All About System Design

Audio Systems create the illusion of real musicians performing in an acoustic space. A well-designed 2-channel ("stereo") audio system presents remarkably-lifelike, almost palpable images that are located correctly in three dimensions. A 5.1 channel ("surround") audio system, when playing a multi-channel recording, surrounds the listener with music, even from behind. A Home Theater combines a high-quality 5.1 channel audio system with an appropriate video system: either a direct view television or a video projection system.

High quality audio needn't be limited to one room. Multi-room systems can surround you with music as you walk through your home. We custom install multi-room and other systems so that they blend harmoniously into your home.

Properly designed, a state-of-the-art system can do startlingly good job of recreating a musical performance. Properly installed, a well-designed system enhances the aural and visual aesthetic of your home.

System Matching

In a well-matched system:

1. Synergy between the particular components in the system yields higher performance than quality of the individual components would suggest, and
2. No one component dominates the performance limitations of the system; every component is of roughly comparable quality.

In choosing components for your system, we suggest that you try to avoid products with highly colored tonality. Sometimes these products can be successfully matched in a system by choosing other products which have offsetting colorations. You will probably find it very difficult to upgrade such a system however. If you change one component, the tonality will swing wildly away from neutral, just as one person hopping off a balanced teeter-totter will make the other person fall to the ground. Instead, we prefer to choose products with highly uncolored (neutral) tonality, so that a component can be readily upgraded in the future without disrupting the system's balance.

Avid audiophiles sometimes end up with a collection of components bought either impulsively or because "they were a good deal." A lack of satisfaction at the unbalanced system then drives another cycle of hodge-podge buying to fix the system's deficiencies. As a hobby, this product swapping can be fun. However, if your goal is to attain the highest possible performance level for your given budget, then we have found that it is best to purchase components strategically, not tactically. Buy components only if they fit into your long-range system plans, and resist tempting diversions.

We often use the metaphor of a chain to describe system performance. The weak link in the chain, i.e. the poorest performing component, will dominate the performance limitations of the system. When upgrading a system, you will achieve the largest performance gains by upgrading the least good component first. When buying a whole system at once, make sure that you are not overspending in one area and underspending in another.

Sometimes we intentionally mismatch the components in a system -- a least for a little while. High performance systems can be too expensive to buy all at once. In this case, we suggest buying one component at a time. While the system won't achieve it full performance potential until the last component is purchased, this strategy minimizes the total cost of the system and insures that the final system is well planned and evenly balanced.

A well matched system will very naturally reproduce the music you love, with the highest possible performance for your budget.

System Setup Suggestions

How you setup your system will greatly affect its performance. This section contains setup considerations and techniques for realizing your system's maximum potential.

Room Design and Acoustic Treatments

The acoustics of your room will heavily influence the sound. Articles in the Room Design section of our website expound on the importance of room dimensions, room construction, and acoustic treatments. The acoustic treatments article discusses the value of controlling bass room resonances, slap echo, and early specular reflections.

System Break-in

Very often new components will improve considerably with use. The break-in period varies considerably depending upon the product -- from as little as a hour to as many as hundreds of hours. Your owner's manual may have specific break-in instruction; if so, we suggest that you follow them. You can accelerate the break-in period by playing your system while you're not home. Using a tuner or a CD-player set to repeat, just start the system when you leave. Listen periodically to the system and stop the break-in when you notice no further improvement.

For speakers, the volume that you use will be important. For the first few hours, keep the volume low. For the next dozen hours or so, use a moderate volume. From then on, use a higher volume with music contains wide dynamic contrasts. If you are in a hurry, you can accelerate the speakers' break-in with a special procedure:

Rapid Speaker Break-in: Place the two speakers face-to-face. Disconnect one speaker from the amplifier and reconnect it out-of-phase by reversing the speaker wires. The speakers will now cooperate with each other in a push-pull fashion, which and will break in the surrounds on the drivers more quickly.

