stratocaster Posted November 19, 2022 Share Posted November 19, 2022 (edited) We replaced the entire flooring in our house with the listening room getting the engineered hardwood. I plugged the system back together and put some tunes and regardless of the source it sounds worse than my small Marshall Woburn Bluetooth speaker. Just way too reflective and John Bonham’s drums sound like Santan’s bongo’s.. Am going to continue troubleshooting with different cables but any thoughts/suggestions are welcome. Was looking forward to 9 days of musical bliss during the Thanksgiving break but it doesn’t look like it’s possible… Am attaching a picture for reference….. Edited November 19, 2022 by stratocaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stringreen Posted November 19, 2022 Share Posted November 19, 2022 boy do I doubt its the cables... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GdnrBob Posted November 19, 2022 Share Posted November 19, 2022 My 2 cents: Add some area rugs, and hang some rugs/textiles on the walls. As it occurred after installing the flooring, I bet you have way too much reflectivity. Bob 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKDad Posted November 19, 2022 Share Posted November 19, 2022 You might also consider moving the speakers away from the side walls some, like swapping positions with the lamps. if that is possible, of course… 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ipspam Posted November 19, 2022 Share Posted November 19, 2022 Since you have 9 days, presumably without others, it's time to go back to basics. Try bringing the speakers out from the back wall a few feet, and center the drivers 1/5th of the room width out from the side wall. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GdnrBob Posted November 19, 2022 Share Posted November 19, 2022 To clarify, I am suggesting putting up rugs/blankets as a temporary fix, and also to see if it rectifies the issue. In my experience, a room with lots of 'stuff' is better than a bare bones one. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Vandersteen Posted November 19, 2022 Share Posted November 19, 2022 3 hours ago, stratocaster said: We replaced the entire flooring in our house with the listening room getting the engineered hardwood. I plugged the system back together and put some tunes and regardless of the source it sounds worse than my small Marshall Woburn Bluetooth speaker. Just way too reflective and John Bonham’s drums sound like Santan’s bongo’s.. Am going to continue troubleshooting with different cables but any thoughts/suggestions are welcome. Was looking forward to 9 days of musical bliss during the Thanksgiving break but it doesn’t look like it’s possible… Am attaching a picture for reference….. You have to put something on the floor to stop floor/ceiling bounce! You have the midrange close to the side walls also, so no amount of equipment change is going to fix your echo chamber! Put a rug on the floor and try some more toe-in on the speakers to get more direct energy and suppress the reflective side wall energy. You could make some attractive adsorption panels to put on the side walls. Experiment with some thick towels on the sidewall as suggested in the manual. RV 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratocaster Posted November 19, 2022 Author Share Posted November 19, 2022 27 minutes ago, BKDad said: You might also consider moving the speakers away from the side walls some, like swapping positions with the lamps. if that is possible, of course… That’s possible and next on the list tonight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratocaster Posted November 19, 2022 Author Share Posted November 19, 2022 17 minutes ago, Richard Vandersteen said: You have to put something on the floor to stop floor/ceiling bounce! You have the midrange close to the side walls also, so no amount of equipment change is going to fix your echo chamber! Put a rug on the floor and try some more toe-in on the speakers to get more direct energy and suppress the reflective side wall energy. You could make some attractive adsorption panels to put on the side walls. Experiment with some thick towels on the sidewall as suggested in the manual. RV Thanks Richard. For the moment I disconnected the sub and am moving swapping the speakers with the lamps. I thought keeping the speakers farther apart would sound better but I guess not with the way the room is laid out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratocaster Posted November 19, 2022 Author Share Posted November 19, 2022 28 minutes ago, Ipspam said: Since you have 9 days, presumably without others, it's time to go back to basics. Try bringing the speakers out from the back wall a few feet, and center the drivers 1/5th of the room width out from the side wall. It’s 9 days with the entire family that has been deprived of music due to the flooring project. Have a lot of pressure to get rig rocking since kids and wife have the entire week off😃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctsooner Posted November 20, 2022 Share Posted November 20, 2022 This is why this forum is so good. It's funny, but just reading the OP and not looking at Bob or Richards or BK's responses, they were all 1, 2 and 3 in my own mind, lol. I would take out the sub from the start. Rug first to see what that does. Then toe in to see if that fixes the echo as Richard said and then towels to see if that fixes the rest. Once you dial it all in, then dial in the sub. Which brand of cable are you using? Not that it matters now anyways, just curious. Hope you get these done quickly to start to enjoy your music. I bet you will get this fixed in a few days and be VERY happy. Love the floor btw. A nice rug is what my wife would MAKE me put down as she loves rugs, lol. 