Jim B Room

Jim has this to say about his room

The recording system for on location recording consists of Schoeps microphones, Millennia Media HV 3 mic preamp, a highly modified Manley Analogue to Digital Converter, either a Panasonic SV 3700 or SV 3800 DAT, and a Power Wedge 115 power filter. There is another Power Wedge 115 for the playback system as well.
Where to begin! Because my deepest audio interest is faithful reproduction of the pipe organ, I have had several large speaker systems to satisfy this need. Since 1990, I have been recording professionally and most of this work is choral and so there has been additional requirement for reproduction of classical and some popular vocal music as well. Previous systems have included several McIntosh and Infinity speakers, the most recent being the Beta speakers. Between heavy use and an evolving "listening taste" I wanted something more and for the last five years I listened. Early versions of the Genesis Model 2 revealed tremendous bass, but a congested mid range and weak treble definition. In 1996 I was able to listen at Lyric Hi Fi in New York City to the newest version, the Genesis 200 speakers with two woofer towers with eight 8" woofers per side and servo control, and two mid and tweeter towers. The midrange is reproduced by a four-foot ribbon element and there are 12 one-inch tweeters on the front and three more on the back. The mid and tweeter panels have a control on the back for the rear firing tweeters that is quite effective in raising or lowering the treble level. A second knob adjusts the weight of the middle frequencies with three settings. The amplifier for the bass has an adjustment range from 3 to 99 for bass output that is controlled by remote control. In my small apartment (!) my system is set at 15. This unit has a pair of specially made cables that couple into the mid/tweeter towers and also control high and low pass filters as well as phase for the system. The bass amp runs very cool, even with high overall volume or heavy organ passages that "move" the apartment with a deep and exceptionally clear profound bass. Because the bass is remote controlled, you can quickly adjust not only the output of the bass but the phase and high and low pass filters for each CD, DAT, LP, FM, or cassette played. Much can be done with simply changing the bass output of the A/B designed amplifier and this has a telling impact on voice when resetting the level in a range from 15 to even as little as 20. A larger room would require a higher setting but the range is so great that this will never be a problem unless your listening area is a non-reflective barn.

My Infinity Beta system suffered from a thin, brittle, and hard upper mid and treble and this immediately disappeared with the Genesis 200 system. The 200 comes with a manual that outlines a number of ways to physically place the speakers in the room, in addition to the crossover/bass system.

The speakers have great clarity and detail as well as power and warmth. With the addition of the Spectral processor there is a wonderful bloom to the sound that also satisfies my "need" for a thunderous and firm bass that builds a tonal foundation for the rest of the sound, and this is especially necessary for good pipe organ sound. With these speakers and the D/A converter and the Krell amp (running at 4 ohms) the sound is not only powerful, but there is an inner detail that is not only natural to the listener in this small and poorly imaging apartment, but there is an extension of sound beyond the speakers that involves the listener deeply in the music. The image is not only wide but deep and tall as well. With these speakers it is possible to hear the mids and treble balanced with the bass for an enveloping and involving listening experience.

The Spectral D/A, with Ultra Analog converters, makes tremendous strides in giving digital a warm and authentic natural sound. The grit and grunge are gone, and if you have a CD transport like the Wadia 7 and it is coupled to the SDR 2000 with a balanced XLR digital cable there is a tremendous fusion of sound that opens up even more. The Spectral D/A has a reputation for a lean bass but this is not true with the XLR balanced connection. When I switched from a BNC connection to the XLR, the sound exploded in every dimension! What a delight! What an experience. And the bass grew tremendously so that there is no weakness with the SDR 2000 if this connection is used. There is no need for fiber optic cable, in fact Spectral does not recommend it.

The Wadia Model 7 CD transport delivers a rock steady sound, has tremendous bass, but also delivers the goods in the treble and midrange as well. It is simply one of the greatest transports ever made.

I have had the Spectral DMC 20 preamp for a number of years and have been completely happy because it simply does not get in the way of the sound! Spectral has come out with Series II of the preamp, but between satisfaction for the sound and the long time it takes Spectral to upgrade, I have been quite content with the tremendous resolution of the original 20. This is important for me because a large part of my recording business is cassette duplication in real time directly from a DAT tape. Cassettes can sound wonderful if they are made with care.

I have for years lived in a very small apartment. And much thought went into the decision to buy such a big set of speakers to house in a small apartment. After consultation with Genesis, and very careful placement in my room, they have proved to be exceptionally effective in a less than ideal placement. Guests simply shake their heads and gasp at the sound, saying there is n way these speakers should sound so good. Better sound in a bigger room? Yes. But the point is that he Genesis 200 system works wonderfully well in a cramped space. At some point I will have a larger space and I will be even more excited about the results, but there are magic moments when the electricity is "clean" and the head is open to a serious listening experience that inspires and elevates the listener towards audio nirvana. This is what makes "high end" exciting and worth not only the financial cost but all the trauma of tweaking.

My apartment has a total of 400 square feet, half of which is the living room. Doors to other rooms are open for heating and cooling and the pressure generated by deep bass has more room to generate sound. The living room area is 23’ long and 12 to 14’ wide. There is a three-foot wide pillar just to the left of my listening position and immediately behind the sofa. If this pillar were centered, it would not skew the phasing and imaging as much as it and the coat closet, which juts out into the room, seem to do. There is a lot of Sonex panels as well as tube traps on the walls and in the corners. These have helped considerably with imaging and sound clarity as well as resolution of detail. The ceiling is 10’ and this helps spread the sound around. The speakers are one foot, give or take a couple of inches from the back wall, and I sit almost seven feet from the front of the speakers. Given all these "no- nos" it is amazing that there is really good sound. The Genesis 200 speakers were selected because they have the ability to reproduce organ and symphonic literature with authority as well as balance. These speakers can play any kind of music be it rock (oh my, the bass is exceptional!), pop, jazz, a symphony orchestra, or a choral recording. The hardest sound to faithfully record is either a soprano solo or the soprano section of a large choir and the Genesis does this rather well. Understand that the Genesis works best with instrumental music but with my recording business, it is important that I am able to clearly hear and understand what is going on in the many choral recordings I do.

These speakers, along with the wonderful Krell FPB 300 amp and the Spectral processor and preamp render music with a compelling and natural resolution as well as very extended frequency. The small and oddly shaped room has not inhibited myself or my guests from having a real good time listening to all kinds of music.