Isaac vs. the room

Discussion in 'Hi-Fi and General Audio' started by I-S, Mar 30, 2004.

  1. I-S

    I-S Good Evening.... Infidel

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2003
    Messages:
    4,842
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    In a world of pain
    Room interactions and tuning and so on get some attention, but here's my story, and also some comments.

    First comment is that I never had any significant room problems in the past. It was getting the S300 that made them really apparent. I know some of why this happened (the design of the meadowlarks was heavily affected but my previous DM602s weren't so much, but with the previous rotel amp the room interaction masked some of the brightness which made for a reasonable balance).

    The effects I was dealing with were a real heaviness in the sound, and lumpy, ill-timed bass. I knew that the floor was having an effect (I could feel it. It's a large chipboard floor in an upstairs room), but I thought that was all I was dealing with.

    However, moving the speakers around within the space I could move them helped somewhat, and I found that moving them further into the room helped remove the heaviness. However, moving them closer to the back wall and partially blocking the transmission line outlet helped tighten up the bass.

    So, I rearranged the room, allowing the speakers to move in from the side walls, and the heaviness went away. The bass problems remained, even once I had the distance from the back wall tuned to give the right level of bass output.

    Today I made some progress on the bass issue though. New plinths for the speakers (copies of the Larc audio ones... mine are 30mm thick granite, 400mmx500mm with three alu cones on the underside) have replaced my old attempts with random offcuts of paving slab . These have helped quite a lot.

    Thankfully, the room is no longer in control!
     
    I-S, Mar 30, 2004
    #1
  2. I-S

    Goomer

    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2003
    Messages:
    598
    Likes Received:
    0
    Nice one, Isaac - pleased you've managed to improve things, as I know how annoying rooms can be, or at least annoying when you've spent hard-earned on good quality boxes only to have your hard work undermined by alcoves, windows and the like.

    I've recently moved house and have been trying to get a proper balance from my sytem in the new room it's in, and have now given up on the previous (ported) speakers entirely, buying some sealed units instead. This has helped no end.

    Just out of curiosity, what ways of floor coupling did you try before the slabs under your speakers - did you try the screws/2p and blutak stuff first and what effects did it have?

    Anyway - enjoy the system and, if you're as lucky as we are here in Norwich, the sunshine too.

    Goomer.
     
    Goomer, Mar 31, 2004
    #2
  3. I-S

    Ultrasonic Bo selecta!!

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2003
    Messages:
    183
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Norwich city
    Bass humps caused by room resonants are a real pain in the arse. Funny that you mention that your B&W 602s2 wernt affected as much coz that is true with my previous speakers, the 602 s3, the M53's took ALOT more repositioning to cancel out the bass hump at the expense of a narrower soundstage which is my only option as my room is quite small.

    Yes it is rather sunny in Norwich isnt it Goomer, not very warm though! I was walkin around in a T shirt today, poked peoples eyes out with my nipples:D

    Ultra:D
     
    Ultrasonic, Mar 31, 2004
    #3
  4. I-S

    I-S Good Evening.... Infidel

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2003
    Messages:
    4,842
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    In a world of pain
    After a bit more tweaking around, I've improved things a little more. Like I said, the room isn't in control anymore, but the effects aren't completely absent either.

    The new granite plinths for the speakers have allowed much greater "thwack" (not quite WM class, but not bad) and much more texture in the bass. It's not being swallowed and distributed by the floor as much now.

    I've been playing lots and lots of music over the past few days as it's coming together so much more enjoyably now. Thoughts of upgrades rapidly being pushed back in favour of just listening. :)
     
    I-S, Mar 31, 2004
    #4
  5. I-S

    sideshowbob Trisha

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    3,092
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    London
    Don't worry, you'll get over it...

    -- Ian
     
    sideshowbob, Mar 31, 2004
    #5
  6. I-S

    wadia-miester Mighty Rearranger

    Joined:
    Jun 19, 2003
    Messages:
    6,026
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Beyond the 4th Dimension
    In the same way Ian will get over his box aquistion programme
     
    wadia-miester, Mar 31, 2004
    #6
Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments (here). After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.