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Sound quality vs. volume

Looking for a bit of expertise here:

I recently made a few changes to my setup and while overall pleased with the results, I’m on the quest for better.  I’m hoping you all can help me diagnose an issue I’m hearing.

When listening to music at lower volume levels - say less than 1/2 total volume, the clarity, imaging and dynamics come across far more coherent and “in focus”.  To use an often over-coined phrase “It’s like I’m there in the room”.  As I start to push the volume up a bit, closer to live-performance levels, the sound becomes increasingly “mushy”.  I know, a highly technical term, but the best way to describe what I am hearing.  The bottom-end loosens up - getting a bit boomy, the crispness of the mid-range and highs fade and the imaging falls out of focus.  These are all incremental with volume until I get to the point where it’s just unbearable.   

I’m no expert by any means but feel it might be room acoustics.  I already know I have a less than ideal setup with a nearly square room (21x20ft) with 60% of the surface covered with clear birch wood paneling. Some things we can’t change (easily).  I do not have any acoustic treatment, just lots of soft furniture.  What I find interesting is that my old setup (Magnepan 1.6) didn’t suffer to such a degree.  Maybe with the new setup there is more to loose?  A mystery.  

For a bit more context:  
Speakers:  Dynaudio Contour 60
Streamer: SoTM sms-200 Ultra
Amplifier: Peachtree Nova500

Within the 20x21ft. room, my speakers are 4ft. from the wall, I am seated 13ft. from the front wall (a bit back from room center). Speakers are 9ft. apart.

Any thoughts?  


wanderingmoo
wanderingmoo OP
29 posts
 
Been away a few days - I pulled out my SPL meter and mushy stars right around 80db. (A-weighted) I know someone asked.  

I took your advice and plugged the ports completely and the sound improved.  Less but much tighter/cleaning up the lower few octaves.  

I also played around with poor-man sound treatments.  This also seems to help.  I put egg-crate foam behind a few paintings and prints on the back of the room.  This reduced reflection.  I was getting some “slap” from the back wall.  No doubt more can be done here.  Wondering if ceiling treatment might help?  It’s the easiest place to treat without disturbing the look of the room. I’ll keep at it.  I have a 110” projector screen between the speakers - maybe sound panels behind the screen?  

As for the Amp.  I have no doubt mono-blocks carved out of mountains of billet aluminum would yield an improvement.  I haven’t tested that theory yet.  Stay tuned...  and thank you for all the advice!
viber6
2,438 posts
 
wanderingmoo,
No, room treatments may help, but you will still find that the sound is clearer and more focused at lower volumes.  Even in my dead room due to clutter, this is the case.  The ear is less sensitive to bass, so it takes higher volumes to give a sense of loudness in the bass.  The whole spectrum of freq is downshifted to give more emphasis to the bass than higher freq.  More bass does give more fullness, but with sacrifices to clarity and focus.  Even with live unamplified classical music, these statements apply.  In audio systems, the lower volume you listen at, the more you have to listen carefully, so that is also a factor in your perceptions.  There is a tradeoff at what volume you choose to listen--too low, you hear less of everything but it is all focused, and too high, you hear bloat and lack of focus.  Also, since all audio systems are veiled and distorted compared to live unamplified music, trying to get live volumes out of an audio system will doom you to mushy sound.  It is better to accept the facts of reality, and get more clarity and focus from your system at lower volumes.
audiosens
235 posts
 
Yes elliottb: "Once anyone gets a very satisfying balanced system and speaker/room setup, most often you will find you very rarely listen as loudly as you used to. You are busy being immersed, involved, hearing things previously undiscovered."  ...  ...   It is my case also, rarely I listen loud, because I focus on the details of the music, so 20% of the total power is good for me. Some times, I need to lower the volume just a bit.  The quality of the electricity is a major factor to have an easy listening session.  I also use Cathedral panel in each corner of my room.
tastyfreeze's avatar
tastyfreeze
135 posts
 
Rock on! 
wanderingmoo OP
29 posts
 
Agree with the comments on loudness.  Very rarely do I push things 90+db.  There are those few "classics" that demand to be played loud but that's usually more of a party than critical listening.  

We are having some electrical work done in the next few months (renovation) and I'll ask if the electrician can pull a new 20amp circuit down into my listening room.  I think this, combined with some quality plugs, sockets and cables could make an improvement.  Sometimes I think the lights dim a little when I crank up the volume ;-)

In the meantime, I have have a DIY project for this weekend to build some acoustic panels and bass traps.  Placing them behind my projector screen, along the back wall and in the window bays.   
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