, and the floor space for that many is just not available..., Some guys I know, put their less-used, but collected, albums in a closet, and never play them - that would work. Or another guy I know with too much money..., built a large room in his new house for storage, and his custom listening room has racks and racks built-in. For me, like @xavionics, I am too blind, and my bones are too old to get down on the floor - so I mounted Ikea Kalix shelving at eye level on the wall so I could see the end-labels on two rows of albums along the wall, at chest-to-forehead level for easy perusing. It was a little work, (had to engage support in the wall studs)..., but it looks great, was cheap (except for my labor and time to engineer it to "float". I think I posted a picture of it a few years back.

@Rob and I, as we walked around AXPONA a couple years ago, sat through one of these demos from a different supplier. We caught on that something was up..., The premise was that this "passive" device, when placed in the room, could do room correction of some kind, and improve the sound. The device was small, like a USB stick drive size, as I recall. The demo jock said he could take the unit out of the room, and the correction would stop, and the sound difference would be noticeable at the moment it left the room. we sat through that demo once..., and there was a subtle difference - but nothing spectacular. The audio system was a smallish remote-controlled non-branded (that I recall) integrated system, small enough to fit in a suitcase with the speakers. I caught on that a second player in the con was in the back of the room, arms folded..., and I noticed in his hand was a small remote control unit. I requested that guy, in the back of the room, to put the remote down on the floor, in front of the system they were playing music through. A look of "shock" and "we're busted flooded their face - their con had been exposed. They tried to continue with the lie of the con, saying "it will still make a difference..." They complied, and the other demo jock took the "component" which was not powered, no wires, not in the "chain" anywhere..., out of the room again, and this time, no sound change that we could tell. My conclusion is that the remote, operated by the quiet guy in the back corner of the room toggled on some "loudness" feature in the system that was playing the demo tracks, in synch with the con man that took the component out of the room. Con men are everywhere - it just takes common sense to see through it, and not get duped. But, then, cults of followers of this kind of snake oil are sucked into it every day..., and when a mark pays $3995 for something, expectation bias kicks in and they "believe" it works, and would rarely come out and risk their pride by admitting they had made a mistake and fell for the con. While his museum has no evidence, PT Barnum is credited with saying "a sucker is born every minute" - others with the sentiment also credited with this phrase include David Hannum, PT Barnum's critic, as well as the notorious Bunco Man, Joseph Lewis ("Hungry Joe") a gambler in the 1880's in several print references... The term applies to Audio, for sure! 😉

I have to say the WiiM Ultra is the best bang for the buck I've purchased since getting a working M-500t for $120 on eBay. I've ended up with 3 WiiM Ultras, and I got them all at the current price.

Do a search on eBay..., use the string "book matched burl veneer" Dozens of listings come up..., some very interesting burled examples as low as $20 (sizes may vary - not sure what you need). Many listings lay out a guitar-top shape (seems a common use or market). some of the guitar-top sellers are asking astronomical prices..., but some are more reasonable..., It's a great place to see LOTS of examples of different veneers. I love the marble wood and zebra wood examples, and while I like (and have purchased) walnut burls from eBay sellers, I find the most spectacular burled wood to be the redwood burls. Others really like the birds-eye maple burles... The size of the pieces offered do vary. If nothing else, it gives a lot of good ideas on what is available - for example...

I didn't need any enabling, but peer reinforcement is appreciated. Should have mine this afternoon.

I don't have a record collection but the mix of wall art and the bins looks really sharp! I believe it will draw folks who get to see it into conversation about the art, albums and the music.

The Damned Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Album)

Rockler carries several types of burl veneer including some matched packs Walnut Burl Sequenced Matched 4-Way Veneer Pack | Rockler Woodworking and Hardware

Welcome!

A little late to this but here goes. My albums are currently stored end on, like other folks here have them. Agreed on the "get down on the floor and old eyes" comment; I resemble that. I do like the bin style shown and may move to that arrangement. I also like the idea of the art wall that can be changed whenever. That ChatGPT mock-up looks really nice!

believe it or not, ChatGPT chose that for me...... I do have all those albums, though

Nice choice of album art!