Due to job relocation, this audio hobbyist will be on hiatus until I get settled in my new home. There’s no indication just how long I’ll be posted in Northern Alberta. My first winter here saw temperatures regularly dropping to - 40°C.  Now that’s cold!

 

I decided that renting a small house was the best option as the odds of me relocating again within 6-18 months, are high. A small apartment doesn’t do well when you have a truckload of woodworking tools, a bicycle, lawn mower and all the appliances. While the apartment rent option was decent, I had to look at a storage unit as for all my other stuff. The commute to work was also a little bit longer. As a result, I decided on a house instead, equipped with a detached single car garage. This was a much better option. I can now bike to work in 5 minutes with easy pedaling.

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The house is a military accommodation style, circa 1950 un-renovated bungalow. The 1950’s style kitchen seems like it still has the original cabinets, with maybe 10 coats of paint on them, and probably the smallest bathroom I’ve ever had. Linoleum floors in kitchen and hardwood in the other rooms.

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The basement leaks when it rains hard, with a few inches of water which eventually migrates to the laundry floor drain, at the opposite of the house.  Yep, on downpour days, I virtually have a small river in the basement. Can't wait to see what it’ll be like in the spring, if that drain ever freezes up.

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The first bedroom is roughly 11'x10.5' and the “master” is 11'x12'. Man… do I miss my old house!

The living room is an audiophile nightmare. Dimensions are 12'x14' with doorless openings on two walls.

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The electrical system is obviously original with the system drawing power from a single GFCI receptacle on a 15A circuit. Certainly not gonna put the two big Krells and run two two dedicated 240V lines here.

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Since I'm concerned about the basement flooding and the potential water damage, I decided to put the 6x18" and my 2x15" bass bins in the living room. All of my electronics are sitting on 3' and 5' high shelving. Hopefully this will be good enough for the next downpour.

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With the subwoofer in place in the living room, I'm already a bit committed to placing the laptop and the horn+tweeter on top. Listening to a tabletop FM radio in the living room isn’t satisfying at all, as it appears there’s only Classic Rock and Country music out here.

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So, knowing the end result will be disappointing, I still decided to assemble a living room system. It took me two weeks just to find the motivation to plug some wires in. No, I won't put any acoustic treatments in here, as it’s pointless for my anticipated tenure at this base.

All speaker wires are custom cut inexpensive #14 stranded. Not interested in going too crazy, as my silver cabling is carefully boxed away, with humidity absorbent pads.