Bass Reinforcement

Independent of the room dimensions, materials, and resonances, the position of the speakers and the listening position within the room will influence the audio performance in the bass region. This phenomenon is referred to as bass reinforcement.

The wavelength of a sound is inversely proportional to its frequency; lower frequency notes have longer wavelengths. At very low frequencies, the wavelengths are much longer than the distance between the speakers and the walls. The sound radiated from the speakers reflects off the walls and arrives back at the speaker substantially in phase with the original sound. This reinforces the sound wave and increases the efficiency of the speaker at that frequency. As a result, the bass response in the room may be elevated in volume and extended in depth when compared to the response if open space (or a true anechoic chamber).

As the frequency rises, the reflected wave becomes increasing out of phase with the original wave. This results in cancellation at a certain frequency. This frequency depends solely upon the distance between the speaker and the boundary (wall, floor, ceiling) in question.

All rooms have these effects; they are not a defect of the room or the speaker, but rather an unavoidable consequence of listening in a room. Carefully choosing the distances between the speaker and the room boundaries will minimize the unevenness of the bass reinforcement and cancellation effects. Some speakers designers provide setup recommendations for their speakers in the owner's manual. We suggest that you at least try these recommendations to see if they work well in your room.

For imaging reasons, we recommend that you position the speakers symmetrically so that the left and right speaker are mirror images of each other. As a good rule of thumb, also position the speakers so that the distance between the speakers and the side walls differs from the distance from the back wall by about one third. For example, if the speakers are 6 feet from the side walls, try positioning them 4 feet into the room. Take your measurements from the center of the woofer.

Speaker Toe-In

Toe-in refers to the angle between the speakers main axis and the side walls of the room. A speaker placed squarely in the room, firing directly ahead, has zero degrees of toe-in. For convenience, sometimes toe-in is measured not in degrees, but in percent, with 100% representing a speaker rotated so that it is firing directly at the listening position. The amount of toe-in needed depends upon the particular speaker involved, the geometry of the listening position, and the acoustic treatment in the room.

Experimentation will help you determine the optimal toe-in for your situation. As a starting point, please feel free to contact us with our recommendations; we have a tremendous amount of experience in setting up the speakers that we sell. The owner's manual may also have some concrete recommendations for toe-in (and other setup parameters as well).

When setting the toe-in, focus your attention on the size and position of the images. Generally speaking, smaller, more focused images will require somewhat more toe-in than larger, more fleshed-out images. Let your personal preference be your guide here. Also, rooms with highly reflective side walls may benefit from a setup with somewhat more toe-in, in order to reduce the amplitude of the sound reflected off the sides.

Turntable Tips

We still love analog--and we have set-up countless turntables over the years. 

Regarding Basis turntables--if you ever put a new belt on, the duller side goes towards the platter. And if you wish to further improve the pitch stability, you may lightly rub talc into the belt, then wipe off the excess by running the belt through your fingers. This will introduce slippage upon start-up, but don't let that fool you.  The wow and flutter are always measurably better in this scenario.  And this is not irrevocable.   If you don't like the slippage upon start-up, simply wash the talc off the belt with warm water and pure soap (one which leaves no residue).

In terms of the various tonearms that we have setup, we particularly like the Graham tonearm because of the ease of setup. By removing the wand you can work on the cartridge upside down where you can more easilty see what you are doing.

And please remember, if you ever move your turntable, you must treat the bearings properly so as not to damage them. And anytime you move your turntable even a fraction of an inch, it must be checked with a level.

