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Room Treatments, When are they required?

Hey Audiogoners!!!

I threw my first BBq in my new home this weekend. One of my guests who is also into audio gear came and we ended up talking a bit about audio gear.

My livingroom where the audiogear will be has 15ft vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors, and opens up to the dining room and kitchen. All pretty much in one real big l-shaped room.

I was telling him about my future upgrqade plans, which are nothing too extraordary, im thinking of some Parasound Amps and some Vandersteen 2CEs or 3As. It iwll be run 100% seperate from my HT system, but in the same room.

Anyways, he told me that it was a waste of money and there is no point in upgrading what i have unless i have a Dedicated listening room.

Personally, i think the accoustics in my livingroom are fantastic. Yes, some echo busters along the back wall or something might help out, but sound there is rich and full of live. Snap your fingers you get a nice clean SNAP, it doesent echo or linger any longer than it should. I have 3 very plush couches that do wonders for echo absorption.

When did everyone else start getting into room treatments and dedicated listening rooms?

Personally, i disagree with him, vandersteen 2ce's powered by some Parasound Amps will sound better than some radioshack speakers powered by a Denon 3505. No doubt about it in my mind. I dont care if it is installed in a dedicated room or a subway tunnel. it will sound better and i plan to upgrade.

When do YOU feel it is time to work on the room instead of the system?
Is there a certain price tag on the system that you feel is useless to upgrade further without having a dedicate room or room treatments?

Just curious.

Oh yeah, HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!
Woulda got that out earlier if i had been sober in the past few days.
slappy

Showing 1 response by slipknot1

slipknot1
1,423 posts
 
hey Slappy!
How's the new house treating you? I'll add my 2 cents to the discussion here as my setup is in my living room as well.

I did have Rives Audio do the treatment planning and measurements for my living room with the idea in mind of making it sound good but also keeping in mind that it IS my living room. Richard Bird did a tremendous job, and is great to work with. I followed his recommendations and the room sounds great, looks great and, although I did not intend it to, has evolved into a dedicated 2 channel listening space that works as a sitting room too. Most of the time the family is in the family room for TV, movies, etc anyway.

Rives Audio level one service was the best value upgrade I did for my listening pleasure. Regular AudiogoN member Rushton has been over to hear the results and posted some comments under my system here at the 'goN.

Whatever you decide to do, do what's right for you and don't let anyone tell you what to do or badmouth what you decide. Congrats on the new digs and keep up the great posts!
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