Enter to Win: Rives Audio Test CD 2

[albasbal]

Sonic 30% -

Aesthetics 0% - I don't care how it looks if it performs

Buget 70% - unfortunately, I am restricted mostly by budget so before I do anything I have to figure what I can have first then work around it

 

[zincman]

It is all about the sound

100% Sound consideration

 

[cgk]

budget controls everything

I think budget is the most important because the other two follow from there. Between look and sound, I choose sound. Score:

Budget 50%
Sound 40%
Look 10%

 

[Tom Caines]

Sonic 90% - Otherwise what's the point.
Aesthetics 5% - I care about looks but Sonic wins out everytime.
Buget 5% - The amount I have to spend is a known quantity and that's that.

 

[belthazar48]

Buget analysis

I have also just recently, gone through this exercise. My aportionment of the $$$ was 40% to the sonics(Klipsch & Mirage); 30% to the budget; and 30% to keep my wife in my corner. The living room serves as my listening, viewing,and socializing center. Movies never sounded better, the old vinyls are beginnging to be recycled, and that background music can be dialed in just right, when compant arrives.

 

[Kurt_s]

I believe that sonics and aesthetics represent 75-80%. Budget is important but why spend money if it doesn't sound and look good? I want a clean listening environment and can add additional room acoustic solutions as I can afford it.

My room is still in process, but includes double wallboard with sound dampening, first reflection absorption/difusion, and ceiling corner absorption/difusion. Room acoustics work and I look forward to the next round.

Sonics - 45%
Aesthetics - 35%
Budget - 20%

Best of luck

Kurt

 

[VolksyGTI]

My reply applies to a dedicated Home Theater/Audio room:

Sonic-80% To me this is the most important, the raison d'etre of the whole exercise/project.
Budget-19% Unless one is Bill Gates, budget is always a factor.
Aesthetics-1% I do not care how it looks, as long as it does not smell funky.

 

[riceaterslc]

Sonic Benefit: 60%..why bother having a nice setup if you don't care about the sound quality.

Budget: 30%..would really like having thousands of dollars of equipment but i want to retire by the time i'm 50

Aesthetics: 10%..if it sounds good, everyone is happy. wife doesn't really mind all the equipment/wires as long as they look organized.

 

[bruceh]

Sonic Benefit - 60%: What's the point if it doesn't make it sound better? You have to match the components to your rooms's acoustic qualities and bigger is not necessarily better.
Budget - 45%: For obvious reasons this is important, since most of us do not have unlimited incomes. If you're married it's even a bigger issue.
Aesthetics- 5%: I don't care what it looks like!!

 

[Cygnus]

Budget: 80% - Im a really poor kid, what can I say?
Asthetics: 10% - It's got too look good (so good that somone who knows noting about A/V products goes "wow, sure has alot of buttons!" and i grin )
Sonic Benefit: 10% - It obviously has to sound good!

Unfourtanetly, as you can see, im restricted mostly by budget here.

 

[kleinwl]

[B
Contest Question: When designing a home theater or media room for acoustical purposes there are three aspects to consider in the project. Sonic Benefit, Aesthetics, and Budget. Everyone has a different threshold for each, and while many of us would love to have the all out assault on a great home theater, that's just not the real world and budget is important. Likewise, if the media room is also the family room or living room, attention to aesthetics and keeping with the architecture may be very important.

If you were going to acoustically "renovate" your media room how important would each of these three items be. Give each a percentage so that the combined would add up to 100%. Please explain why you answered the way you did.

Sonic Benifit = 20%
Aesthetics = 50%
Budget = 30%

While this may not be the ideal for me (SB=75%/A=0%/B=25%). I will not get anything unless I can satisfy my wife, which is why the Aesthetics and Budget are higher than I would normally set them. If I hit the Aesthetics / Budget, then I can green light the project, which will give me some SB, if not the amount that I would have ideally preferred. My hope is that at some point in the future I can "prove" to her that the SB is worth slightly more than the Aesthetics so that I can skew things more that way. Untill then, I live with what I have.

 

[blues651]

Rives is giving away three (3) Rives Audio Test CD 2 this month in our dedicated forum contest.

To be eligible to win, you must: 1) Be a registered Audioholics forum member, 2) Have USA or Canadian Residence 3) Answer the question in this contest thread:

Contest Question: When designing a home theater or media room for acoustical purposes there are three aspects to consider in the project. Sonic Benefit, Aesthetics, and Budget. Everyone has a different threshold for each, and while many of us would love to have the all out assault on a great home theater, that's just not the real world and budget is important. Likewise, if the media room is also the family room or living room, attention to aesthetics and keeping with the architecture may be very important.

If you were going to acoustically "renovate" your media room how important would each of these three items be. Give each a percentage so that the combined would add up to 100%. Please explain why you answered the way you did.

Note this contest ends on February 28th 2006. Winners will be drawn shortly thereafter

Have fun and good luck!

35% sonics 55% aesthetics 10% budget Gotta have good sound always trying to improve sound quality, have to keep the little women happy if she's screaming the sound quality won't sound good anyways, and budgets are meant to be broken at least mine are when it comes to audio!

