Vacation Wind Down: An Anniversary Dinner, Storms, Petting Zoo, Road Trip and Listening with Friends7/27/2022 By Juan C. Ayllon It’s six in the morning on Sunday, the day after my 11th wedding anniversary, I am wide awake, and it’s little wonder. It’s been a whirlwind year. I wrapped up summer school teaching STEM to third and fourth graders last week. I've got a pile of reviews to tackle, basement storage to sort out and, in a week and a half, I will begin my new teaching position. So, although there’s plenty to be thankful for, I’ve had a lot on my mind these last several days. I thought the thunderstorm threats had passed Saturday night after a major downpour gave way to clear skies, so I left my audio gear plugged in, Belle and I watched a movie, and since she was tired, I caught some boxing after she went upstairs to turn in. After a handful of rounds between the headline fighters, something told me to check on Belle, and I found her smiling, seated on the living room couch. She said that she was thanking God for our marriage, so I pulled up a seat. We talked about dates, and the many memories we’d built over the years, kissed, and she disappeared into the bedroom. I rushed downstairs, shut everything off and came back up to join her. Overall, it had been a lovely evening. Fine Dining, Bad Acoustics, and Missing Manners Earlier Saturday, we had driven 40 minutes to a quaint upscale restaurant off a country lane in the sticks of Wisconsin. It wasn’t much to look at. From the outside, it resembled a brown clapboard-sided tavern from the 1930s fronted by an aged asphalt parking lot, with a dingy, cinder block motel across the street. “Are you sure this is the place?” Belle asked. She waited in the SUV while I peeked inside. It was pleasant enough; apparently, it was highly renovated, so what once may have been a beer hall was now a chic and intimate, carpeted bar room, followed by a hallway that opened up into a barn-sized space with hardwood floors, a cathedral ceiling, and a tumbleweed, painted white with tiny lights, suspended 20 feet above. Additionally, rows of 2’x4’ white, rectangular acoustic panels lined the ceiling to dampen noise. On the outside, a large fireplace with a fancy organic, painted and lit wreath surrounded by windows served as the focal point, while kitsch artwork adorned an interior wall. on the opposite side. “This has National Public Radio written all over it,” I thought, with its smug, educated and enlightened, eco- and socially aware hipster vibe. Belle wore a black dress and high heels, while I donned a black short sleeve golf shirt with jeans and denim loafers and, as such, we felt overdressed, for the majority of patrons dressed Walmart casual. The hostess sat us towards the center of the room and ten minutes after we settled in, we regretted it. Behind me sat a 30-something couple looking fresh from the gym—the man in a tank top, swimming trunks and running shoes and his wife in a T-shirt, lycra shorts and Crocs–-entertaining grandparents and coddling their five loud children eating $18 burgers, while to Belle’s left, a child’s voice was piercing as his proud, bellowing dad encouraged him as he regaled their table of eight with tales of his achievements. In 1993, I waited tables at the Winnetka Grill in affluent Winnetka, Illinois, where occasionally well-mannered children joined well-coiffed parents for dinner at this posh restaurant. However, out here in the sticks, clearly, this wasn’t the North Shore. Here and now, “Indoor voices” seems a foreign concept. Despite the acoustic treatments above, it sounded like lunchtime at a middle school cafeteria. I was getting a headache. Rave Reviews A friend had recommended tonight’s restaurant, and the online reviews were glowing. As part of the farm to table movement, they source their food from local farmers, pay their staff livable wages and profit sharing. Wanting to treat Belle to something extra special, off the beaten path, I had a reservation for 6:45 PM, but Belle had asked that we make it 5:00 PM instead—and to our horror, the cost of our early meal was dinner served with the cafeteria crowd. Now the food was very good, but a tad pricey; I ordered the 14 ounce ribeye steak medium rare, and Belle ordered chicken (I was hoping she’d get a steak as well, but later she said she didn’t want to pay $50 for a steak). “This is delicious!” Belle enthused. My steak was, too. Her savory chicken sat on a bed of rice, while my steak came with a garden salad and a crusted mashed potatoes side. We were ravenous when we arrived, so we ordered a side salad to accompany the wispy, straw-like breadsticks while we waited–and waited—for the entree. “Would you like some more breadsticks, Dear?” our waiter asked. She snapped our picture and was pleasant, but service on the whole seemed a bit slow. Perhaps it was because they billed a surcharge to be divvied up amongst the employees in place of a tip, and sans the motivation of performance based gratuities, the sense of urgency seemed gone, only to be replaced by a smug, laidback delivery. For example, It took over 10, maybe 15 minutes, for my second glass of cabernet to arrive after I ordered it. Nevertheless, we toasted our 11 years of marriage with two glasses of wine each, reminiscing about the good times we’ve had, and talked about growing old together. I paid our bill, just under $160, thanked our waiter, and drove Belle home. The Aftermath “That wasn’t at all how I was expecting to spend our anniversary,” Belle sighed as we bumped down the country lane, adding that she’d prefer