A real room quandry...

[antipop]

What about some active treatment ? Would that work well when passive options are limited as is the case here ?

I'm playing with a Behringer 2496, using it only in digital (ie no AD/DA conversion) and it seems to help though I'm still exploring. I guess for the price, it doesn't really hurt to try

[bzr]

You could also hang some drapes that would fold all the way back to be tied when not needed in between the rooms, this has helped greatly for me in the past in a likewise situation.

[rlw3]

Have you considered moving your speakers to the wall to their left so that speakers are pointed towards your kitchen nook area? Can sound panels be moved into place then put in a closet when not in use-only practical for few but longer listening sessions? Wish more houses had discrete rectangular rooms.

[Alonski]

Great pictures! The best wall you have in this amazing open plan home of yours is the fireplace wall. To help your speakers pressurize your listening area with music that you can feel as well as hear, I would have them flanking the fireplace with your electronics against the wall to the right. You have lots of room, so experiment with the speakers at different distances from the brick wall and position your listening couch in the sweet spot. With some acoustic room treatment hanging on the wall to the right of your fireplace (or a nice hanging tapestry) you'll be able to dampen the first reflections and do wonders for your system's musicality and soundstage.

What kind of speakers are those?

[Clarifixer]

Originally Posted by Alonski

Great pictures! The best wall you have in this amazing open plan home of yours is the fireplace wall. To help your speakers pressurize your listening area with music that you can feel as well as hear, I would have them flanking the fireplace with your electronics against the wall to the right. You have lots of room, so experiment with the speakers at different distances from the brick wall and position your listening couch in the sweet spot. With some acoustic room treatment hanging on the wall to the right of your fireplace (or a nice hanging tapestry) you'll be able to dampen the first reflections and do wonders for your system's musicality and soundstage.

What kind of speakers are those?

Egad, more good ideas. In addition to the search for tonal nirvana within the limits of my system, the arrangement of speakers and listening seating will have to pass the Feng Shui sensibilities and concepts of flow as dictated by my dear wife. Hopefully they will be compatible!

I will try both the fireplace wall and the present chair/cabinet wall as speaker backdrops, and see which one sounds best.

I think you have all convinced me that the windowed room, while lovely, is jut not the sonic answer.

The speakers are Snell C/IV's of mid 90's vintage. Certainly on the list for updating, but very satisfying if you don't dissect every nuance, and what I could afford at the time.

[mgbaron]

Curious what you wound up with. My room is not too unlike your fireplace room (hallway on one side, instead of a fireplace a giant bay window in my case).

[Clarifixer]

A lot has happened since the first post on this in February. I've acquired a few new components ("OH?" says the group knowingly in unison), and have decided that I enjoy the serenity of looking out all those windows while listening, even if it's not as good acoustically.

However, I have a new idea: using a corner as the location for the system. I never see pictures of systems in corners, always against walls. Maybe there's a good reason for that.... I'm sure the reflections are very different, but with the configuration I am considering, at least the speakers are on similar wall lengths rather than with a reflecting wall on one side and an open space on the other. I realize it will most likely take some *unobtrusive* room tweaks as well.

If anyone has had practical experience with the possible sound of this configuration, I'd like to hear about it, and opinions are also welcome.

Here's a minimalist drawing of what I have in mind. Below that is a copy of a picture submitted earlier that looks directly into the corner I am thinking about.




So, what do you folks think?

[GaryProtein]

That corner arrangement works, but do you have your chair positioned about 8 feet from the speakers?

Isn't that kind of close?

[Clarifixer]

Originally Posted by GaryProtein

That corner arrangement works, but do you have your chair positioned about 8 feet from the speakers?

Isn't that kind of close?

I'm not sure about the pictured chair position--I did the drawing in AppleWorks without any dimensions available and just eyeballed it. Presently the speakers are a few inches under 8 feet apart center-to-center and the listening chair sweet spot is with my head position about 8-1/2 feet from the speaker plane and centered between the speakers.

Since I upgraded components, I am listening at lower levels and hearing more because of the sound quality, so I try to sit in a relative equilateral triangle with the speakers and set the level accordingly--Mahler is still played loud!

When you say it works, have you heard a system like that? I have done some searching on the 'Net but can't seem to find any info on it.

[mgbaron]

There is a chapter in Jim Smith's "Get Better Sound" about corner setup. Long story short - he says it can work very well. He was a long time skeptic of the setup until a particular setup he was doing for a show that he just couldn't get to click. Someone nearby suggested he try the corner. Since he couldn't think of anything else, he tried the corner, and was able to get it working really well.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend buying the book for this, because I'm not sure there is much more detail than that! My guess would be, with a corner setup, especially with all that glass, you're going to want to do something to treat that corner (maybe a curtain or some big and dense plants), to prevent sound from double echoing and bouncing right back toward you.