I was invited to do Space Optimisation v2 for a Linn owner’s stereo on Friday, but decided to surprise the owner and do a complete makeover, to try get the best out of his current system
‘The Linn system consisted of a pair of cherry 242’s, Akurate DSM with an Exaktbox 10 and an Akurate 4200 and Majik 6100
Sound quality was okay, but lacked detail and dynamics, sound stage was compressed, musicians were recessed, and overall was lacking bass.
‘I brought along a bag of goodies to help upgrade his system, such as a torque wrench, copper tape, shielding materials, Gunstigs, Isoacoustic Puck Minis, and laser distance measure
‘First up was to level the speakers, after checking that the speakers were the same distance from the front wall, had the same toe-in angle, at the ideal position. Then I pulled out a digital torque wrench and adjusted the torque of the 3K array to 0.85 nM for all of the bolts holding the 3K array.
Behind the HiFi cabinet was one of the worst examples of cable spaghetti I have seen, with at least 50 cables all interwoven with mains leads, Ethernet cables, interconnects, and speaker wire. I set about unraveling the cables to separate the power cords from the signal cables and then did a listen to some music. He had a number of expensive Isotek mains leads, and I checked to see what they were powering, and suggested the best ones be put on the DSM, and Exaktbox 10. Definitely progress.
‘The audio and video component mains leads were reconnected to separate the audio components from the video components.
‘The Ethernet cables from the switch to the DSM, and the Ethernet cable from the DSM to the Exaktbox 10 were soon wrapped in copper tape.
‘I brought along a brand new Gunstig and a set of 4 Isoacoustic Puck Minis. The Gunstig was cut up into 4 X4 squares and placed in a stack of 3 under each of the feet on the Exaktbox 10, and the Isoacoustic Puck Minis under the chassis of the Akurate DSM. Gunstig squares were also placed under the NetGear switch and the NAS. So far, so good, with big improvements in sound quality.
‘The Akurate DSM case was opened up, and a piece of Laird EMI shielding material was placed along the length of the Dynamik power supply, on the circuit board side of the case, to help reduce the high frequency EMI generated by the SMPS from potentially polluting the circuit boards
‘Lastly, it was time to do Space Optimisation V2. The room was measured , the room features added, building materials, height, toe-in, speaker positioning and listener positioning were all entered into Space Optimisation, and the calculations done.
‘The final result was well worth the effort. The music was significantly improved in detail, and dynamics, the background noise floor far quieter, the music was more relaxed and effortless. There was ample bass, and the instruments and voices were more enjoyable and engaging in every way.
He is now planning to buy more Gunstigs, Isoacoustic Puck Minis, Laird EMI shielding, copper tape, and better manage his cable spaghetti.
‘It was 4 hours well spent.
‘The Linn system consisted of a pair of cherry 242’s, Akurate DSM with an Exaktbox 10 and an Akurate 4200 and Majik 6100
Sound quality was okay, but lacked detail and dynamics, sound stage was compressed, musicians were recessed, and overall was lacking bass.
‘I brought along a bag of goodies to help upgrade his system, such as a torque wrench, copper tape, shielding materials, Gunstigs, Isoacoustic Puck Minis, and laser distance measure
‘First up was to level the speakers, after checking that the speakers were the same distance from the front wall, had the same toe-in angle, at the ideal position. Then I pulled out a digital torque wrench and adjusted the torque of the 3K array to 0.85 nM for all of the bolts holding the 3K array.
Behind the HiFi cabinet was one of the worst examples of cable spaghetti I have seen, with at least 50 cables all interwoven with mains leads, Ethernet cables, interconnects, and speaker wire. I set about unraveling the cables to separate the power cords from the signal cables and then did a listen to some music. He had a number of expensive Isotek mains leads, and I checked to see what they were powering, and suggested the best ones be put on the DSM, and Exaktbox 10. Definitely progress.
‘The audio and video component mains leads were reconnected to separate the audio components from the video components.
‘The Ethernet cables from the switch to the DSM, and the Ethernet cable from the DSM to the Exaktbox 10 were soon wrapped in copper tape.
‘I brought along a brand new Gunstig and a set of 4 Isoacoustic Puck Minis. The Gunstig was cut up into 4 X4 squares and placed in a stack of 3 under each of the feet on the Exaktbox 10, and the Isoacoustic Puck Minis under the chassis of the Akurate DSM. Gunstig squares were also placed under the NetGear switch and the NAS. So far, so good, with big improvements in sound quality.
‘The Akurate DSM case was opened up, and a piece of Laird EMI shielding material was placed along the length of the Dynamik power supply, on the circuit board side of the case, to help reduce the high frequency EMI generated by the SMPS from potentially polluting the circuit boards
‘Lastly, it was time to do Space Optimisation V2. The room was measured , the room features added, building materials, height, toe-in, speaker positioning and listener positioning were all entered into Space Optimisation, and the calculations done.
‘The final result was well worth the effort. The music was significantly improved in detail, and dynamics, the background noise floor far quieter, the music was more relaxed and effortless. There was ample bass, and the instruments and voices were more enjoyable and engaging in every way.
He is now planning to buy more Gunstigs, Isoacoustic Puck Minis, Laird EMI shielding, copper tape, and better manage his cable spaghetti.
‘It was 4 hours well spent.