A wonderful thing happened tonight.
I have been messing around with this hobby for 15 years or so. The last 8 or so have been what I would consider seriously. Focusing on education, being methodical, and trying to be earnest and honest to myself with what I had, hoped for, and planned towards. My focus has always been about trying to make something “real” both in outcome and attainability. For a while I thought it has to be a certain speaker or new processor or Hi Res FLAC or...... In the early days I would read stereophile and sound and vision religiously and ponder on the methods they must use to get to where they are with their inspiring descriptions of almost unattainable perfection.
Textbooks, sawdust, more than a little time pouring over forum threads, being in other’s spaces, even taking a fool hardy run at building out spaces for people.... Every incremental step, sometimes backwards, towards something I hoped one day was “enough.”
Today it happened.
I have been messing around with these M5HPs in this room, and it got me to thinking where else can I go from here. I decided to take the old back wall diffusers out of the basement theater and give them a new look and purpose. We are looking to overhaul the HT this summer, and I’ve always wanted real wood diffusers on the back wall. They ended up getting a new paintjob and my wife helped me carefully apply the command strips and stick them to the wall -centered and nice and level. Perfect. They sure look great.
I listened all day pretty much, taking breaks to get a drink or make lunch. Occasionally I would get up to dab paint drips with paper towel from the ages old trim paint I used from the basement cupboard... (Note to self: old paint doesn’t cure quickly...)
I took a break from it to work in the basement, have supper, watch some TV and thought I should get back. Over the years I’ve asked my wife a hundred times to check out my latest tweak, or cool song, or bounce ideas about a new hair brained scheme off her. She is a great sport, and bless her, she has put up with a lot of “projects” over the years relating to my hobby.
Tonight I asked her to check out the new room with the diffuser installed. The look and feel of the space is great, and I was hoping she would like the sound. She said as usual “I have to sit there?” Referring to the sweet spot. “Ok, but you pick the song and just show me.” I threw on a track she frequents in her car and receded to the back of the room to let her listen. She grabbed the remote and inched up the volume. Head started bopping, feet keeping time. All good. Going well.
About three quarters of the way through the song she stopped bobbing along, but kept listening. By the end of the song she was still. I had expected she was over it and was ready to go on to other things. She paused spotify and I headed around the couch to see her. She was crying. Smiling and crying.
