John's life changes

[JohnSwenson]

6 hours ago, esimms86 said:

I can just imagine John getting together with Tyll Hertsens and Ted Smith, all dressed in their Hawaiian shirts and talking Audio measurements. 

 

 

I did talk with Ted a couple years ago at RMAF, he was hanging out at the PS Audio booth when Alex and I walked in, we hit it off immediately, we covered a massive range of topics in about 45 minutes, it seems a lot of the same things had been going through our minds. 

 

John S.

[JohnSwenson]

Here is a picture of the end tables I bought yesterday. It turns out it is not stained glass. Each "petal" is a piece of wood polished and stained with a piece of clear glass glued to the top.

 

It goes amazingly well in the listening room. My wife has already used the color palette of these tables to choose drapes for the room. 

 

 

John S.

[austinpop]

6 hours ago, esimms86 said:

I can just imagine John getting together with Tyll Hertsens and Ted Smith, all dressed in their Hawaiian shirts and talking Audio measurements. 

 

 

 

Throw Bob Katz in there for good measure, and you got yourself a pantheon of audio gods (of a certain age) right there. 

 

Probably should not ever be in the same room or airplane together, and one of them should be named Designated Survivor.

 

All in good fun.

[JohnSwenson]

We are moving into the house in one week from today!! The last two weeks has been just the flooring guys installing new hardwood floors in some areas and refinishing existing floors. They are supposed to be done today then letting the finish dry over the weekend. On Monday a massive army of workers will descend on the house to do everything else. I expect to have 5 different companies working on the house at the same time. Everybody has had to wait until the floors were done. They have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to get it all done before we move in on Thursday. On Tuesday all the new appliances are showing up, everything has to be made ready for them on Monday! Friday the new furniture is arriving.

 

Talk about JIT!

 

It is going to be one BUSY week.

 

John S.

 

 

[austinpop]

Happy for you, John! Will keep fingers crossed all goes smoothly. 

 

When it comes to home contractors here in the US, unfortunately JIT in theory is often LATE in practice.

 

Keep that whip handy, and crack it frequently!

[JohnSwenson]

We stopped by the house today to see if the new floors were done. Well they were and are far more beautiful than I expected. The pictures below just don't do them justice, they look like they are subtly glowing.

 

Tomorrow all the fun starts!

 

John S.

 

 

 

[JohnSwenson]

Yesterday was moving day!!

 

There were some good things and some not so good things.

 

First off the friend who was going to come up and help with the move and getting the lab setup got food poisoning the day before so he couldn't make it.

 

The movers made it to the POD facility on time, but PODS got things messed up and we didn't get our PODS for a while. Theydid a great job unpacking the POD and packing it in the truck. I went on down to the house and get there at 1pm. They didn't arrive until after 3pm. I was getting really worried about them. It turned out there were three accidents on the interstate that happened in the few minutes from when I left and when they left.

 

They got the furniture in the right places in the house, but then box after box kept on coming in. They filled up the living room and the dining room with boxes, it was pretty overwhelming. I wasn't actually moving boxes around, but I was exhausted when they left.

 

We went out to eat at a local place that had a guy playing guitar and singing (on a Thursday night!), we knew most of the songs and sang along. We had a wonderful time getting to know the locals that were there.

 

Then we got home and I had to put the bed frame together. This was a custom wood frame that I had built many years ago and is incredibly heavy. The whole thing goes together with just bolts so it can be taken apart and reassembled. I was expecting to have my friend help with this. But I had to do it all on my own. But before I could do that I realized I didn't have the tools to do it, I had neglected to properly label the box they were in. There were so many boxes it was impossible to find them. So I had to dash off to the local hardware store and buy some new tools to get the bed assembled.

 

Them the crawling around on the floor bolting things together, moving big heavy pieces into place by myself. I was getting very wiped out, way past the end of my rope. I finally got it almost done and stepped into the interior and my foot caught the edge of the frame and I went flying into the middle of the frame. My left leg and arm hit the frame, my right side landed on the carpet so it wasn't too bad. But there was blood all over my left arm. I could move everything so no broken bones. It took a lot of doing to get me up and sitting in a chair. My wife found out it was also bad on my left leg, a good size gouge on my shin and scrapes all over the leg. She cleaned by up and bandaged it all. We had to go ahead and finish it up and get the boxspring and mattress on and linens on. At that point I could barely walk. The problem was the right leg, the one that had no blood, but it seems I very badly bruised it. I dropped into bed at that point.

 

Today has been real fun, I can still barely walk, and everything we need is all packed up in boxes. I got the satellite system hooked up to my new computer monitor, it's going to take some time to get all the boxes that have the home theater setup. I have the plasma screen, but not its stand. The HT boxes are buried underneath the kitchen boxes.

