Early on in my twenty years in this endeavor we call high-end audio, (most probably forced upon due to finance restrictions!), I took it upon myself to do address the problems with the only component we, as home audiophiles, have any control over. The ROOM. I became quite fascinated with the speaker room interface, which is the major factor in the voicing of our systems. I have never lost that thrill of moving speakers around, adjusting room dampening etc. To the point that I find it very hard not to start "playing" in a new room. Most of my friends have now learned to just let me go while they rest and watch!

My listening diet basically consists of:
Pop/Blues/World: 50%
Jazz/Blues: 25%
Classical: 20% 
The dreaded "New Age", (there is some good stuff in this genre. One just has to wade through the muck!) 5%.

Here are some of my favorite evaluation CDs:

For dialing in soundstaging, I like to use any Reference Recordings disc, especially Pomp and Pipes! MLP's Bach, Suites for Solo Cello, (Janos Starker). And, believe it or not, "Baby", by Yello. (This electronically generated disc is a good test for your speakers ability to "throw"  phase manipulated images. Also a good test for mid-bass transient clarity.

A simply indispensable test is the MATT test, invented by Acoustic Science Corp., for testing  room articulation. Once you learn how to use this signal, your understanding of the rooms acoustic will never be the same. (Available on the Stereophile test CD2).

System's Components

The best component in my playback chain is actually my room. Or I should say the room treatment. Fully outfitted with Tube Traps, and diffusers. I have been in many rooms with far better equipment than mine, but usually with improper or careless attention to the room itself. This results in a needless degradation of the fidelity in which your given equipment is capable of.
 

The Room & Acoustics:	25'L x 14'7"W x 7'2"H Front, left side, rear wall are concrete. Right side wall 5/8"MDF under ½"  & 3/8"drywall. Felt paper between all layers.
ASC Acoustic Treatment:	4-Tower Stouts 1-T 50 2-20" Super Traps 2-16" Tube Traps 2-14" Tube Traps 8-Flat Traps
Sources:	Enlightened Audio Designs T-1000 (Transport) Camelot Technologies Dragon Pro-2 Mk. 1 (Jitter Reduction Resolution Enhancement) Theta DS Pro Gen. III (D/A Converter)
Preamp:	Balanced Audio Technology VK-3i
Power Amp:	Bryston 4B ST
Speakers:	At present, I'm in limbo as to a main speaker. Searching.... 2-Vandersteen 2W-Q Subwoofers.
Cables:	MIT MI 330 Proline Terminator Balanced-1m MIT Digital Ref. 1M Kimber KCAG 3/4 M Altis Ultimate ATT Glass Fiber 1M Van Den Hul The First 3-1M. Pr. MIT-330 + 22 Ft. MIT-MH-750 BI-Wire, 8 Ft. MIT-MH 750 Plus 1-MIT-Z Cord II (AC Cable)
Accessories:	Audio Power Ind. Power Wedge 114 Justarack amp and equipment racks Target TT-3 Equip. Rack BBC Professional Vibration Isolators (amp) Assorted Sorbathane  pucks. (Transport & Pre-amp) Assorted self made machined aluminum cones. Assorted Weights (Mass Loading)

Jon's comments about his System:

AA: "Jon, how would you describe your system's sound?"

JTG: "Full bodied but resolving. Most any speaker in this room is very articulate. Imaging, which I highly prize, is excellent as this room delineates special cues wonderfully." 

AA: "Do you think there is room for improvement?"

JTG: "A loaded question here :)  The system is in flux at this time in regards to speakers. I'll make sure to update you when I hit on something! Also, while I'm waiting for the digital formats to shake themselves out in the marketplace, I will still like to have a go with one of the more affordable up samplers being released. Other than that, I'm having too much fun listening and tuning?" 

AA: "Have you got plans for upgrading?"

JTG: "Yes, although I cannot play in the same rarefied air as most of your friends on this list, I envision "going around the horn" again in a system wide upgrade. It never really ends no?"
 
 

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"Re-Visit" Notes (14 September 2000) For the while at least, I've settled on a new speaker, the Tyler Acoustics Reference One. While covering the 2000 CES in Las Vegas, I happened upon a room in which I returned each night for a little listening visit. What I came away most impressed with is the uncanny similarity of voicing across the whole line of product. (This voicing, while very extended, was always very easy on the ears, inviting very long listening sessions.) After a long week of auditioning in my room, I decided to go for it. The Ref.1 has one very large strong point, its bass quality. (The bass section is compound loaded, with another matching twelve inch driver inside the cabinet). Quite highly damped, to the point of being juuuuust a bit lean, the transient attack is, quite frankly, the best I have heard in my problematic room. The room modes that EVERY other speaker has excited don't seem to be hit as hard with the Ref 1. (My comment on leanness just may be my not being acclimated to a non-lumpy bass response. Further listening will prove this out). The treble, being handled by the top Scanspeak driver, has that "ProAc" extended purity that is addicting. Quite frankly, I do not think I have ever heard this much detail in a speaker without the sense of it being "pushed" at me. I will sell my subs and MAY choose to augment the low end with a very, very good subwoofer. Time will tell... The Tyler Acoustics web site can be found at: www.tyleracoustics.com