2-Channel (Stereo) Audio Systems

When selecting a new stereo system, we usually suggest that you start with the speakers. Speaker preference is highly individual. No speaker, no matter how expensive or how good, is perfect, and different speakers excel in different performance areas. By thinking about your priorities, you can choose the speaker that performs best in the areas most important to you. You might consider:

• tonal balance -- how evenly the speakers reproduce the audible frequencies. Often this is very important to our clients.
• bass extension -- how well the speaker reproduces very deep bass (pipe organ foot pedals, big drum whacks, and the like).
• resolution -- how much musical detail the speaker reproduces.
• transparency -- how much the speaker "disappears," or how lifelike the sound is. Also, the illusion that the instruments are right there in the room with you.
• soundstaging -- how the speaker presents the images of the instruments, including image width, image depth, image size, and image height.
• dynamics -- how well the speaker plays loud passages appropriately loudly, and soft passages appropriately softly.
• width of seating area -- some speakers have wider or narrower "sweet spots" where the imaging is best.
• optimal position within the room -- some speakers excel only when placed farther out into the room, either from the rear walls, from the side walls, or both.
• efficiency -- how much amplifier power the speakers needs.
• visual appeal -- how attractive the speakers will look in your home, including:
  • size -- how dominant the speakers will look (can be good or bad, depending upon your perspective), and how easy the speakers are to move.
  • shape -- how appealing the speaker's shape is to you.
  • style -- some speakers are more contemporary; others are more traditional.
  • finish -- the available wood veneers and/or colors for the speakers.
• and of course price range.

We suggest that you listen to speakers in an acoustically neutral room, such as we have in our Waltham listening facility. In-home listening evaluations can be very helpful too, particularly if you have either a good sounding room or a room that you won't be changing for a while. If you might be moving or improving the room, be careful that you don't choose a speaker which minimizes the problems in your room, rather than maximizes the speaker's potential -- you might regret your choice later.

Tip: When listening critically to a 2-channel system, choose a seat centered between and equidistant from the speakers in order to hear the best imaging.

With the speakers chosen, you can next turn your attention to matching a power amplifier to them. The type of music that you listen to, how loud you listen, the distance from you to the speakers, and the size of the room will influence the power requirement that the speaker will impose on the amplifier. For most situations, 50 to 100 watts / channel (RMS, 8 ohms, both channels driven, low distortion) will suffice, although often larger, more expensive amplifiers have more heft, control, and refinement to the sound. You may find that amplifiers sound remarkably different from each other. Often the matching preamplifier from the same manufacturer will complement the power amplifier best.

And of course, you might choose an integrated amplifier that combines a power amplifier and a preamplifier in one chassis. At certain price levels, a high-end integrated amplifier may provide the best sound because of the cost efficiencies of combining the enclosure, power supply, and so forth. However, you may find it somewhat more difficult to upgrade your system later.

Next, consider your source components. Almost all music lovers today own a high-quality CD player, as many new recordings are available only on CD. However, many wonderful old recordings (and even some new ones) are available only on LP. We suggest that you buy sources for whatever recordings you love to listen to.

Tip: If you have an LP collection that you treasure, make sure that you clean your records before their first use with a wet-vacuum record cleaning machine. This will protect your investment in your collection. Also use a dry carbon-fiber brush to remove surface dust from the record before each playing, and use stylus fluid periodically to keep your stylus clean. We recommend the VPI record cleaning machines, as they are reliable, fast, convenient, and even fun to use. We also recommend the Hunt carbon fiber brush and Clearaudio stylus cleaning fluid.

In the future, you may wish to consider other sources such as DVD-Audio or Super Audio CD. You should know that it may be awhile before there is any real library of recordings available for either one of these new media, and it's possible that neither will catch on. We currently recommend these players only if you are comfortable being on the fringe of the edge of technology.

Your system will need cabling to connect the components together. Cables influence the final sound of your system, often to a surprising degree. We suggest that you choose your cables to complement the sonics of the rest of your components. The best-matched cables may make the difference between good performance and stunning performance. With our familiarity with the products that we carry, we can recommend well-matched cables to simplify your search. Even if your system contains components that we don't sell, we might have experience with your components and be able to help.

Your system will need a home -- an audio stand of some sort. The furniture must accommodate the width, depth, and height of each of your components and perhaps possible future additions. Some components require open space around them (or forced air ventilation) to keep cool. Overheating will shorten the life of your components. Also, some components need a stable, anti-vibration surface in order to function properly. Turntables and tube equipment are usually quite sensitive to mechanical vibration, however you may find sensitivity in CD transports and solid state electronics. Some types of audio furniture incorporates extensive anti-vibration features.

