We’re really excited to kick off 2012 with our first “Dealer Spotlight” feature. Most custom installers know that Velodyne makes the best subwoofers available, but custom installation goes way beyond a single sub. And it’s not for the novice. We’ve seen some insane setups over the years, and it’s clear these people take their sound seriously. You could say they’re obsessed with audio.
And speaking of obsession, let’s get started with our first dealer spotlight.
Velodyne Dealer:
Audio Obsession
Gilroy, California
408.656.8086
ronweav@aol.com
Principal: Ron Weaver
The master craftsman cheerfully surveys his workshop domain.
The Man Behind the Company
Ron Weaver is a custom installer whose life-long passion has lead to a new career in his retirement. He spent 35 years working as an engineer for IBM, but has been passionate about audio his entire life.
“About three years before I retired, I picked up a copy of ‘Speaker Builder’ magazine and all the lights went on,” he said.
A self-proclaimed Velodyne enthusiast, Ron started building speakers with his brother when he was 14 years old. He also sang in church choirs and played the cello.
“Music was always a big part of growing up,” Ron said. It’s not surprising he majored in classical voice and music while attending college at San Francisco State. But he switched his major and graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in mechanical engineering, which lead him to IBM.
And a decade after retiring from IBM, he’s busier than ever designing and installing home theatres all over the west coast. His reputation and business is built solely on word-of-mouth.
Ron runs Audio Obsession out of his home in Gilroy, California. Did we mention he’s also obsessed with woodworking? Not only does he lovingly craft custom cabinets, but he also built his entire home.
“We designed every square inch of this house,” he said. The “we” includes his wife, who gave him the thumbs up to complete the home theatre before the rest of the house was done.
Ron's attention to detail is reflected in the beauty of his custom cabinets. He will only use one piece of wood for each cabinet, to ensure consistency in the grain.
The Equipment Behind the Sound: About Ron’s Setup
We asked Ron how awesome his home theatre had to be in order get that kind of spousal approval. Much to our delight, Ron invited us over to find out. And the answer was nothing short of spectacular.
“This room has been designed to be as ideal as you can make it for listening,” he said.
The powerhouses behind the setup are two Velodyne Digital Drive 18 subwoofers, the most powerful Velodyne subs available at the time the room was designed. (Ron is looking to take his setup to the next level with a pair Digital Drive PLUS subs.)
Ron chose Velodyne for two main reasons. The first is our servo feedback, which dramatically improves the accuracy of the sound reproduction. Velodyne was the first subwoofer company to address this. The hanging sensor on the cone can sense what’s happening and what’s coming. This allows for incredibly low distortion, typically 1/10 the amount of competing subs.
“You want it to sound the way it’s supposed to and Velodyne does that,” Ron explained.
This realistic sound reproduction is also enhanced by the raw power of Velodyne subs. In fact, Ron said most people are (incorrectly) convinced there are “Buttkicker” transducers in his home theater seats, a product which vibrates in conjunction with crashes and booms on-screen. With Ron’s setup, he has no need for “Buttkickers.” The subs do all the work, bringing to life on-screen events such as an epic battle scene from Master and Commander that we had the pleasure of viewing on Ron’s system.
“No, it’s just the Velodyne subs doing what they do best!” he said.
The second reason for Ron’s choosing Velodyne is our auto-equalization feature. This feature smoothes out frequencies in the room that might otherwise cause less-than-ideal sound in certain locations.
And why two subs?
“Two is always better than one because of standing waves,” Ron explained. The standing sound waves cause disparities in sound volume in different parts of the room for specific frequencies. These standing waves are the reason for placing speakers and seats in very specific places in the room.
Ron also built the ceiling to minimize peaks and valleys in sound volume around the room. It’s similar to a cathedral-type design and the pitch is 9 feet in the front and 13 feet towards the rear. This type of ceiling helps spread out the standing waves to reduce peaks and valleys.
The walls are also a critical aspect of the room. They are double-studded and isolated from the rest of the house. The placement of the unique, reversible acoustic panels was determined by sophisticated computer design and helps strike just the right balance of sound absorption and reflection, even at lower frequencies. And at $90 each, the panels alone were several thousand dollars. The panels are hidden behind a stretched fabric system for aesthetic reasons. Ron was able to come very close to the ideal 350 milliseconds RT60 decay times across the entire audio spectrum. Even the carpet pad is specially chosen for its acoustic properties.
Ron clearly takes his audio seriously.
“It takes a lifetime to really understand it, but anybody can appreciate it,” he said.
The full rundown
Equipment list
- Onkyo Pro PR-SC886 THX Ultra2 Certified 7.1 Preamp/Processor
- ARCAM P7 Seven Channel Amplifier
- JVC RS-35 Projector with Panamorph motorized Scope Lens System
- Oppo BDP-93 Blu-Ray Player
- Sony BDCX-7000EX 400 Disc Blu-ray Changer
- Escient E2-300 Music Server
- Vudu XL Video Server
- SI Screens 133” Black Diamond 1.4 Screen
- DirecTV DVR-HR21
- Furman Elite 15i Power Conditioner
- Middle Atlantic Slim 5 Rack System
Speakers
- Left/Center/Right – Audio Obsession Custom MTM’s with SEAS Excel Drivers
- Side/Rear Surrounds – Audio Obsession Custom In-Walls with SEAS Drivers
- Subwoofers – Velodyne DD-18 (2)
Control systems
- Control4 HC-300 Controller
- Control4 7” Touchscreen
- Universal Remote Control MX-3000, MX-6000, MRF-350
Lighting
Cabling
- AudioQuest, Planet Waves, Liberty
Seating
- United Leather & NS Designs
Room acoustics
- FabricTrak Track Systems
- AVRS Acoustic Panels
- Guilford of Maine Acoustic Fabric
- Karistan Carpet Underlayment
- A/V RoomService Designed Calibrated and Certified
Installation by Audio Obsession
Miscellaneous
- Draper Motorized Window Blackout Screen
- Custom Woodworking by Audio Obsession
