Boldly going where (only a few) have gone before! Acoustic Frontiers is Go!
Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 5:16PM Hi everyone, this is the first post to the NEW and EXCITING Acoustic Frontiers website!
Why did we set the company up? We realized that for too long audiophiles and home theater fanatics have neglected the listening room as a source of sound improvement potential. If we are honest a lot of us, even those with very expensive (i.e. $10,000+) systems, find problems with our sound. Not having any scientific knowledge or basis for understanding WHY the sound is bad, we follow the path that the audio equipment manufacturers and dealers want us to follow - the equipment upgrade path. Sometimes you can get lucky and find a one in a hundred balance of equipment, speakers, speaker location, room size, furnishings and listener position. These people get good sound. They probably attribute it to the money they just spent. In most cases it is just blind luck. Change one of the variables mentioned above and they have bad sound. They move the couch - bad sound. They 'upgrade' to a pair of new speakers - bad sound. They move into a new house - bad sound. They wail, they cry, then they (guess what) - buy some more expensive equipment!
Is space really the final frontier? Or is it the listening room?The founders of Acoustic Frontiers were in the exact situation above before we started to learn about room acoustics, room design, acoustic measurements and all the myriad of factors that impact how our equipment interacts with the room to govern what we hear. After reading many books and finding a world class mentor in Gerry Lemay of the Home Acoustics Alliance we saw an opportunity to bring music enthusiasts throughout the San Francisco Bay Area the improvements in sound quality that we had been exposed to.
Most music lovers do not understand the negative impact of room acoustics on sound quality. A minority have spent the time and money to look at the impact their listening room is having and have been happily enjoying the sound of their systems ever since, free from the constant upgrade cycle.
And we should all remember why we do this - the music. Each of us wants to be touched by the music, to feel the emotional connection with the artist, to be transported to another dimesion for a song, an album, an evening. For too long the listening room has got in the way of the emotional connection.
Our value proposition to you, our potential clients, is to provide a world class acoustic design and calibration service for the 'final frontier' in the reproduction chain - the listening room. By focusing on sound quality and being scientific about using room design principles and acoustic measurements we can fix the problems of the listening room and leave you with the music.
We do two and multi channel audio as well as home theater.
Reader Comments (2)
This is an excellent post and a great addition to the Bay area. I couldn't agree with you more regarding the need to supplement speakers and additional listening equipment with an acoustics analysis to ensure you get the best out of your system.
I look forward to hearing more and will be in touch shortly!
John Parks
A great idea, and one overlooked for a long time. Sadly I live in the UK - this sort of service would be very welcome after some building works have changed my listening room environment completely, and I'm having issues getting the sound right again. Especially pertinent as I am changing the furniture and layout of the room - all of which seem to be having significant effects on the sound of my system, and I cannot seem to get it right.
Great idea, and probably the cheapest way for us listeners to get the best out of our systems. Back to trial and error and fiddling around for me for some time to come, unfortunately...!
Resh,
London, UK.