And last, the acoustics of your listening room will strongly influence your system's performance. Think of the air in the room as the final interconnect between the speakers and your ears. To get the best possible sound, you'll need acoustic room treatment. We can even help you build a dedicated listening room, if you'd like.

A well-designed, carefully set up 2-channel audio system will recreate a remarkably lifelike musical experience. To those who love music, it is truly a sublime pleasure.

5.1-Channel (Surround) Audio Systems

A high-quality multi-channel audio system surrounds the listener with realistically lifelike sounds from all directions. These systems are used to:

• Playback movie and surround TV soundtracks in a home theater (at a quality level exceeding commercial cinemas, we might add),
• Convincingly recreate the acoustic space of the room or hall in which music was recorded, or
• Create new musical experiences where the listener is at the center of the performance, with musicians all around.

The same fundamental principles of a stereo system also apply to a surround sound system, except that you need five or six channels of audio, rather than just two. Obviously a surround system can be quite a bit more expensive than a 2-channel stereo system of equivalent quality.

In addition to the usual front left and right speakers, a surround system adds a center front (or "dialog") speaker, rear left and right speakers, and usually a subwoofer. Space and budget considerations aside, you would have five identical speakers optimally positioned equidistant from the preferred listening position.

When cost precludes five identical best-quality speakers, our recommendation depends upon your priorities:

• If you will listen to 2-channel stereo music on this system, and if this listening is most important to you, then invest in the best front left and right speakers, even if this means compromising elsewhere.
• If home theater or multi-channel audio listening is most important, then invest in a high-quality center speaker. Use identical speakers in the front and rear corners, even if this means compromising a bit on quality.
• If stereo and home theater listening are equally important, then invest in excellent front left and right speakers and an excellent center channel speaker. Compromise on the left and right rear speakers as necessary.

You may have heard recommendations to use special-purpose "bipole" speakers positioned at the sides of the room, rather than regular speakers positioned in the rear. With the advances in surround technology brought by Dolby Digital and dts, we no longer favor bipole side/rear speakers.

A bit of history on bipole surround speakers: Commercial cinemas need to have adequate sound in every seat in the cinema. They space speakers about every eight feet or so around the sides and rear of the theater to create a uniform surround soundfield. This setup can create good environmental effects -- the chatter of a cafe, or the echoes of a cave, or omnipresent boom of an explosion. They cannot, however, create localized effects -- say of a plane passing smoothly overhead from right rear to front left. These limitations were carried over from Dolby Surround, the older two-channel matrixed surround format, and home theater dipole side speakers emulate the speaker array found in commercial cinemas.

In a home theater, however, the seating is usually confined to the center of the room. Sourced by a discrete digital format such as DVD, very realistic 360 degree effects can be created at the central listening position if directional surround speakers are placed in the rear corners. We only recommend bipole speakers in home theaters with extensive off-center seating. If you are unsure of which setup you prefer, we suggest that you visit our facility for a first-hand demonstration of what we can achieve.

The acoustics of the room will also greatly affect the performance of the surround system. If you are custom building a room, we suggest that you consider acoustics when you choose the size of the room and the listening position. The primary listening position should usually not be located halfway back into the room as this position has anomalies that will interfere with the sound from the speakers.

As in a 2-channel stereo system, the electronics and cabling that you use with the speakers will greatly affect the system's overall performance. If you are listening to movies, the dynamic contrasts in the loud passages may dictate a somewhat larger amplifier than usual.

Instead of a preamplifier, a multi-channel audio system employs a surround-sound processor which:

• Controls which source you're listening to (CD, DVD, VCR, FM Radio, phono turntable, and so forth).
• Controls the sound levels and other electrical characteristics (delay, crossover point, etc.) of each channel.
• Performs the surround decoding (Dolby Digital, dts, or others)
• Converts the digital signal to analog for output to the amplifiers and speakers,
• Converts analog inputs to digital for further processing.