 

I finally got the network stuff up and running, all of THAT stuff was new and in an Amazon box that had been delivered a few days ago. The WAP was supposed to go on the kitchen ceiling (the center of the house) but no way am I going to working on a ladder anytime soon, so it is now sitting on the hearth in the family room. 

 

I can't put anything in the Lab, it is a big empty room now, it has new hardwood floors and newly painted walls, but the custom built in benches and storage is not installed yet. So all the stuff that was going to go in there has to wait. There was a little "desk cubby" in the kitchen, so I usurped that as the computer desk so I can read some email etc.

 

Doing dinner tonight was fun, we had to go through box after box to find some pots and pans. The kitchen has gas which my wife loves, so she was all excited to turn it on and make some dinner, but the stove would not light. She was reading the manual, trying everything but no flame. It tuns out that when they put in the new counter top they turned off the gas and never turned it back on! So I got that turned back on and she could cook here first meal in the new house.

 

But eating is going to be fun. Our new dining set (I found a beautiful hardwood table and chairs for half off normal price) and bar stools had not been delivered, the delivery truck broke down. So we are now eating at the kitchen counter, with office chairs that don't really go high enough. Its going to be that way for another week.

 

One advantage of the lab not being done is that it will give my friend and I time to install the lighting in the lab before anything else gets done. I'm doing the lighting using the suspended low voltage cable system. I've dreamed about having such a system for decades, but they have been way to expensive. But I found a kit on Amazon that does what the expensive stuff does for 1/5 the cost. So I bought enough to do the entire perimeter of the lab with this. I bought a whole bunch of Soraa MR-16 LED bulbs, with extremely high quality light output,  to put in these sockets. It's going to be really cool.

 

OH by the way the kitchen counter tops look absolutely amazing!

 

For the master bath I had been looking for a double sink vanity for quite some time, I couldn't find one that really did what we wanted. A few weeks ago I found one online, that seemed to meet our exact requirements. They just had a small little picture of it but it looked like it would work. Yesterday when we looked at it all installed we found out it had exactly the same quartz top as our kitchen counter tops! If I had TRIED to do that it would have cost a fortune. It is perfect and looks so amazing, I can't believe the fairly small amount I paid for it.

 

Once we get the boxes OUT and the furniture IN this is going to be a gorgeous house.

 

Maybe I can walk by then!

 

John S.

 

 

 

 

[Superdad]

10 minutes ago, JohnSwenson said:

Them the crawling around on the floor bolting things together, moving big heavy pieces into place by myself. I was getting very wiped out, way past the end of my rope. I finally got it almost done and stepped into the interior and my foot caught the edge of the frame and I went flying into the middle of the frame. My left leg and arm hit the frame, my right side landed on the carpet so it wasn't too bad. But there was blood all over my left arm. I could move everything so no broken bones. It took a lot of doing to get me up and sitting in a chair. My wife found out it was also bad on my left leg, a good size gouge on my shin and scrapes all over the leg. She cleaned by up and bandaged it all. We had to go ahead and finish it up and get the boxspring and mattress on and linens on. At that point I could barely walk. The problem was the right leg, the one that had no blood, but it seems I very badly bruised it. I dropped into bed at that point.

 

Oh dear John!  That's terrible...  

So glad everything else is looking good though...

Talk to you this weekend.  Get some rest.

A.

[austinpop]

? Very sorry to hear about the injury and snafus.

 

Hope things go smoother from here on out. 

[Cornan]

Dangerous stuff! I'm glad to hear there where no broken bones John. Nice to read about your new home coming together. Exciting times! ?

[firedog]

Get well soon. Glad it isn't anything more serious.

[Jud]

Had to laugh, John - “I’m all bunged up and can barely walk, but the counter tops and vanity are amazing!”

 

Heal up quick, and I hope the lighting system and everything else in the lab turns out just as great as you think it will be.

[Guidof]

Hello John:

 

Having recently moved from the burbs of D.C. to Northern California I'm deeply sympathetic to the trials and tribulations you are going through. But you seem to have endured a remarkable combination of bad luck! The important point is that you did not break any bones, of course. But we all who followed your life changes with interest and sympathy wish you a prompt recovery, and beyond that, many years of enyoying your new digs. And of coming up with still newer and more clever devices with which to play our recorded music!

[Middy]

I never been keen on a lot of the American styles of home but God you can do wood floors like no other.

If you are looking for inspiration there is the fantastic App on IOS ANDROID called HOUZZ

Just put in style  period country and see the hard work others have done.

No spam which is nice, Just using it now for the baby room. 

