Thank you, Daniel (and Skinzy)
Second-hand cars and motorcycles are my thing too, whether they’re recent models or not (Triumph Spitfire MK3, Honda 250CB from the 1970s downstairs). When it comes to mechanics, I get my hands dirty, but with hi-fi, I rely above all on unfailing reliability over time, then on repairability without excessive costs, which is essential for devices that cost as much as my house did, and that’s where a long term brand’s credibility lies, in my humble opinion.
I find it difficult to strike a balance between life and the absence of harmful interference from the direct field of the speakers by the reverberated field in a room. I am no exception to this difficulty; no two acousticians will offer the same solutions. My room aims for maximum clarity across all frequencies with excellent reverberation time consistency down to fairly low bass frequencies and a homogeneous reverberant field that is decoupled from the music. The treble is not overly dampened compared to other frequencies, but to achieve these results, the room is fairly muted (reverberation time slightly under 3 seconds). The life of the music in the room depends more on the speakers than in other rooms, depending on their energy distribution and directivity. The 4-way Vivid G1 speakers with wide dispersion are the most effective at producing a grandiose sound image.
The bass traps at the bottom of the crawl space and the dimensions of the room mean that I don’t have a “bump” below 100Hz, but rather a decreasing curve, even with the Andra going down to 18Hz -3dB, which allowed me to integrate the subwoofers with DSP without affecting the direct playback from the speakers via the MSB Reference. The subs fill in gaps and a few dips, without ever rising above the average level of the speakers.
The QRD diffusers are made of medium-density fiberboard for the large side panels, while the others are made from 30mm polystyrene sheets cut with a band saw and glued to the walls of the room (frequencies treated above the thresholds where the mass of the material matters).
The bass traps are made of dual-density fireproof rock wool ( Rockfeu REI 120 RsD - isolant sous-faces dalles béton | ROCKWOOL ) wedged between fir rafters to act as a membrane. Glass wool is spread across the bottom of the crawl spaces.
The room’s absorbent panels are 80mm high-density rock wool acoustic tiles. Their rigidity and mechanical strength also allow them to be wedged between two fir rafters to act as a membrane without touching the walls of the room and lowering the absorption frequency (https://www.eurocoustic.com/fr/plafonds-modulaires/acoustished).
The finish is achieved using SWAL strips, or by stapling onto a plywood structure for wall panels, with Camira Lucia acoustic fabric. ( Lucia T2T ; Nos Produits : Clip SWAL® CSW 108 Plus Blanc, Baguettes de tension ).
I am keeping a few options open for final adjustments, such as transforming the absorbent wall or ramp panels into diffusers, depending on the speakers chosen and the desired sound balance. Perfection lies in intentions, never in real life, which is full of compromises.
As for the path that led me to MSB… I would say it was the cumulative experiences that led me to get tired of hearing source output stages, preamp amplification stages, the difficulties in achieving full coherence with separate components, the good experiences I had with many simple integrated devices, my growing preference for all the R2R sources I had for their better respect of timbres, the fact that I have a quiet listening room, which allows for a net gain in the perception of the dynamic range of music and the soundscapes of the recordings, and my total rejection of other manufacturers’ failure to address problems such as network pollution, embedded computing in streamers, digital connections, creating costly needs external to the DAC, and poor internal clock circuits that require the use of external clocks… whereas an external clock signal does not seem logical technically in dematerialized audio. All of this led to the specifications that represent MSB’s work.
Opportunities followed, with a friend buying a Premier, shared listening sessions, then further opportunities for me with the Reference, then the Director, and finally the S202.
But ultimately, what led me to MSB was …. music.
Nicolas.