Surround sound processors vary considerably in sound quality and capabilities. In addition to the sonic merits of the equipment, you may wish to consider ergonomics; some processors are considerably easier to use than others.

If 2-channel stereo listening is very important to you, then you may wish to consider a separate high-performance stereo preamplifier. With the surround processor's left and right front channels connected to the preamplifier, the system reuses the front amplifiers and speakers for multi-channel use. With a high-performance CD player, phono turntable, or other source connected directly to the preamplifier, this type of system design bypasses all the surround equipment during stereo use. We have found that this configuration usually provides the highest possible quality stereo listening.

A good multi-channel system properly setup can accurately recreate the complex acoustic space of a music recording, and it can create stunning sonic effects for movies and surround music.

Home Theater Video Systems

Also see Surround Audio Systems above for info on the audio portion of a home theater system.

Today's variety of different video display technologies offers a spectrum of choices, each with a unique set of advantages. To choose the best technology for you, consider your priorities:

• Price. Some technologies are quite a bit more expensive than others.
• Size. The largest direct-view CRT (i.e. television) is at most about 30" wide, whereas a projection system can be 8 feet wide, or more.
• Picture quality. Brightness, black level, color saturation, color accuracy, grayscale accuracy, uniformity, correct geometry, freedom from artifacts, freedom from visible scan lines or pixels, smoothness of motion, and others.
• Your room and lifestyle. Some technologies require a completely dark room with special light control while others are amenable to ambient room light.

Choosing the best product for your needs requires a familiarity with all the relevant technologies and all the latest product models. We recommend that you consult us early in your project. As a general guide, we've outlined some of the options below. Note that we refer to high-performance equipment; low performance products have different profiles.

Tip: Because of the upcoming transition to higher definition television, we recommend choosing a product that can display HDTV signals. Any other choice today would be instantly obsolete. If you prefer, you need not buy the digital TV decoder now; you can always add that later.

There are products in each of the above categories than have HDTV capability. At the higher performance levels however, CRT devices have an advantage: because they can physically draw various different numbers of scan lines (i.e. are "multi-scan"), these devices are better able to display all of the resolution in a true high definition signal (720p, 1080i, or even 1080p). However, all of the above technologies eclipse the picture quality of a traditional standard definition device, such as an old-style TV.

Best Quality Products: For direct-view digital televisions, we recommend the Loewe and the Princeton. For the purist the 30" 16:9 Princeton is the finest direct view picture we have seen for displaying 720p and 1080i HDTV. For projection the Runco DTV-1101 is the best that we have seen. And the Runco DTV-992 and DTV-992 Ultra are our favorites in their respective price ranges. The DTV-991RP is also available which is a pre-built 58" rear projection unit--and it is stunningly good.

The choice of a screen will dramatically influence the performance of a front projection system. You can select the screen material, size, aspect ratio, and masking. The screen may be fixed to the wall or rolled down from the ceiling.

Video purists tend to choose smaller screens.  Because the light level of the picture drops as the square of the screen width, surprisingly small differences in width yield big differences in picture quality. An ultra-purist using a CRT projector might choose a fixed screen with 1.3 gain, 16:9 aspect ratio, and 72" width or smaller.  This provides the brightest, most color-saturated picture with the best geometry.  Also this setup allows the projector to stay within the performance envelope where the tubes will last the longest.

Many clients choose an 80" or 84" wide screen as a compromise between larger size and brightness when using a CRT projector. While we have installed screens up to 111" wide, for a picture this large we would recommend a bright DLP projector or two CRT projectors side-by-side (i.e. a "double stack").

Projection systems require carefully planning and implementation to realize the high performance levels provided by the equipment. Product specification, configuration, installation, and calibration can get quite technical and involved.  Of course, if you visit our showroom, we would be happy to talk to you about your home theater design and show you the stunning picture quality that we can achieve.

