My apartment setup

[JonFo]

This weekend I took the oak trim off my speakers for refinishing.

Excellent work Brandon !

Do you think simply sanding off the lacquer would allow me to apply a finish with a dye in it (I have the dye, as it would match the wood trim on my sidewall project) ?

Really been wanting to refinish my Monolith rails, but they are a permanent part of the speaker, so at best, I can pull out the panel to keep it away from dust, but the rest is still at risk.

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

Nice job Brandon. You should be very happy with your results.
It is never easy going head long into an unknown project. Even if you have what seems to be all of the answers ahead of time.

Thank you! They really turned out better than the photos show.

The oak trim was surprisingly hard so these were easy to sand without worrying about ruining any edges of the wood. If someone 0

Excellent work Brandon !

Do you think simply sanding off the lacquer would allow me to apply a finish with a dye in it (I have the dye, as it would match the wood trim on my sidewall project) ?

Really been wanting to refinish my Monolith rails, but they are a permanent part of the speaker, so at best, I can pull out the panel to keep it away from dust, but the rest is still at risk.

I see no reason that wouldn't work, that's all I did minus dye/stain. I thought of doing red or blue for a change but ended up staying with the natural finish.

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

My new Google pixel finally arrived so I took a couple good pics that better show how the wood turned out and how great this cell phone camera is.

 

[gordonmenninger]

hmm how on earth are you even able to play these speakers with sub in an apartment? Don't your neighbors start knocking on your door the minute you turn on your music?

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

hmm how on earth are you even able to play these speakers with sub in an apartment? Don't your neighbors start knocking on your door the minute you turn on your music?

Big old concrete building with thick walls, it's really not a problem. I can't really hear any of the other residents unless someone above me drops something heavy. I also don't usually listen to anything over 80db anyway.

 

[Big Dog RJ]

Big old concrete building with thick walls, it's really not a problem. I can't really hear any of the other residents unless someone above me drops something heavy. I also don't usually listen to anything over 80db anyway.

Very good point!
I've always told many people who've visited, just because all the power is available on tap, there's really no point in listening to music at extreme levels. After all, this is recorded music being "played back..." not a rock concert or a live gig. That type of sound is totally different, the physics are completely different. Trying to recreate a live performance in a playback system is never going to happen, yet many believe they achieve it.

At this level of pristine quality, the goal is to heighten the enjoyment of recorded music, nothing else!
Enjoy those fine tunes!
Cheers, RJ

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

Nothing super exciting here, but I did some cleaning and organization in my bedroom where I keep system #2 so I thought I'd share some nice photos I took with my new phone.

My Marantz 2250 has issues so a giant stack of SAEs currently take it's place.

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

Well "my apartment setup" will no longer be in an apartment as of December 14th. I spent ALL of my money and am now the proud owner of a 2500 square foot house and I have the entire thing to myself. I will no longer be able to afford buying fancy audio gear but I already have pretty much everything I need and I still have a bunch of DIY projects that are half finished to keep me busy. One of these days I'll even get my giant steel Quest speaker project done that I've teased for like 2 years.

I will finally be able to unleash the power of the subwoofers left over from my home theater days, back when they made movies that weren't hot woke garbage. I don't watch movies anymore but my RCF 21' woofer should do great for music and video games.

 

[JonFo]

Congratulations Brandon, I hope it turns into an excellent investment for you. At least you can rock out with no worries

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

Congratulations Brandon, I hope it turns into an excellent investment for you. At least you can rock out with no worries

Thank you! It's been a very confusing and stressful process being a first time home buyer and my realtor was a moron, but I think I'm at the tail end of things now.

I'm definitely excited to see how I can layout all my various audio gear around the house. I want something in the kitchen because it's huge.

 

[Robert D]

That's good that you were able to buy the nice home. The real-estate market now is crazy. Its going to be great.

 

[Russr]

Awesome, congrats on the house - it looks great, with a great workshop... oops, sorry, I mean garage!

Enjoy it in good health, Sir!

 

[DanR]

Congrats Brandon, you are going to have a great time setting it all up and moving equipment around getting it just to your liking. Enjoy man!!

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

Thank you all for the kind words, I do appreciate it.

Maybe I'll put in a few late nights at the shop if I have time and get my giant steel ESL speaker project running. It would be cool to show them off in my new place.

 

[Brad225]

That is wonderful Brandon. The house looks in good condition, what you can see of it. Good amount of garage space also.

When do you move in?

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

I'm officially moved in, I love everything about this weird old house

I got system #1 setup the first night because my friends and I wanted some tunes after moving everything. I first had my Wharfedale Evo's hooked up since I figured they would sound the best in this weird uneven space but they actually didn't sound great, kinda muddy for whatever reason.

This morning I decided to switch to my Martin Logan's using my active crossovers and to my surprise they actually sound much better. Just a much crisper and cleaner sound overall, unfortunately I'm not getting much imaging in this space but it's not that big of a deal since this system is just playing into the kitchen. Much more stuff to come I think.

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

So I've now been in this house for a few days and it's just fantastic. I've actually discovered a very nice perk with these speakers, they sound great from both sides... With my weird house layout I can actually sit on my couch at the far end of the house and still get great sound from both speakers, but from the back of the panels.

I can put on a record AND sit infront of the fire, this is wonderful. Don't mind the mess in the photo, I have boxes everywhere still.

 

[Robert D]

I feel like hardwood floors really helps to propagate the sound through the whole house. We used to have quite a bit of carpet on our first floor but now its all hardwood. Sound really caries. I can be on one side of the house and speak to people all the way upstairs and they can understand me. The upstairs hallway is hardwood too as well as the stairs. Its a fairly large house too, about 3300 sqft.

 

[Robert D]

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

Hello everyone, sorry for my lack of response, work has been really busy all the way until literally 4 hours ago. Gotta keep those flour mills turning otherwise the world ends .

I have been listening to a ton of vinyl lately since I don't even have internet yet. Today I decided to replace my 12" subwoofer with a RCF 22" PA sub I had leftover from my home theater days. I threw it in a smallish slot ported box I made for it years ago to go in the back of a CRV for kicks and stuck it in the corner. After trying it with the port firing horizontally I found that firing the port straight up worked the best, this also essentially corner loaded it between the wall and the door.

It does actually sound considerably better than the 12" sub I had in the same spot before, it has a very clean sound. I feel the placement still is not ideal though, if I have time tomorrow I will move the massive box into my main listing space (the middle of my kitchen) and wander around the house to see where I find the best bass. I'm really hoping it ends up being the coffee table in the living room because that would be perfect. You can kinda see the coffee table in the last picture, it's a ways away from the main speakers.