Amen to the room!
Rives is a proven name in this end of the business with a good track record. Additionally, a regular valuable voice here in the forum and a contributor to AudiogoN.
Another very good resource is Terry Montlick [www.softwaredesign.com] who also contributes in several audio and HT forums.
I hired Terry a while back because he is so darned affordable and he would work with me and my DIY approach [he doesnt sell any hard acoustic products, just his consulting services]. He had me do my own impulse recordings and submit them to him via email as well as other important room information. I got back a six page detailed report as well as several long and very informative telephone calls and emails that outlined and prioritized my issues, and most importantly, how to effectively and affordably resolve them. It turns out my room isn't half bad [thank goodness!]. I simply need to remove some treatments and add some diffusion to the wall behind my seat.
Up to this point I had spent a huge amount of time [in years] researching acoustics and making my own treatments. I was planning on a pretty extensive effort to take my room to the next level...so I thought. What Rives and Montlick bring to the table is a more quantitative approach that makes all of this less of a black-art and more of a science.
I strongly suggest that anyone who wants to make sure their room is sorted out that they hire a true expert in the field with proven track records such as Rives or Montlick. In the end, Terry saved me a lot of money and contributed much to my understanding of acoustics. But most importantly, he saved me an untold amount of valuable time and effort. Now, if I can just get off my duff and finish the few simple things he told me to do.
A note on the rooms contribution to sound. One way to easily test this is to take a radio and play it at a nice volume in any room of your home. Now, without adjusting the volume, take it outside, far from any building and play it at the very same volume setting. It is amazing how quiet it is when it's outside.
Rives is a proven name in this end of the business with a good track record. Additionally, a regular valuable voice here in the forum and a contributor to AudiogoN.
Another very good resource is Terry Montlick [www.softwaredesign.com] who also contributes in several audio and HT forums.
I hired Terry a while back because he is so darned affordable and he would work with me and my DIY approach [he doesnt sell any hard acoustic products, just his consulting services]. He had me do my own impulse recordings and submit them to him via email as well as other important room information. I got back a six page detailed report as well as several long and very informative telephone calls and emails that outlined and prioritized my issues, and most importantly, how to effectively and affordably resolve them. It turns out my room isn't half bad [thank goodness!]. I simply need to remove some treatments and add some diffusion to the wall behind my seat.
Up to this point I had spent a huge amount of time [in years] researching acoustics and making my own treatments. I was planning on a pretty extensive effort to take my room to the next level...so I thought. What Rives and Montlick bring to the table is a more quantitative approach that makes all of this less of a black-art and more of a science.
I strongly suggest that anyone who wants to make sure their room is sorted out that they hire a true expert in the field with proven track records such as Rives or Montlick. In the end, Terry saved me a lot of money and contributed much to my understanding of acoustics. But most importantly, he saved me an untold amount of valuable time and effort. Now, if I can just get off my duff and finish the few simple things he told me to do.
A note on the rooms contribution to sound. One way to easily test this is to take a radio and play it at a nice volume in any room of your home. Now, without adjusting the volume, take it outside, far from any building and play it at the very same volume setting. It is amazing how quiet it is when it's outside.