Multi-Room Audio and/or Video Systems

A multi-room audio system fosters a lifestyle enriched by music. Such systems vary considerably in flexibility, complexity, and sonic performance. The system that a neighbor or friend loves might not be well suited for your needs. Together we can carefully consider your home, your lifestyle, your performance requirements and any the needs of any family members. Then we can design a system specifically for you.

Please consider the following questions; your answers will help us design a system optimized for you:

1. In which rooms would you like music? And in which video?
   • Consider adding music to any room in which you spend a lot of time. Examples: the family room, study, master bedroom, master bath, kitchen, informal eating areas, athletic exercise areas, workshops, and artist studios.
   • Consider adding music to your outside spaces such as decks, patios, gardens and pools. We have even supplied music underwater in a lap pool!
   • Consider adding music to children's rooms, guest rooms, and public spaces such as foyers, formal dining rooms, and lavatories.
   • Consider adding video to the family room, playroom, kitchen, and master bedroom. You may (or may not) also want video in the children's and guests' bedrooms.
2. What performance level do you want in each room?
   • Usually the rooms that in which you spend the most time deserve the best audio (and video) performance.
   • Sometimes one room has an especially good audio system for listening to music or a high-performance home theater system for watching movies, sports, and television. The other rooms in the home may have somewhat lower, or dramatically lower performance levels, as desired.
3. Should all the rooms have the same music source at the same time?
   • If so, then choose a "single source" system, as it will be simpler and more convenient for your needs.
   • Or do some rooms or groups of rooms require the flexibility of listening to different sources? If so, then choose a "multi-source" system.

Tip: When deciding which type of system would best suit your needs, temporarily set aside any budgetary considerations. More complex, flexible systems are not always more expensive.

Recommendation: We recommend that you choose at least one room in which to have high quality music, a room where you can actually focus on music listening.  The other rooms might have music in the background, and therefore not demand as high quality.

If you enjoy watching movies, sports, and television, consider a home theater with surround sound. Perhaps you might make this your main room for entertainment.  If desired, video can also be distributed to other rooms in the home, much as audio can. (The design and flexibility considerations are similar.)

Multi-room systems generally incorporate a control system so that functions such as on/off, volume, and source selection can be controlled from each room. A well designed control system will ensure that the audio and/or video system is easy to use. We usually place small keypads in the walls, or we provide sensors the wall or ceilings at which to point a hand-held remote control. We also offer radio-controlled systems that use a portable remote to directly control the equipment using radio waves, without any sensor in the room!

Tip: Choose the simplest control system that meets your needs. Unused features will needlessly complicate the system.

A word about in-wall rotary volume controls: These devices dramatically degrade the sound from your system. They waste audio power and they interfere with the amplifier's ability to control the speakers. Avoid them unless you just want low-quality background music.

Once you have selected the components of the system (i.e. the sources, the amplification, the speakers, and the control system), we can work together to choose the speaker, keypad, and equipment locations. We will then create detailed specifications for the wiring of the system, both low-level audio and video wiring, and any new 120 volt AC wiring.

Tip: Please bring a blueprint or a drawing of your floorplan to your first meeting with us. It will facilitate the design process and help our understanding of your requirements.

Tip: If you are constructing or renovating a home, contact us early in the process. This will prevent costly changes later on.

In new construction projects, the in-wall wiring is "roughed in" while the walls are open and before the wallboard (or whatever) is applied. We also generally mount brackets for the speakers and boxes for the keypads at this time. Your construction project then proceeds as the interior is finished. Later, we usually supply grills for any in-wall speakers to the painters so that they will perfectly match your walls. Then when the site is clean (and the dusty jobs are complete) we return to mount the speakers and keypads. Depending upon your needs, we may install the rest of the electronics at this time, or later. Last, we program the system and demonstrate how to use it. If you have questions about your system, or if you need some changes or additions, we are always happy to help.

Also See: Custom Installations (below) discusses how your system can be best installed in your home.

