How do I build the best room

Kevin; I have a room about the same size as yours 23 X 16.6 X 7.6 and you will need treatment. I would think at this point you have not built the room yet so you can build the treatments in to the walls. I think you need at the least bass traps in each corner and first reflection points . This can all be built in to the walls in the construction stage they could be covered with fabric and blend in to the walls and look nice. I would say bass traps in each corner will make a huge difference and I would try and include bass traps big thick traps in each corner . Will some of the walls be built next to a concrete foundation wall and some free standing then the more you need big thick bass traps . The room has such a huge effect on the sound and you have a chance to build it right and build it in to look nice so do not under estimate the importance of sound treatment you will love it after it is done. There is lots of info here and on audio asylum and the Rives site . Marc

Google “acoustic room designs" and you will find a plethora of sites. Also, find a source for Owens Corning 705 rigid fiberglass - one of the most recommended and best materials for acoustic treatment. One of the most important things you can begin with is to install a dedicated 20-amp line (from your service panel directly to a high-quality outlet (at least hospital grade). Utilize a good "Romex" type 12-gauge wire. Read up on "corners" and in room bass loading. As you probably are aware, distance from the sidewalls is especially critical when placing speakers. If possible, you should design the room so that the system is set up along the long wall. There are some great pictures of dedicated rooms (including the construction process) on this site. You're lucky to have a space for a dedicated room. Good luck, and keep us all posted on your progress

I have a question about the first reflection point. I've been doing some research in preparation to build my own room from scratch. I had one of those "light-bulb" moment this morning while I was on a flight to Denver.

My room will be 14 ft (w) x 23.3 (l) x 10 ft (h). I have lay out the room per the speaker manufacturer's recommendation where my speakers will be about 6 ft into the room. And I've placed my couch about 8 ft from the back wall. With this information, I was able to determine the first reflection point and was planning to install some skyline diffusers. But what if I change speakers, or if placing the speaker closer to wall sound better? Or if I decided to move the couch closer to the backwall? All those things will change the location of the first reflection point, correct? So maybe rather than installing the diffusers to the wall, maybe I should place them on a rack where I can move them around?

Be20, I will share with you all the information I've collected so far when I get back home later this week.

FrankC

Hi Kevin,

It's great that you are designing a room from scratch! If you use dipoles, you may want to consider diffusion behind them. I've spent a good amount of time with dipoles in a room 14.5x18x11 (slanted ceiling from 8 to 14 feet), and you will need treatment. Maggies and other dipoles don't have a lot of side reflection, but plan to bring them out into the room a decent distance (e.g. 5 feet). Even more specifically, I'm writing about your choice of Maggie 20.1's. They are absolutely great speakers... a very natural sound. I've had them in my room. I've upgraded them with Mye stands, biamping with an excellent custom Xover, quite a few different amps... and my overall opinion is that your room may be too small for the 20.1's. They really need some room to breath. And while I found them to be more dynamic and spunky than my Quad 988's, they never really reached their potential in my room. I've finally gone over (back) to the other side of conventional (cone) speakers and am using Avalon Indras, which I am enjoying immensely. Do remember, it takes a lot to get the most out of Maggie 20.1's. Perhaps you might want to entertain the idea of a pair of Emerald Physics - which may fit the scale better. In any case, good luck and let us know how it goes.

Per Peter's input, IMHO the room size you are proposing may be too small for Maggie 20.1's. I listened over a few visits and various permutations of room treatments, mods and amplification while Peter did everything he described to make them work in his room. They sounded superb overall, yet they always felt like they needed more room to breath. The soundstage could never really open up in that space so the illusion was lacking in that way. It was there in spades in other ways. I'm sure they are capable of more, but I believe the room size was the real limiting factor there.