our go-to steakhouse, Beelows, where the steaks are less expensive, the service quicker, and the clientele more agreeable. However, caressing my face, she thanked me for the gesture of taking her to a new experience. “Yeah, it was really loud,” I said. “The food was good, but it’s too bad that the kids were so piercing with their voices. And that dad! Holy cow!” I waxed on about today’s youth and their entitled parents reeking of bad manners and little regard for others, Then, I exhaled and took notice of the beautiful scene unfolding before us. There had been a lot of rain lately, and the vast expanse of fields and trees on either side of the road sported vibrant, lush green hues. “I really enjoy the country, seeing the trees and fields. It’s really beautiful.” Holding hands, we soaked in the ambiance. Store Encounter Twenty minutes later, we arrived at a grocery store for wine to continue our celebration at home and, as I exited, a young, familiar looking African-American man locked eyes with me. “Waukegan High School, right?” he said. Turns out he had been a student of mine while he attended the school from 2004 to 2008. His name was Kenny, and he was pleased to see me. “You still look the same,” he said, shaking my hand. “You haven’t changed a bit!” We chatted briefly before parting ways. From the warmth of his greeting, I guessed I must have done something right all those years ago. That was comforting, and Belle and I chuckled about it as we drove home. A Rousing Storm I rose to use the head in the wee Sunday morning hours and saw flashes of lightning through the blinders, so I dashed downstairs to unplug the system and our 75” Vizio flat screen TV. Several hours later, a buzzing alert from my cell phone weather app roused me. A severe thunderstorm warning had been issued for our area. Wonderful. I knew of two tornadoes that touched down in the greater Chicagoland area the day before (one landed two miles away from a family member’s home in Naperville), so I rose again, passed our slumbering Goldendoodle, Liam, in the living room (his head popped up as I passed) and scanned the skies for funnel clouds through our sliding glass door. Petting Liam en route to bed, I turned in, but repeated this process twice in the hours that followed. I was exhausted. The Petting Zoo A tempestuous, stormy night dissipates into an overcast, but drier morning, and drinking coffee, we head off to join the kids and grandchildren at a petting zoo 45 minutes away. Even though we are tired, it warms our hearts to hear the giggles and squeals of delight as toddlers fed the goats, alpacas, and cows and play on the teeter totter. Afterwards, Belle and I drive home to relax with Liam on the back deck. It's a delightful way to wind up our weekend! Taliesin Roadtrip It’s 7:00 AM Monday, and it turns out that Belle has aggravated an old back injury, so she stays home to convalesce while I rush for a scheduled 10:00 AM tour at Taliesin Wisconsin, an estate of the late, great American Architect, Frank Lloyd Wright near Spring Green, Wisconsin, nearly three hours away. As I rush to get ready, I remember that I misplaced my memory card for my Canon EOS 30D and waste 15 minutes searching for it. No memory card, no photos! Thankfully, I find it. And, oh! I still haven’t figured out how to reset the f-stop on my Canon with its Tameron 17-50 mm Aspherical lens that I mostly use for the AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) shows. It was locked in 2.8, which is fine for indoor shooting, but not great for outdoor shots. It’s like walking outside after an eye doctor dilates your eyes for an exam, and your pupils are stuck wide open. To offset this debacle, I’ll have to adjust the ISO settings to 100 and set the shutter speed really high. Man! Before I dash off, I exchange texts with audiophile friends dropping by Tuesday to listen to my system that includes the recently-reviewed Usher Audio ML-801, my recently acquired ML-802 loudspeakers (which I am reviewing for Prairie Audio), the Usher R-1.5 amplifier, the Triangle Art RA Ultimate Power Conditioner and more! Flying down the highway a little over two hour later, as I get 20 minutes out from the Taliesin, a slow semi truck overtakes and remains in front of me on this two lane highway. I’ve been praying for patience and it dawns on me that situations like this build exactly that. Ugh. I arrive 10 minutes late and just then, I get a call from Jerry at Straight Wire, Inc. asking for the length of a pair of Expressive Grande II speaker cables he’s preparing to send me for review. “I’m in a pinch,” I tell him. “Eight feet will be fine. Thanks, Jerry!” Walking into the visitor’s center, the manager tells me that my tour group has already left to tour Frank Lloyd Wright’s home, but she’ll radio the tour bus to circle back for me. As we cross a small bridge, the driver shares how Wright built a small hydroelectric dam that made his the first residence in the area to have running electricity in 1924. She also explained how he built a paved driveway up to the home after cars replaced horse and buggies. Catching up with the tour guide in a garden, I am treated to an immersive experience at this former residence of Frank Lloyd Wright. Another photographer with a Canon slung from his neck also snaps photos, but he has his set on auto, on an auto, so he simply has to frame the image, point and shoot. Meanwhile, I’m playing with the ISO, camera speed settings and manually focusing. What can I say? As I’m trying to snap pictures, a guest points out some deep grooves on Wright’s