Custom Installation

Custom Installation n: a harmoniously-integrated music, video, and/or control system created specifically to meet the client's performance and visual aesthetic requirements, achieved through careful product selection, clever installation design, and meticulous implementation.

We treat custom installation as a process. Each project begins with a careful and thorough design interview. We determine the your needs first by listening, then later by asking probing questions. We suggest possibilities. We discuss your lifestyle -- daily routine, entertaining needs, special requirements for kids and guests. If needed we'll visit your home or construction site. Attuned to your needs, we then design a system and implementation plan specifically for you. Indeed, we may design several systems, showing you the costs / benefits of different performance levels or system features.

A Taste of What's Possible

To an audiophile with a dedicated room, custom installation might mean a proud display of electronic components on beautiful award-winning "art furniture", highlighted by halogen spotlights. Yet to another audiophile, custom installation might mean carefully concealing all the electronics, cables, subwoofers, and maybe even speakers.

In a multi-room whole-house system, custom installation might mean a music-immersed lifestyle, with hidden in-wall speakers in every room, and higher-performance speakers in the den. It might mean outdoor speakers that look like rocks, or underwater speakers for the in-ground pool. It might mean a easy-to-use, custom programmed portable color touchscreen control system, or it might mean simple keypads in the walls.

In a home theater, custom installation might mean the reproduction of a 1950's era cinema, complete with burgundy curtains. Or it might mean a carefully concealed theater installed in a family or game room, complete with "James Bond" power-activated curtains, blinds, screen, lights, and maybe a projector that descends from the ceiling. We even have power-reclining leather theater chairs.

High Performance: Sounds Great, Looks Great

Our passion is high performance. In designing a custom-installed system, we make dozen of choices in order to deliver the highest performance possible. For example:

• We allocate the budget carefully, selecting the highest-performance, most cost-effective products possible. We don't use "cookie-cutter" systems that were designed for some "typical" client.
• We choose design topographies that yield higher-performance. For instance, in a multi-room installation we prefer to have a single channel of amplification for each speaker (i.e. many small amplifiers, rather than one big, overloaded one.) Often this costs either no more, or only slightly more.
• We carefully choose and route the in-wall cables, thereby minimizing the interference and sonic degradation. For high-end rooms, we install very fine cables in the walls and floors.
• We consider room acoustics, furniture locations, and lifestyle issues when we locate speakers.

Many of these choices are hidden. If we had skimped on in-wall cables, you would never see the difference, but you'd hear it. If we had placed the speakers carelessly, you'd never experience the sound that you paid for. If we had picked a cheap amplifier, you'd end up with elevator music. It's ironic; the better we do our job, the less you'll see it. Like the other infrastructure in your home, a well-designed and meticulously-installed system delivers carefree pleasure, even if you never look to see how it works.

Easy-to-Use Control System

A well-designed, well-implemented control system makes even the most sophisticated equipment a pleasure to operate.

Imagine pressing "Play DVD Movie". Watch the equipment turn on. Notice that the VCR, which you're not using, stayed off. Lights flicker on the equipment as the control system selects the right inputs and sets the right modes. Hear the volume adjust to your preferred listening level. The curtains dramatically open, revealing your screen. The light-tight blinds descend over the windows as the room lights slowly dim. The movie begins.

But a great control system requires much more than just the automation. A talented system designer carefully considers what functions need automating and how those functions should best be provided.

The design of a true high-end control system requires significant experience in software user interface design and ergonomics. For example, buttons should be grouped logically by function. Similar functions should be provided in a consistent location on each screen. The use of functional modes should usually (but not always) be avoided. Colors should be chosen carefully, with an eye toward the meaning (which varies from culture to culture). Goodwin's High End has on staff a professional software engineer and designer.

Often a poorly-designed control system frustrates its user because it affords too much control. Like a car stereo with a million tiny buttons, providing control over unused options will hamper daily use. At Goodwin's High End, we use the "houseguest" criterion. Could guests in your home pick up your remote control and listen to music or watch a movie? Could they do it without any instruction?

