Saying Goodbye - The Truth About My Failed Media Room

Lifestyle Channel

Are you roasting Darko 😁?

Excited to see what you come up integrating hifi and AV into a more livable day to day approach. I have always believed that technology works best when it blends into your life without a spotlight! As you say, the only person who has to like the sound of your system is you.

As an even bigger gym nerd than audio and home theater nerd, I can’t wait to see how you approach building the gym for adults. Great stuff here.

People yelling that room treatments are the most important thing in a HT setup are the same guys who think more expensive cables provide a significant boost in performance and sound. It’s all ridiculous. If you are happy with the way your setup sounds to you then no measurement in the world should make you change it to the point that you’re never going to stop chasing the best of the best.

My room n equipment has moved around so much i could never do any treatment. Positioning is all i can even play with

Wish you and Kristi all the best. Have felt like things are changing for you two lately. Miss the banter between you two, and Kristi’s candor. I was so immersed in your suggestions that I spent $2,000 on a concrete coffee table that now sits outside by my pool, useless. I sincerely wish you two all the best on whatever direction you go.

“Bro brothel” 😂😂😂

I would rather see your videos with no treatments as that's more real world reality for the rest of us that don't have treatments or can't afford to do treatments

Andrew Robinson, home decor fashion pioneer AND anti-fashion icon!

Thanks for making this video. The missing wood slats were really bugging me, conspiracy theories have been racing through my mind for months, and it turns out it was just a “f*ck it” tantrum😂 Oh well…

How’s your SVS SB 17? Bought one on your recommendation. Actually the PB 17. Jesus

And how many years did it take you to realize that room treatment is nonsense? I have realized this 50 years ago. Place your furniture the way you like it and that is it.

Sometimes the journey is more fun than the destination.

Okay. Now I look forward to your review of Klipsch La Scala AL6. 🤩

Love this direction you are taking. I would love to watch your takes on different audio areas other than HiFi. A few ideas possibly:

Whole home audio
Outdoor speakers/patio audio
Bluetooth speakers
TV's
Smart home
Etc

Whatever you make will be great I have no doubts.

When I saw you remove that feature I was hurting a little. I thought it looked really neat and was envious, and then you just tore it down. I mean, it's your wall and you can do whatever you like with it, but I would have preferred it if it was shipped to me instead. 😄 (not that that is possible). You are making a great point when saying it doesn't make sense to compare with an empty room. I have a fully furnished room (my living room is my home office is my kitchen), and while I have some echo issues, it's not that bad. Until I tidied up. At that point the echo was so bad someone who received a voice message from me asked me what happened. It's that bad. Obviously, I do need some acoustic treatment cause I can't always be drying clothes and storing boxes in my living room.

When obsessive behavior doesn’t allow you to enjoy things, sorry, must be exhausting and not fun

I liked the wood wall

Just keeping the algos happy by dropping the line! Caught it on the theater system on Sunday.

So genuine. Getting back to the essence of why people do what they do with media, music and home theater. In the end, it's not just a music or sound box, it is a home with all of the emotional trappings and necessary care that we place in the security of where we reside. Your acknowledgment will hopefully help others to find that peace in their space independent of what others may feel or say. This was one of my favorite videos.

Who cares about other people taste give us a great idea what we can do to enjoy are movies

i don't want you to review equipment with a perfectly sound treated room. I want to know what it sounds like in a REAL room. the most we can do, in real life rooms, is rugs and maybe a few wall hung sound treatments. wood slats are already dead decor.

Did I understand this correctly? The slat wall worked but slats aren't trendy anymore, so is that the only reason you got rid of them? I'm just wondering if I should install slats to tame my room a bit.

Most people that have some nice equipment do not have it installed in a dedicated space. As long as it fits your family's needs, other opinions count for very little.

Did you look at the insulation of your home walls (floors and ceilings) and the insulation value of those generally low insulation value of your windows (sliders /dbl hung are generally less efficient than casement/awning). Insulation (which can double sometimes as sound attenuation) will also help yr utility bills as a primary benefit.

I spent 500 bucks on panels in my room and don't really hear a difference.

In a nutshell for anyone trying to get the smoothest lines on their sweep, get an anthem STR, let ARC do its correction and audio nerds can get back to the roots and enjoy their music as intended haha!