studio desk from drafting lines on his plans. I get a shot off before being hurried off to the next room (they have a tight schedule to keep, after all). The aesthetic experience was incredible. I will write more about that in an upcoming article, but suffice it to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience! Driving home, I pull my car over, select and pluck some country flowers and grasses to put in a small designer vase I purchased minutes before at the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center for Belle, who really appreciates kind, thoughtful gestures. She loved it! Listening Session and Experimentation It’s Tuesday afternoon and In little less than an hour, Mike and Jeff are coming by to listen to the system. That should be a fun diversion! I bake and slice a baguette, chop cheeses for a platter, and put out bowls for peanuts, chips and salsa, and bring out the colored tapa plates. Now, everyone has personal biases, and my two friends, Jeff and Mike, are no exceptions. They are immediately impressed with the Usher ML-802 loudspeakers, as well as the performance of the Schiit Audio Yggdrasil Analog 2 DAC, Pass Labs XP-12 preamplifier and X150.8 amp which, along with the flagship Straight Wire XLR interconnects and Crescendo 3 speaker cables, deliver a very balanced, full and detailed presentation. However both, who employ a lot of acoustic diffusers in their rooms, find the front of the room less lively than they’d like (ironically, the rear of the large 32’x22’ main space, which has little damping, is more what was expected). Mike, who builds and sells his own diffusion panels, examines the absorption panels I employ. For him, less is more. We listen to a variety of artists; I play some of my standard fare – a little John Mayer Trio and Gerald Clayton, for example, then Jeff requests Thomas Dolby. We listen closely. Next, we connect the preamp and amplifier (which were plugged directly into the wall) to the Triangle Art RA Ultimate Power Conditioner, and immediately we notice an increase in details, dynamics, and more articulation in note decay. I also notice a slight gain increase. We switch back and forth and confirm the positive effects of the RA Ultimate, which costs $11,000. They suggest that I might get some of those benefits for less money by trying out various isolation transformers available. From there, we swap in the Usher R-1.5 amplifier, which along with the preamplifier, is plugged directly into the wall. We all notice a boost in bass and fullness and are impressed. We take in Hiram Bullock’s “Long Time Gone” and note the differences; with the Usher, his voice, which was recorded a bit sibilant, sounds more warm and pleasing. After swapping back and forth, we wonder if the placement of the Pass Labs X150.8 amp atop my Hsu Research ULS 15 Mk 2 subwoofer, with its large magnet on its 15” woofer, and 18” tall cabinet, is affecting its delivery (I’d placed it there to accommodate the Usher amp, which took the X150.8's spot on the Skylar media stand for review). Replacing the Usher amp with the Pass Labs on the stand, we listen again to files by Bullock, John Mayer Trio and Gerald Clayton. “Wow,” Mike says. “The soundstage really opened up!” We experiment with other swaps, such as substituting cones for the AVR Room Service pads, and removing everything. It’s an interesting exercise. Something that Mike says sticks with me, though: the positioning of my acoustic absorption panels at the sidewalls to address first order reflections wasn’t quite right, and I should use a mirror there to fine tune it. For those unfamiliar with this technique, you place a mirror along a corner wall and move it around until you can see a reflection of the tweeter of your speaker closest to that side of the room from your listening position; that’s the first reflection point at that wall, and to tame reflections, an acoustic absorption panel (or acoustic diffuser) should be placed there to reduce comb filtering (sound bouncing back from the reflection point and conflicting with the direct sound from your speakers). You can use the mirror to look for the tweeter of the speaker on the opposite side and place an absorber or diffuser panel there, as well. I thought Mike was wrong; months ago, I had guesstimated these points of reflection and meant to use a large mirror to double check the proper placement of the panels when I set up the room, but I never followed through. The Mirror Checkup Now it’s Thursday morning and I decide to bring the panel down to check first reflection points -- and what do you know? Mike was right. Using a tall mirror, I adjust the placement of the right sidewall acoustic absorption panel to address both tweeters’ reflections, and remove the left sidewall panel, as the curtains already address their corresponding reflection points. I hit play on Patricia Barber’s “Bye Bye Blackbird” and am amazed at a slight improvement in the focus and soundstage. Wow! Then, I replay the John Mayer Trio’s “I Got a Woman” and love the results.
This is fun! However, I have reviews, chores and more to do, so I must move on. Happy listening!
1 Comment
Jeff Kenton
7/27/2022 02:41:00 pm
Juan,
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Juan C. AyllonA writer, artist, educator and owner of Prairie Audio Man Cave, he lives with his wife, Isabel (AKA Belle), and their Goldendoodle, Liam, enjoys listening to high fidelity music and all things hi-fi at their home in the greater Chicagoland area.. Archives
March 2024
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