Slappy: it's possible that the basement is acoustically dead, but your impression of "deadness" may also be due to the fact that the room is large, L-shaped, and your bookshelf-style speakers simply don't fill the room. Large rooms with dry wall and the normal amount of wall-to-wall carpeting aren't overly "dead" as a rule.
I suggest you try a "slap echo" test by standing in the middle of the room and clap your hands together loudly. If there is no "echo" -- i.e., there is no reverberation and the sound dies away almost immediately -- then your room may be somewhat dead acoustically. If that is the case, then you should try adding some reflective surfaces at key points, such as the 90-degree angles formed between the listening spot and the speakers. (Try using a mirror on the wall -- if you can see the front of the speaker in the mirror you are seated in the listening spot, then there is a 90-degree angle.) You can use a number of different "hard surfaces" to liven the room, such as large pictures with glass-in-frame; sections of panelling; etc.
Room acoustics present real challenges, and you will probably have to do a fair amount of experimentation until you establish an acoustic environment that meets your tastes. I advise, however, that you not seek to make the room overly live or overly dead -- shoot for something in the middle.
The other issue that relates to room acoustics is how flat the frequency response is in your room. Reflections or absorption of the higher frequencies will produce the impression of more or less "liveliness". You might do a frequency analysis of your room, using a Radio Shack sound level meter with a test CD having frequency sweeps. There are a number of guys here on A-gon who can advise you on this process, including "Rives".
I suggest you try a "slap echo" test by standing in the middle of the room and clap your hands together loudly. If there is no "echo" -- i.e., there is no reverberation and the sound dies away almost immediately -- then your room may be somewhat dead acoustically. If that is the case, then you should try adding some reflective surfaces at key points, such as the 90-degree angles formed between the listening spot and the speakers. (Try using a mirror on the wall -- if you can see the front of the speaker in the mirror you are seated in the listening spot, then there is a 90-degree angle.) You can use a number of different "hard surfaces" to liven the room, such as large pictures with glass-in-frame; sections of panelling; etc.
Room acoustics present real challenges, and you will probably have to do a fair amount of experimentation until you establish an acoustic environment that meets your tastes. I advise, however, that you not seek to make the room overly live or overly dead -- shoot for something in the middle.
The other issue that relates to room acoustics is how flat the frequency response is in your room. Reflections or absorption of the higher frequencies will produce the impression of more or less "liveliness". You might do a frequency analysis of your room, using a Radio Shack sound level meter with a test CD having frequency sweeps. There are a number of guys here on A-gon who can advise you on this process, including "Rives".