Even a simple control system with keypads in the wall can be tricky. Does "Volume Up" raise the volume in just this room, or does it change the whole house? The right answer depends upon your lifestyle and the layout of the rooms in your home. Did pressing "Radio" affect every room? What if mom is snoozing in the Master Bedroom?

We strive to design control systems that are:

• Completely reliable,
• Automate all the necessary functions (no more, no less),
• Convenient to use,
• Carefully designed around your lifestyle,
• Logical and easy to understand ("houseguest" criterion), and
• Harmoniously designed and pleasing to operate.

Aesthetic Integration with Architecture and Interior Design

Most of our clients relish wonderful architecture. They appreciate outstanding interior design. They admire craftsmanship. And, of course, they love music and movies. So do we.

As audio / video professionals, we form a team with your architect, your interior designer, and your craftsmen. Each discipline brings its expertise and experience to bear on the common goal: create the best space possible for you and your needs. Together the team members propose ideas, improve them, and incorporate them into an overall design.

Sometimes there are tradeoffs. The best-sounding speaker might be too visually prominent. Or the room dimensions might be acoustically unfortunate. Or wallpaper in the home theater might tint the video green. In these tradeoff situation, we don't advocate; we educate. Once we've informed you of the multi-disciplinary consideration, you can then make your best decisions.

A few words about aesthetics. We want your room to "feel" right. As you enter a room, you immediately see it -- the architecture, the interior design, the construction details, the lighting. Next, you hear it -- the sense of acoustic space, the reverberations, the music playing. You may also smell it -- fresh-baked cookies or new leather chairs. You may perceive its textures -- wall surfaces, fabrics, flooring. Often, the non-visual design considerations are overlooked. We help our clients create a complete environment, one that pleases all the senses.

Involve us early

We can achieve the best results and the highest performance when we have the fewest constraints. Often in a project, early arbitrary choices -- where a pipe goes, where a door is, the exact room dimensions -- close off audio / video design options. We can achieve very high-performance cost-effective results when the project is still in the design phase. Once construction begins, the cost of high-performance rises.

Tip: If possible, involve us before your architect or builder draws up detailed plans.

Recording Systems

The stereo system or surround system is really only one half of a complete music reproduction system; the other half is the recording system. Understanding how recordings are made will deepen your understanding of how they are played back on your audio system. To that end we suggest that you make some recordings yourself. To get started, simply record a single musician playing an acoustic instrument in a very quiet room with good acoustics.

For simple acoustical recording, you'll need:

1. two microphones
2. a two channel microphone preamp
3. a recording device
4. a monitoring system--either headphones or amplifier/speakers

Microphones come in a variety of types such as dynamic, condenser, and ribbon.   There are also a number of possible polar patterns including omni, cardioid, hypercardioid, and figure-of-eight. In addition they can be arrayed in various ways including spaced (often used with omnis), X-Y, and ORTF. Without going into a lengthy discussion here of microphones and array selection, you could start with a pair of cardiod condensor microphones arrayed in an X-Y configuration or a pair of spaced omnis. Place the microphones where you think they will pick up the best balance of direct vs. indirect sound, relative to the musician playing the acoustic instrument. Choose a room or hall with good acoustics; otherwise you will probably not be fully satisfied with the results that you hear. Set your recording levels so that the loudest sound does not overload any part of the recording system.

To accurately assess your progress, setup your playback system in another room so that you can monitor the live microphone feed. If you have really neutral acoustics in the monitoring room with low background noise and a well setup and warmed up monitoring system, you'll be better prepared to make decisions about how to adjust the microphone placement.

So you're now setup and properly adjusted; hit the record button and capture the musical event. When the event is complete, take the recording back to your reference system and play it. How well did you do? What could you have done better? Now go back and repeat the experience again and again and again, learning a bit more each time. You will ultimately learn that in order to make the very best recordings of acoustic music that the following are quite important:

There is obviously much more that can be said on this subject. And if you would like to know more you're invited to give us a call.

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