Tír Na HiFi

From memory the Cereballs are expensive for what they are! Not sure if they will be a solution. Here is a link that might help you decide what to do...

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articl ... placement/

I think adjusting what they are sitting on is fine for getting the last few % out of them..... but won't cure your problem. I think they are just in too much free space. If you have the house free to yourself, I would suggest puling them forward, moving the left hand one around the corner so that the wall is behind them, and that cupboard to the right of the other. I think that will give you a bit more of the life back. Now that doesn't solve your overall problem, but at least it would point you in the right direction. Even just moving them forward so they are not "in" the alcove would help I reckon.

JAW wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2023 9:54 pm I have the original spikes and I'll fashion something as a receiver over the weekend. I have a couple of ornamental smooth concrete tiles which may suit. I'll try them over the weekend. If it works, great, if not, it's nothing lost.

Coins will work very well too - just pop 8 one cent coins under each spike . Years ago a guy bought a pair of floor standing AE 109s from me and he rang me a few days later to say (hard ware apart) he couldn't get them to "sing" in his house, he had laminated wooden floors. I suggested the "8 cent upgrade" as I had old wooden floors at the time and actually used large tiles under them. One hour later he rang back and was laughing at how much difference 8 cents made! A bit of toe in or toe out might help as well.

I agree with Fran's assessment, the problem is where the loudspeakers are sited. I think you should try what Fran has suggested, siting them away from free space behind and see what happens. If that works, can you try and reconfigurate the room to make the loudspeakers fit in.

Just wondering would GIK Acoustic Panels do the trick, they have them in all shapes, sizes and colours. There are some that look the same width and height of your loudspeakers, maybe if you placed one behind each speaker. They offer free advice what is best for your room/situation.

https://gikacoustics.net/acoustic-room-planning/

I agree with the fact that the speakers position is the main issue and moving them should be the first option. But considering the family agreement I would also test different listening positions, possibly closer to the speakers: you could find a sweet spot where you can move a chair for "serious" listening sessions.

My two cents

BTW I'm not suggesting that getting proper isolation under the speakers is the only solution... looking at the picture again you do have room to move the left speaker closer to the rack and maybe toe in a bit... the right speaker will be a bit close to the press but again, toe in bit might be ok. There's a lot of trial and error in setting up speakers... good luck!

I would recommend measuring first, its much easier to spot where the problems are exactly.
Recommended cheap-ish and good mic is umik-2 usb, with REW software, and i can it borrow you, if you want!

But just from looking at the photo, can you try to put them around 1/3 of the room depth? They're maybe at the place where it cancels all the lows.
Its a bit difficult with open spaces like that, there are some room simulators (in REW), useful to quickly check if position will cause peaks/cancellations, and then you can work from that.
If speakers have to stay at that position, and there's a strong cancellation of lows, think its the best to compensate that with one or few subs.

Thanks for all the advice and sorry about the slow reply, I was away last week. Anyway, the advice opened up new avenues of investigation and shed some light on what's doable on both a practical and domestically acceptable level and what isn't. The two things that I tried were

1) Spikes and coins - the imaging was a lot tighter with the spikes and coins, and the "immediacy" of the speakers was marginally improved. The bass stayed a little wooly and didn't sound as musical as I remember in the previous house. Overall the gains were good and the spikes and coins will stay.

2) Positioning - (All of these done with spikes and coins). Moving the speakers around the corners and experimenting with distance to the back wall brought benefits. With the back of the speakers about 18 inches from the back wall and toed in everything about the sound improved. I was being drawn into the music again, not just listening to something going on. Imaging was precise, the bass less floppy and mid and treble sharp and precise. However, short of moving the speakers for every listening session, this positioning is a non starter.
After that, I tried various positions within the room. The best results came with the speakers about a third of the way into the room and toed in slightly. In this position the sweet spot was slightly in front of the listener but the imaging was crystal clear. Moving the sweet spot to the couch lost a little bit of imaging.
Where do I go from here? I'm going to look at REW and contact Hudo. Some domestic diplomacy may bring dividends, but as mentioned maybe a sub and a couple of satellite speakers might be the answer.
Anyway, thanks again for the help.

it's all progress. Speakers of all aspects of a system take time to get right. It ain't over 'til it's over!