A $10,000 system in a 10 by 7 metre room

My first real setup was about $10,000. I put it in a very awkwardly shaped room, 10 m wide by 7 m long. I was so proud of it that I kept inviting people over to show it off.

In the beginning, to my ears, it was impressive. Then, after some time, the problems started. Bass, vocals, highs, pretty much everything annoyed me at some point, and every annoyance sent me down the rabbit hole of gear upgrades.

What I could not understand was why the same gear sounded so different at home compared to the listening rooms where I had auditioned it. The differences were staggering. The room was not just affecting the sound; it was destroying it.

By the time I started reading about acoustics, I was about $10,000 thinner in the pocket. Paul McGowan and his channel were my first influence, then many others who give that advice for free. Speaker positioning first, then panels, step by step, and that is the order I still recommend.

My first $10,000 bought a system. The second $10,000 bought the lesson that the room was the problem.