 

[AndrewLyles]

Prioritize

50% Sound Quality(Benefit)
If you're buying audio equipment then obviously the sound is going to be mildly important, otherwise why spend money on such things? To me Sound Quality is first and foremost, it determines whether a speaker or component is even worth consideration. Most importantly however, I have a love for the nuances found in different sounds and how they are reproduced. Accuracy is of utmost importance but also the ability for others to be able to enjoy, if they choose, in what I love. That means that speakers that cast a very narrow sound field that only has one location which sounds decent doesn't cut it, I want to be able to share my passion with those around me... no dual SVS subwoofers heard from the apartments accross the street doesn't count. Right now my main concern is a broadened sound field when it comes to benefit. Once I've balanced this I'll move on to the next stumbling block, whatever it may be.

40% Asthetics
I live in a 1 bedroom apartment in Manhattan so I don't have sperate rooms for different activites. A living room/kitchen and a bedroom, thats it. Asthetics to me now are much more important now than in my college years; then just having the biggest, sickest sounding speakers one could afford was all that mattered. Now adays I may not have to deal with the WAF, but I am extremely picky about what goes in my home, because I to have to stare at it all the time due to the size of my living space. If the speakers or components don't fit well with the space I have, or contrast too sharply with the colors or design of my apartment then I will definately consider an alternative that does. In most reasonable price ranges there will always be alternatives to choose from with similiar performance. It's all about balance.

10% Budget
While budget can definately prevent the acquisition of a component or speaker I do not consider it that important in choosing. Granted... if there are two speakers that have the same performance and I have no preference over asthetics then obviously price is the deciding factor, or the most part though I will put off the purchase until I am able to afford what I want the most. For example, I've spent the past 14 months with a very nice component stereo system and no speakers. When I moved to New York there simply was not room for my old speaker system, which rivled some Tour speakers, and I have spent the time auditioning and saving for exactly the system that I wanted, and new I could live with for many years to come. I'm proud to say I found a speaker set that balances sonic beneift, aesthics, and my budget. I'm expecting delivery of my Gallo Reference series anyday now.


Like everything in life, it comes back to balance. I'm not going to drop an entire year's salary on a speaker cable, but I will save up long enough to be able to afford one that matches up with my prefered criteria. Example? I'm not wild about spending $300 dollars right now on a pair of speaker cables for my main channel speakers. But I do not mind paying a premium for completely flat wire that can be painted over, it will end up costing nearly the same for the whole system but the perceived advantages to me outwiegh the initial cost. God bless economics.

~Andrew

 

[naisphoo]

sonic 50%
aesthetics 25%
budget 25%

 

[kia303]

Sonic benefit-60%, if it does not sound good then why bother.
Aesthetics-20%, tastes vary and you can not please everyone with your design.
Budget-20%, that is what plastic is for!

 

[fireshoes]

Budget 50%: it's more like 100% but hey...
Sonic Benefit 40%: If I can afford it, then the sound quality will be the biggest determining factor on the purchase.
Aesthetics 10%: I'd like it to look nice and impressive, but performance is more important.

 

[The Numenorian]

Budget= 25%

You can't do anything without a set amount of money- only a few people are lucky to be floating in cash and your project will have to reflect the amount of money you've set aside for renovation. But there's always a little room for more if it looks like you'll need it.

Sound=45%

Whats the point in renovation if you don't get the desired outcome of an unmarred, purely created and heard sound? Sound is definately the most important feature of any acoustically-aimed renovation.

Aesthetics=30%

While sound is paramount, you should never give yourself a project that will end up in making your listening room look like a bunker. Slightly more important than budget, because you'll probably be stuck with the result for a while- better get 'em right the first time!

 

[hrad]

Sonic Benefit, Aesthetics, and Budget


The order listed in the question says it all!
Sonic Benefit 50% because when you sit listening with your eyes closed and the sound takes you to your happy place....
Aesthetics 35% because when you open your eyes, or are in the same space for some other reason, aesthetic pleasure brings a smile to most everyones face!
Budget 15% since you can not escape reality entirely.
I tend to spend more on my passions than I logicly should.
Just like the benefit food obtains from pretty presentation, where one of our senses predisposes another for a pleasant experience; aesthetics leads us to an experience of greater depth.

 

[auge.dog]

When designing a home theater or media room for acoustical purposes there are three aspects to consider in the project. Sonic Benefit, Aesthetics, and Budget. Everyone has a different threshold for each, and while many of us would love to have the all out assault on a great home theater, that's just not the real world and budget is important. Likewise, if the media room is also the family room or living room, attention to aesthetics and keeping with the architecture may be very important.

1. Aesthetics. 50%. If the spouse isn't happy, no one is.
2. Sonic Benefit. 30%. It's gotta have great sound.
3. Budget. Like many, I am always looking for the best bang for my buck.

 

[Oguard]

Another response

"Contest Question: When designing a home theater or media room for acoustical purposes there are three aspects to consider in the project. Sonic Benefit, Aesthetics, and Budget. Everyone has a different threshold for each, and while many of us would love to have the all out assault on a great home theater, that's just not the real world and budget is important. Likewise, if the media room is also the family room or living room, attention to aesthetics and keeping with the architecture may be very important.

If you were going to acoustically "renovate" your media room how important would each of these three items be. Give each a percentage so that the combined would add up to 100%. Please explain why you answered the way you did."

My response is 40-20-40.

My emphasis is on the sound and the return for arriving at that sound. There is a point of diminishing returns where spending more does not make an appreciable difference in the overall presentation. That is why I give each equal weight. Aesthetics are purely subjective and therefore make little difference in the performance of the product. I would rather fore go a pretty though poor sounding expensive product for onoe that is homely but sounds "surprising' given the cost.