Taming a beast - speaker placement and room treatments

AVForums

Help Support AVForums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

xenithon

AVForums Super Veteran
*
Joined
Jan 13, 2008
Messages
1,303
Reaction score
65
Hi all. After 15 years in headphones, I want to delve back into speakers. I do not have a dedicated room so have to make do and try tweak it. I am auditioning a set of Sonor Claro 6.2's; and have run into issues in my space. Suspect too that most speakers would be problematic in the (untreated) room, ones with rear-firing ports even more so.

Below a rough layout. It is an open-plan L shaped room. Thick conrete/brick walls and ceilings, ceramic tiles. In other words, a lot of reflective surfaces. In the short part of the L is the listening area. Around 4m across, 3.5m to couch with another similar distance behind the listening position. The conversation area will eventually have a small couch and some occassional chairs, with a rug. But it is bare at the moment.

Bear in mind that have heard what these speakers can do in a dedicated room and was extremely impressed; using the exact same equipment: source, amp, cables, et al.

lBFQhyq.jpg


Speaker baffles are about 2m apart and each about 2m from listening position. They're approx. 50cm from side walls and 35-40cm from rear (this after spending the weekend moving them around for best imaging).

The issues being experienced:
- brightness. I listen to a lot of female vocal and they can be piercing. Sounds like it could be ringing / refelctions
- uneven bass. Deep bass is quite good, though a little echoey. Massive suckout in the midbass - so deep, acoustic or electronic bass is rendered ok but drums for example are totally anaemic and have no kick to them where they should
- midrange a little muddled. Not too serious, sounds like some flutter echo

Having said that, what it is getting right is:
- imaging. Insanely good, on a very wide soundstage far wider than the speakers / room suggest.
- separation. Also very good; instruments and voices and other bits and pieces very well delineated; giving a very good sense of spatial cues
- liveliness. Also perceived as dynamics. Probably a bit too much so, but music really jumps out at you even at moderate listening volumes.

Any suggestions on what to try? From both a placement and possible treatments?

At the moment I am thinking absorptive panels on the wall where the stairs lead up (bare, solid concrete wall); some acoustic lining to the blind on the other side, and bass traps in the corners - to try and absorb some wave which may be causing cancellation and the midbass suckout.

Also, would it be easier to integrate smaller (i.e., standmount) speakers in that space for pure near-field listening?

Cheers
X
 
Top