Ie uk 1930s semi detached contemporary.  Let the wife loose..

 

DIY really means DAMAGE INJURE YOURSELF.....

 

Lovely seeing the journey John but you forget the hard work just to make it look normal...

 

Keep posting and thank you for the tips on cables.

 

 

Good luck

 

Dave

[JohnSwenson]

Thanks for all the well wishes, things are better today, we went out shopping today and bought a desk and a whole bunch of waste baskets! I can walk without much pain today, but boy do the bruises look nasty!

 

We picked up the bar stools from the furniture store, tonight I get to put them together.

 

John S.

[Jud]

54 minutes ago, JohnSwenson said:

We picked up the bar stools from the furniture store, tonight I get to put them together.

 

Seated.

[Don Hills]

I made some sort of noise when I read your bed story, my wife said "What?" so I told her the story. She snorted and said "Typical male. Why didn't he just put the mattress on the floor and leave the assembly until he had the tools and the time?"

[rogerdn]

Proves what I've always said, moving day is one of the worst days of one's life. 

[asdf1000]

17 hours ago, rogerdn said:

Proves what I've always said, moving day is one of the worst days of one's life. 

+1000 

[Cornan]

21 hours ago, rogerdn said:

Proves what I've always said, moving day is one of the worst days of one's life. 

I think you'll need to think about it in another light. Although it is tough it it a start of something new! The opposite of depressing at all IMO!

 

[asdf1000]

Hi @JohnSwenson

 

Wasn't sure whether to create a new thread or just post to this old one.

 

I was going over your old 2013 Audiostream interview over the weekend. I had read it a few years ago but not sure how I missed your Bazookas the first time ! Very cool indeed.

 

 

Did they come with you on the move and are they your primary setup now?

 

Please share photos of your listening setup if you get the chance ! 

 

Cheers

 

[JohnSwenson]

Yes the Bazookas are the speakers in the new listening room. I have a Rythmik sub in there as well, which does a great job filling in the bottom octave.

 

A few years ago I swapped out the EX3s for PM2A silver voice coils with TICONAL magnets. These sound amazing.

 

I'm JUST getting the phono setup working right now so things are a little messed up right now, not a good time to take pictures. I actually got to listen to a few LPs last night!! (the digital stuff is shut down right now because I have all the LPS-1(.2)s in the lab for testing right now. Unfortunately I don't have separate "lab" and "listening" versions, so whenever I need to do tests I have to take the listening system apart.

 

After I get everything back together I'll take some pictures.

 

John S.

[asdf1000]

3 hours ago, JohnSwenson said:

Yes the Bazookas are the speakers in the new listening room. I have a Rythmik sub in there as well, which does a great job filling in the bottom octave.

 

A few years ago I swapped out the EX3s for PM2A silver voice coils with TICONAL magnets. These sound amazing.

 

I'm JUST getting the phono setup working right now so things are a little messed up right now, not a good time to take pictures. I actually got to listen to a few LPs last night!! (the digital stuff is shut down right now because I have all the LPS-1(.2)s in the lab for testing right now. Unfortunately I don't have separate "lab" and "listening" versions, so whenever I need to do tests I have to take the listening system apart.

 

After I get everything back together I'll take some pictures.

 

John S.

 

Awesome, thanks John.

 

[mourip]

17 hours ago, JohnSwenson said:

Yes the Bazookas are the speakers in the new listening room. I have a Rythmik sub in there as well, which does a great job filling in the bottom octave.

 

A few years ago I swapped out the EX3s for PM2A silver voice coils with TICONAL magnets. These sound amazing.

 

I'm JUST getting the phono setup working right now so things are a little messed up right now, not a good time to take pictures. I actually got to listen to a few LPs last night!! (the digital stuff is shut down right now because I have all the LPS-1(.2)s in the lab for testing right now. Unfortunately I don't have separate "lab" and "listening" versions, so whenever I need to do tests I have to take the listening system apart.

 

After I get everything back together I'll take some pictures.

 

John S.

 

Very cool and interesting. It looks as if part of the front face is open?

[JohnSwenson]

The design is a bit unusual, there are actually two tubes, an 8" inner one and a 12" outer one. The driver back goes into the inner tube, which ends about 8" from the back of the outer tube. The driver "plate" is square, the open sections are the "port". The interior of both the central and outer tubes have damping material added in just the right amount to create a critically damped resonance. I ran impedance tests as I stuffed from which I could easily tell when it was at critical damping.

 

The acoustical design is based on Martin King's work, but he just uses a standard box with the port on the bottom. With this coaxial arrangement the sound coming from the port is symmetrical with the driver which I think gives much better imaging than the port being several feet from the driver. 

 

John S.