By the way, I totally agree Andrew, let the room do its thing and enjoy the space and sound regardless of what gear you got 🎉

Visual qualities -- light, shade, color, texture -- can also have an enormous influence on how someone perceives sound in a particular room. There are no tools capable of measuring that. If the room looks like an Ikea catalog, or the waiting room of a strip-mall massage parlor (the current Oval Office decor scheme), then the music might sound that way, too.

When you said you hit the f button I laughed out loud...this is worthy of an Ozzy Man destination F review video 😄

Yay, can’t wait!

Wonderful breakdown! As an architect who built his last house without plans just because I could, I appreciate the value of the iterative process. And it reinforces your assertion there is no objective perfection in true audiophilia, just subjective joy and sometimes pain! I was reminded of a visit to Zankel Hall, a new high tech performance space within the famed Carnegie Hall building (they should know a thing or two about sound!) Unfortunately, I heard Arvo Part's Te Deum, a choral piece with prepared piano originally recorded in a reverberant stone medieval church. The perfectly tuned, acoustically dead space killed the music, what a disapointment! So, there you go.
p.s. have watched you for years, love your enthusiasm and honest and open reviews and explanations. I am 90% analogue but your digital reviews are helping to teach this old dog something.

Love the video and your content overall! A couple months back, you had mentioned possibly getting into consultative services/advice. We are currently finishing a basement with a home theater room and would be interested in some help. What's the best way to reach out to you if this is still available. Thanks!!

Andrew, as an acoustician, this video is such a great example of why acoustics tends to be such a black art for so many. Failing to identify a specific problem that needs to be solved, or using the wrong product to treat the problem, or using the right product but in the wrong location all lead to time and money spent to little (or no) benefit. And more is not necessarily better. However, sometimes small amounts of treatment carefully selected and located can make a dramatic difference. But, as you so eloquently stated, just looking at some rooms on Tik-Tok is not the same thing as proper design. Thanks for letting us be part of your journey. I look forward to watching where you end up!

Hello. I have a question about cinema audio sources. When watching movies on a med-high end (Sonus Faber) 5.1 system will I likely hear much difference between an Apple TV source and a source like Blueray or Kaleidescape. The movies I watch tend to be more art house type where the dialog and non-dialog soundtrack do a lot of the movie's work. And thanks for your reviews and generally educating me on what's possible with audio. Your videos directly led me to finding and purchasing the SF Sonetto speakers. All the best to you and Kristi.

For Audiophiles and Videophiles/cinephiles satisfaction is the death of desire. As long as you can afford to upgrade or a major life event doesn't get in the way and change your priorities or perspective, the upgrade/recalibration/ modification bug will always be there! It's a sickness, that only afflicts a certain breed of person. You either get it or you don't. Change is inevitable my friend, just don't beat yourself up over it! Rant complete. 😂

Danke!

Yours and Kristi's satisfaction and happiness MUST come first. And, override everything (and everyone) else.

Next upgrade...micro LED videowall

I've always had a dedicated media room. Actually 2. given that I think that you're in the desert southwest, just add a room...even in a separate but connected building that is 15'6"x23'4" with 10' ceilings. You can have a closet and a bathroom but behind in separate hallway with a door. Then there's the dedicated home theater.....You don't need all of your mess in your living room.

You are spot on Mr. Robinson. In the over 20 plus years of listening to HiFi, I must’ve change my listening room, including gear, multiple times. My taste changed in alignment with my ear listening tolerance. ❤

Since you're going to be exploring living room aesthetics, I'd be very interested in seeing a video that talks about LIGHTING. It's something that everybody seems to overlook, but when designing a room it seems critical getting the balance right between floor lamps, recessed/wafer lights, and sconces. AND whether or not they play nice with home automation.

So... you are now indeed a recovering audiophile... Good for you :)

Books also work very well, for sound and for ourselves 😊

The only person who has to like YOUR own wall and living space is you!

Imo. A good hifi is a supplement in the space its have too bee, where everyone can enjoy. Not the dictator of the occupants. Too find the balancing act is the challenge. I think u both do good. Love from Norway

This video was so needed. Honestly, I’m not surprised at all, especially after all the genuinely kind and beautiful moments I’ve experienced from you both. You deserve to put yourselves first, always. Like you said, it’s your home, and your happiness in it means everything. I’m genuinely so happy for you, and I can’t wait to follow along as things evolve. You’ve created something really special here, this channel continues to leave me smiling, nodding in agreement, and sometimes even speechless. So much love and respect.