Rooms and system setup

Owning, choosing and caring for the products

Everything he said on this topic (20)

One-line summaries in our words, oldest first. Each link opens the original.

• 2016-09-14Watts describes running three DAVE systems, including portable hotel speakers, and says DAVE usually works in demo systems but occasionally sounds flat and hard until setup is fixed. Head-Fi, Sep 2016
• 2016-10-28Watts says DAVE sounds great out of the box, otherwise taste or a flawed system is to blame; it highlights headphone differences, and listeners should question their own impressions. Head-Fi, Oct 2016
• 2016-11-16Watts says live music has far more depth, dry close-miked vocals should sound flat on DAVE, which focuses vocals tightly and tolerates wider speaker spacing than TT. Head-Fi, Nov 2016
• 2017-08-18Watts describes a Tokyo show system (DAVE, SPM1200, B&W 803 D3) as the best outside his home, then reports buying 803 D3s to replace his Velour speakers and recommends them. Head-Fi, Aug 2017
• 2017-09-06Watts says he misunderstood subwoofer connection and that using two Y splitters, one output feeding two inputs, will be fine. Head-Fi, Sep 2017
• 2017-11-11Watts recounts a friend dropping ADC/DSP/DAC speaker EQ after a Hugo demo showed DSP losses outweighed benefits, and advises fixing room problems with room treatment. Head-Fi, Nov 2017
• 2020-11-23Watts says near-field listening is much more likely to work fine. needs context Head-Fi, Nov 2020
• 2021-03-06Watts says the brain evolved to handle room acoustics but not noise floor modulation, aliasing and small-signal errors, and no commercial plans exist yet for speakers. Head-Fi, Mar 2021
• 2021-11-18Watts describes his DIY speaker cable of 16 annealed PTFE-insulated 0.6mm silver-plated solid cores, recommends 0.4mm for interconnects, and says speakers need setting within one inch. Head-Fi, Nov 2021
• 2021-11-24Watts says room setup gets quick with experience, he uses TT2 single-ended, and errors at -300dB are audible even single blind, explaining why cables measure identically but sound different. Head-Fi, Nov 2021
• 2022-03-08Watts describes his first orchestra recording with a ribbon mic into a Focusrite Scarlett, matching live volume on Hugo 2 and Stealth at blue, and TT2 driving his 803 D3s. Head-Fi, Mar 2022
• 2022-08-19Watts says speakers can take weeks to set up while microphones are relatively easy, the result was closer than expected, and the next couple of years will tell. AVstore 48:52
• 2023-01-23Watts says 8 ohm speakers above 90dB suit direct near-field drive, considers the Mixcube for his office, and credits full-range crossover-less design for its soundstage depth. Head-Fi, Jan 2023
• 2023-02-05Watts says his speakers are a little smaller than 'these' and that selecting speakers is difficult. Soundnews 6:25
• 2023-02-05Watts says it is about how speakers and room interrelate, then begins describing a Tokyo show where the distributor set up a system and reviewers came in. Soundnews 6:39
• 2023-03-23Watts says he bought B&W 803 D3s after a Japan show demo with M scaled Dave, and that open-back panel speakers need big rooms for depth. Head-Fi, Mar 2023
• 2024-07-12Watts says he began demoing to audiophiles, first a friend in Singapore, and was anxious because a system in someone else's room always sounds wrong to you. HIFICLUB 51:39
• 2025-02-17Watts says FIR EQ has problems tied to tap length and processing power, he dislikes room EQ because the brain subtracts the room, and bad rooms should be treated instead. audio-2G 13:59
• 2026-10-02Watts says M Scaler impressions vary with systems; Class D amps or poor speakers hide it, while DAVE, Hugo 2, TT or Mojo 2 with headphones give full control. HiFi Buys 2:24:19
• 2026-10-02Watts says with headphones everything is under his control apart from the headphone and the source material. needs context HiFi Buys 2:25:17