Speaker Wire for Popular Budget System

…”Size of room, your distance from speakers, where are speakers located?”…

14’ x 24’ dry walled metal barn art studio/workshop. Speakers are 8’ apart on short wall, equidistant from front & side walls (20”-24”-ish depending…approx. 40” off floor on a modified workbench with short, DIY risers which roughly emulate rake degree of Heresy IVs. Usual listening spot is approx 8-9 ft away from speakers.  The room treatment I’ve improvised is a couple of old tapestry things with some extra terry cloth towels tacked on the wall behind each speaker (Does the “real stuff” actually make that much of a difference?). I can’t go long wall……The space is a mix of different degrees of sound reflectivity and fairly crowded with a couple of cloth chairs and the usual studio clutter of easels and plywood drawing boards/drafting table, etc.

…”How high is the ceiling,…..”…

11’ at its peak…typical, barn style vaulted ceiling (both walls and ceiling are fitted with fiberglass insulation and dry walled).  However, the system on this particular short wall is situated directly underneath a storage loft which is of 3/4” plywood construction with 2”x6” exposed beams.  This, effectively functions as an 82” high ceiling (77”ish high at the beams) above the speakers and out 5’ from the front wall.The risers are wooden and the speakers sit on rubber pads (supplied w/the speakers) atop the risers.  The risers sit atop felt furniture pads atop the workbench somewhat “out on diving board-like structures” ( 26”x 17”x 3/4” plywood) which were affixed to the workbench with silicone caulk and drywall screws such that optimum distance from the front wall could be achieved.

The towels are hidden by the tapestries…lol.  Just experimenting with extra sound absorption material I had on hand.  Luckily, WAF is a nonissue in this particular space!  The main house would be another story altogether but, out here, I can tack up any SQ remedy regardless of visual appeal.

That’s the speaker, andy2, and here is the video that started me on this journey with said speakers:

https://youtu.be/0V5nZWWHh48

Today I’m smiling about this latest, 2nd pair of them that I bought (for $377 pr. last month on sale!) but, for whatever reasons, it’s taken about 3 weeks more toil, hair-pulling, and research to get them dialed in nicely than this above video-review would suggest.  I am finally at the point of replacing the gratuitously thin speaker wire currently on this system with a $75-$100ish pair and calling it a success but…….whew!

The volume at listening position is very good, lowrider57…..Not only is it too loud for my tastes before the dial is at 11 o clock, but low level sound is as good as with any system I’ve owned.  
As per your description, I’m interpreting this canopy as something that could be affixed to the underside of the storage loft as a faux ceiling of sorts above the speakers??  Does stapled-up acoustic ceiling tile seem like it might be a similar option?  I’d also thought of experimenting with paperless fiberglass insulation held in place w/chicken wire as the underside of the loft is very much like an uninsulated wall space albeit with varied widths between the beams.  Definitely sounds interesting…

…”What is your source?”…

Streaming Tidal from my iPhone to an Apple Airport Express which is now connected via Ethernet cable to an eero mesh network (was previously all WiFi using the Express with an old Apple Extreme router in the previous sound system).  This never was overly bright before but the mesh WiFi setup is a new addition.  I have a Node 2i in the main house system I should probably incorporate into this second system just for comparison.

Update:  Seems like there is a definite break-in period with these speakers — more so than some others I’ve used although my experiences here are probably not as extensive as a lot of audiophiles who are accustomed to swapping out speakers at the drop of a hat.  I’d been listening to this system for a couple more weeks and, very subtly and gradually, I began to have second thoughts about adding additional room treatment.  Yesterday, I caught myself pondering a very small boost to the treble on the NAD on certain songs. This morning, I took off the felt-padded grille covers and the system sounds wonderful with 95% of the music I’m playing.  It’s certainly unforgiving of recordings with unnatural forwardness but it’s a far cry from being the “ice pick to the ears” it was when I made the original post here.  Thought this might be useful info for the collective knowledge base regarding this speakers/amp combo…