i've had the 7b's for about 4 months, in a near identical environment as the OP. plus the added negative of a hard wood ceiling. i do like my music "forward". some might call it a bit bright. i agree that the 7b's are on the bright side of the line. not by alot but they are there. obviously this trait is worse to have in a listening room like the OP's and mine.
in my system, the highs and mids are pronounced for sure...but smooth imo. i added a velodyn dd12 sub to add a tiny touch of hard bottom end. i spent a ton of time (weeks) with the sub and it's adjustment kit. got it right where *i thought* i wanted it, after alot of work. sub volume is set at 16 on a scale of 100. just the little back-up punch i was looking for. servo is set to max control so it's super tight too.
which brings me to the real reason i jumped into this thread. my old friend Rich commenting above on a negative plateau, quoting John Atkinson. my velodyn kit exposed said platau from about 125-160hz. regardless of where the mic was... it was glaring and impossible to miss on my big screen lol!. looked like 6db or more to me. since the parametric eq in the kit only adjusts too 125hz, i thought it was something i'd have to live with. can't say i noticed it in listening because i enjoyed the sound.
until recently, i had the crossover on the sub set at 60-70 for the most part. during a recent tweek session with the velodyne kit, i inadvertently discovered the crossover could be set as high as 200hz. i would never even think of setting a sub x-over point that high. by accident, i had sent it up to 140. but low and behold, half the platau was gone/dissappeared. i then tried it higher and higher until the entire platau was gone. with the volume set so low...it barely effected the lower frequencies (maybe 1 or 2 db boost max). the x-over is now set at 162 and my FR curve looks incredibly smooth all the way too 200.
looking good on a graph can often be different then sounding good. i immediately tried a bunch of different music and to my surprise....it really did sound "better". a very subtle but important improvement imo. smoother with better depth without being bass heavy. still don't like the idea of having the cross-over set so high but hey...it works and i like the sound better.
as a side note...i also agree with Rich and Tvad regarding amp/speaker synergy. thought the 7b's sounded better with the krells one dealer was using. your comments/observations above would make for a logical explanation (that had never occured to me).
if you're into music on the warm side of things, the 7b's are not a good option imo. they are near perfect for me though. i really like um. my budget was only 2k used when i picked these up. i think i got alot of speaker for the money. will be looking to upgrade in the next year or so but for now.....i'm enjoying them.
cheers
Lev
in my system, the highs and mids are pronounced for sure...but smooth imo. i added a velodyn dd12 sub to add a tiny touch of hard bottom end. i spent a ton of time (weeks) with the sub and it's adjustment kit. got it right where *i thought* i wanted it, after alot of work. sub volume is set at 16 on a scale of 100. just the little back-up punch i was looking for. servo is set to max control so it's super tight too.
which brings me to the real reason i jumped into this thread. my old friend Rich commenting above on a negative plateau, quoting John Atkinson. my velodyn kit exposed said platau from about 125-160hz. regardless of where the mic was... it was glaring and impossible to miss on my big screen lol!. looked like 6db or more to me. since the parametric eq in the kit only adjusts too 125hz, i thought it was something i'd have to live with. can't say i noticed it in listening because i enjoyed the sound.
until recently, i had the crossover on the sub set at 60-70 for the most part. during a recent tweek session with the velodyne kit, i inadvertently discovered the crossover could be set as high as 200hz. i would never even think of setting a sub x-over point that high. by accident, i had sent it up to 140. but low and behold, half the platau was gone/dissappeared. i then tried it higher and higher until the entire platau was gone. with the volume set so low...it barely effected the lower frequencies (maybe 1 or 2 db boost max). the x-over is now set at 162 and my FR curve looks incredibly smooth all the way too 200.
looking good on a graph can often be different then sounding good. i immediately tried a bunch of different music and to my surprise....it really did sound "better". a very subtle but important improvement imo. smoother with better depth without being bass heavy. still don't like the idea of having the cross-over set so high but hey...it works and i like the sound better.
as a side note...i also agree with Rich and Tvad regarding amp/speaker synergy. thought the 7b's sounded better with the krells one dealer was using. your comments/observations above would make for a logical explanation (that had never occured to me).
if you're into music on the warm side of things, the 7b's are not a good option imo. they are near perfect for me though. i really like um. my budget was only 2k used when i picked these up. i think i got alot of speaker for the money. will be looking to upgrade in the next year or so but for now.....i'm enjoying them.
cheers
Lev