Speaker/Room Acoustic Problem


I have a uncommon situation and wanted to see if anyone on the Audiogon forum has had a similar situation.

For the next year I will be renting an apartment & stuck using a small room (10x12.5). Believe it or not I have a 110 inch projection screen and 7.1ch surround system. I am using Magnepan LRS as main speakers. I painted the walls a dark color and installed black flannel fabric covering the entire ceiling. The ceiling is a popcorn ceiling and not easily painted. So, I used fabric to help control light reflections from the projector screen.

Problem: My speakers seem to lack sparkle or air on almost all recordings. I have tried Audyssey room eq, but the speakers still lack life. I have tried multiple sets of speakers with similar results. 
 

I have tried a number of acoustic panels (absorption) and they only seem to help slightly.  The bass and midrange sounds pretty good, however I feel that I am missing some treble energy. 

I am wondering if the fabric on the ceiling is over damping the room making it sound dead. It took me hours and hours to get the ceiling covered in fabric, so before I pull it down, I thought I might ask you Audiogon members what may be the culprit. 

Cymbals seem to lack shimmer and most recordings sound flat. There was a noticeable reduction in room echo after installing just the ceiling fabric. 

I have had my hearing checked recently, and all is well with my hearing. 
 

Thank you in advance for any advice and input.

Associated Equipment:

Magnepan LRS, Marantz SR7011 (pre-amp out), Aragon 2007 7ch Amp, Audioquest Red River Interconnects, Audioquest Oak Speaker Cables, Audioquest Diamond USB cable, Chord Cutest DAC, Blusound Node streamer, and Velodyne FSR12 Subwoofer. (No resistors are being used with the Magnepans) 

 


 


 

 

rick_hilton

Showing 1 response by erik_squires

As a previous dedicated apartment dweller I think I have a pretty good handle on what's going on. The problem is probably a combination of excess and muddy bass plus early reflections, including the ceiling.

You need corner bass traps.  One cool thing is that even treating 1 corner in these small rooms can be a huge improvement.  I used 2 GIK Soffit traps stacked. I've had them for almost ten years and 4 apartments before moving into my current home.

Another problem is usually the ceilings are too low. Panels between the listener and the speakers are ideal.