Any help for an old ex audiophile who now has a room to call his own?

[DancingPriest]

Hi Good Folks,

Long time, no speak. I pretty much disappeared ten years ago after I moved into a new house with a new lady, neither of which were willing to play nice with speaker placement.

As they say, "And this too shall change".

I now have, or will have once I get the upstairs office set up for Lovely Wife, a room to call my own. So, I'm back baby!

The room I believe, is a good starting point, if not on the square side.

I was wondering if any of you good folks would be willing to have a look and a thought on room treatment for the space. Ideally not particularly expensive ideas, as there is an avocado bathroom suite and an oxblood bathroom suite among other things which SWIMBO would understandably like to be replaced post haste.

The measurements are 4.10mx4.00m, with bookshelves 0.50m deep lining the 4.00m long walls. There are two layers of wool carpet on the floor.

Pictures (hopefully) in the link below.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Apart from the bookcases, everything else can be moved around.

Any, and all thoughts are appreciated.

It's nice to be back.

[Fran]

Your room is pretty much square, and I suppose conventional wisdom would say that you might benefit from having the books behind you as a diffuser. Then where you plan to sit, where you might put a rack/stands for you speakers and where sockets are all practical things you have to consider. Putting the books at your back means you will sit a bit closer to your speakers for example.

I think if it was my room, I might work those bits out first and listen for a bit and then experiment by moving things around a bit but I ain't no expert!

[hudo]

Think you will get a strong room modes around 41-43hz (for 4m and 4.1m lengths). Room simulator in REW shows a big peak/dip if you're sitting closer to the room center, but pushing speaker around 0.5m from the wall, and sitting close to the back wall, shows a bit more flat response. But, didn't find this room simulator too accurate in my case (4x5m), expect those room modes, they will be there, so its maybe good to work with them and not against them! Meaning, get speakers that start roll off in the bass region much higher, around 55-60hz for -3db, and to be -6 to -9db at 40-45hz, then room will boost that part.
Second concert is a dip around 70-80hz, SBIR (https://gikacoustics.net/speaker-bounda ... onse-sbir/), to fix that you'll maybe have to treat the wall behind the speaker...

Screenshot 2024-10-17 112814.png (227.29 KiB) Viewed 1905 times

[DancingPriest]

Oh my. This is thought provoking.

And this is why I came back.

It's only fair that I pick up a umik and run a test on REW before asking for advice. More data is needed for a nuanced opinion.

I shall report back, most likely with questions about REW rather than data.

[Diapason]

Here's an opinion: don't fall into the trap of trying to fix everything on a frequency response graph. As somebody who filled a room with absorption panels to try to tame horrendous peaks and nulls, trust me when I say you can just suck the life out of everything and find you're chasing your tail. Yes the room probably has the biggest effect on the sound, but you might also find it's better than you expect when you get listening.

Either way, good luck and happy listening!

[DancingPriest]

So, Just for the craic...

I've ordered a umik1 and a pair of knockdown Overnight Sensations.

Here's to amateur science.

[hudo]

What Diapason said; be careful with treatment:) At least 50% of things can be fixed only by repositioning speakers and listening position. Its easy to fall in trap of trying to fix too much; for response below ~200hz you can't do much, and companies like Gik Acoustics will try to sell you all they can! With umik you'll be able to measure decay time (RT60), so keep it in 300-500ms range and flat. I am at ~300ms, and thats on the lower boundary to be too dead sounding, a studio, and Gik would sell me even more panel if I allowed them:) Btw I contacted them, gave them room photos, dimensions and Rew measurement files, and they sent me nice description what to do and why, so they are ok for advices (and also affordable panels). I had an empty room so had to buy treatment, but furniture can used as well for almost the same effect!

[DancingPriest]

There's no fear that my wallet will let me go overboard.

My curiosity was piqued during the move out of our cottage. The day after we moved the back wall of books from the old office, it sounded noticeably terrible.

This current room feels noticeably still.

[Rocker]

This *might* be worth considering and as it costs nothing but some of your time:

Position your listening room chair in one corner facing the opposite corner. Position the speakers alongside the two walls from the opposite corner where your listening chair is sited. Move them back and forward including speaker toe in also move the seat more into the room, these experiments might counter the standing waves problem in a square room.

Welcome back and good luck

[Diapason]

I always wanted to try that in a square-ish room. Definitely worth a go.