I need help with my room


Rooze came over yesterday with a TACT room analizer(?) which showed the frequency response of my system in my room. I will try to post pictures of the results, but suffice it to say that the entire frrequency response is muted. I have one spike at about 40Hz but everything is an average of 6db below what it should be.

There are pictures of my system so you can see some of the room, although I have taken down all my room treatments. This did help, but not enough. The room is carpeted and has a cheap acoustic tile ceiling. I was wondering if fire rated tiles would help in the midrange and treble?

Any ideas for getting me to where I should be? HELP!
128x128nrchy

Showing 3 responses by onhwy61

Could you please describe how the measurements were taken.

From looking at the graphs I don't see how you could describe the response as muted. The most prominent features show a recessed lower bass/midrange and an elevated upper midrange with a smooth treble. If anything, I suspect your system sounds slightly forward.

One question you really need to ask yourself is whether you really want flat response at the listening position. Smooth response, yes, but flat will sound very bright. If you're adventurous I recommend you get a parametric EQ and experiment. Use it to reduce the peaks in the room response and play with shelving the treble response to see what you think.
It sounds like you're overreacting. I have been using a TACT system for close to 2 years and it's a wonderful piece, but it can easily be misused or misinterpreted. The key to using the TACT is obtaining an accurate measurement set. For best results you need to set the measure clicks to at least 50 and take readings from several different positions approximating where your head is during normal listening and use the averaging function. It's very important that the room is absolutely quiet during the measurements. HVAC noise, passing vehicles, cycling refrigerators can all screw up the measurements. Assuming all this was done correctly you still have to understand what the measurements are telling you. NO ROOM EVER MEASURES FLAT IN THE BASS. If all you have is a single spike at 40Hz and otherwise the system measures smoothly, then you've already done a great job. A relatively narrow bass peak can be easily dealt with via EQ or tuned bass traps. Depending on your taste in music, a little bump at 40Hz can be quite helpful in that it adds some growl to bass lines. Flat bass response can sound slightly anemic.

Ask yourself a question - does the system sound muted? Use the measures only as a guide and then let your ears tell you what is right.
Nrchy, in another post titled How Important Is Flat Response you wrote:

It is possible to love a system that is not musically accurate. Just because a person likes the sound of their system doesn't mean it's accurate, and just because a system is accurate doesn't mean you will like the sound of it!

Has the measurement experiment altered your views. I hope not.

Also in that same thread I posted a link to a site run by Ethan Winer. There he has a graph of the bass response in his personal listening room. Ethan makes a living selling and advising people on acoustic treatments, yet the response in his own room doesn't measure flat.