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Acoustic Treatment Newbee

I have my first (mostly) dedicated listening room, but it is kind of quirky and I'm looking for some advice on determining an ideal set up and figuring out what acoustic treatments might help.

The room:

Roughly 11 x 24. The front of the room has a set of bay windows. The back of the room is all brick with an unused fireplace. One wall is nearly all windows, the other is all shelves. Pretty much a study in opposites. Ceiling is pretty tall--9 feet or so.

The current set up:

I currently have my system set up in the front of my room. My main speakers are Zu Druids, which seem a little big for the room, powered by a Jolida tube amp. The Druids sit about 2 feet in front of the bay window 'shelf' and about 15" in from the side walls. Listening chair is about 9 feet in front of the speakers.

I would say that the sound is inconsistent. Frequently the bass sits well above the speakers, somewhere near standing height, when the music is dense. In less dense music, the bass comes through more consistently but the highs and mids are a little less cohesive.

A few questions:

-Should I think about moving my system to the 'back' wall (basically in front of the brick)?

-Clearly I need to do something about the run of windows (I'm thinking a panel or two). What about the run of book shelves?

-If keeping the system in the front of the room makes the most sense OR if I'm moving the system to the back wall, where do I start with room treatments? Behind the speakers? In the back corners/walls?

-How useful are test cd's and/or lp's?

Thanks
tjnindc

Showing 2 responses by newbee

newbee
4,751 posts
 
Before you start moving your speakers to the back wall or buying wall treatments, have you played with moving the speakers further out into the room and or moving your listening position closer to the speakers, say 7 ft? You might try adjusting the toe-in to help minimize side wall reflections, even if you have to have the speaker axis' cross in front of you. You might also consider putting some heavy drapes on the bay windows which you can draw closed when you listen to music. And you already have observed the problems with all of the windows on the side wall. Again some draps which you can use when listening can be all you need to quiet down reflections. BTW, do you have rugs/carpets on the floor between your listening position and the speakers to reduce floor reflections?

Wall/room 'treatments' are specific solutions for specific problems. You've got to figure out the problem before you start buying solutions. Or you'll go broke and be frustrated unless you are very lucky.

Test CD's/LP's can be very useful, especially in the bass if you have a SPL meter. It will help you to identify not only the best place for speaker placement but room placement as well. Upper frequencies would also be measurable but might not be as helpful in identifying proper solutions. IMHO.

BTW, the excessive bass problem might be a product of the speakers proximity to the back wall (too close) and or corners.

Oh, while I'm thinking about it - opposite wall surfaces, i.e. live v dead, can be a good set up, if done properly, because while it doesn't kill first reflections, it will tame 2d reflections and things like echo slap/reverberations.

Hope that helps a bit.
newbee
4,751 posts
 
Unpainted brick is not dead. For the most part it is just a hard surface with some small pits but it is still reflective.

SPL Meter - Radio Shack used to sell inexpensive analogue and digital models. I think they stopped, but someone else now is. Do a Google.

Don't underestimate the importance of listening chair placement! And, unless you physically can't do it, just for the fun of it play with the spread of the speakers and distance to the listening position. I have found that the best ration (for me) are about 11 to 10 speaker distance to speaker spread. This will generally give you not only a more 3 dimensional sound stage, it will give you a lot more clarity as well. I think the last thing I would do is move the speakers closer together.

Have fun and take your time. Proper set up takes a lot of patience and listening.
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