🙂. Great luck buddy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmz Posted November 20, 2022 Share Posted November 20, 2022 2 hours ago, BKDad said: You might also consider moving the speakers away from the side walls some, like swapping positions with the lamps. if that is possible, of course… And the sub in the very corner is not a bad option. The lamps could almost be right behind the speakers … not very Feng Shei, but the corners or right behind the speakers is worth a try for both the lamps and the sub. I would move them a foot closer to each other, and another foot out from the back wall. Then see if that helps at all. If so start moving them around from there.. 1 hour ago, GdnrBob said: To clarify, I am suggesting putting up rugs/blankets as a temporary fix, and also to see if it rectifies the issue. In my experience, a room with lots of 'stuff' is better than a bare bones one. B Or a pile of laundry. (I you use the kids clothes then yell at them when they get home to put it away.) It is unclear whether it is side or back wall interaction, or the floor… so Bob’s rugs/blankets on the floor are a definite go. I am not much of a Gardner, but the mrs has a lot of plants hanging in the entry room, and it seems to do a lot. Too many IMO, but I might try and hijack a few to another room. I would probably try the sidewall reflection points. If a blanket helped there, then I would trade it in on a couple of ficus… Or some other plant. A quilter might be looking for quilts. And a bibliophile for a booksh’elf. The lamp should/might help more than nothing in the back and corners. Sort of may need to try both. … Just visually speaking, that is a not a corner speaker… and it is in a corner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratocaster Posted November 20, 2022 Author Share Posted November 20, 2022 Thanks amigos.. got my bass back and the family is more forgiving now with the critique.. still a lot of room for improvement. Have some old panels out but am not sure whether I should hook them behind the speakers. There only one side where I can install the panel. Check image for reference… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmz Posted November 20, 2022 Share Posted November 20, 2022 (edited) 26 minutes ago, stratocaster said: Thanks amigos.. got my bass back and the family is more forgiving now with the critique.. still a lot of room for improvement. Have some old panels out but am not sure whether I should hook them behind the speakers. There only one side where I can install the panel. Check image for reference… … Just nail some picture hooks into the and use the “bob blanket/towel” suggestion. once you find a combo that is a clear winner, then you either need another panel or two or you might be disposing of the one you have… and fill any extra picture holes up with spackle and paint them. And it might be plants on the sides…god only knows. There are a hundred ways to skin a cat. Edited November 20, 2022 by Holmz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomicTime Posted November 20, 2022 Share Posted November 20, 2022 good moves 😉 i am South again….let me know IF you need a hand ! or a helping ear…or just to pour liquid support. Jim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKDad Posted November 20, 2022 Share Posted November 20, 2022 1 hour ago, stratocaster said: Thanks amigos.. got my bass back and the family is more forgiving now with the critique.. still a lot of room for improvement. Have some old panels out but am not sure whether I should hook them behind the speakers. There only one side where I can install the panel. Check image for reference… Actually, I'd think that's the wrong side for a panel. The opening to the right is, well, an opening. No reflection from there until the higher frequency sound waves bounce off whatever is out of the photo on the right. Looks like it might be a staircase or something like that. On the left, you have a larger and more uniform surface. If nothing else, the two sides are not symmetrical. That usually is less than ideal. I'd consider putting a *very nice* blanket over the piano when playing the stereo system. A diffusive something or other might well be better, but I'm stuck at the moment thinking of how to accomplish that. Easy enough to try the blanket, though. Of course, that spiffy floor is an excellent reflector. It's hard to judge distances because of the normal lens distortion, but it looks to me like there's great opportunity for optimizing toe-in as well. Has the tilt already been optimized? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctsooner Posted November 20, 2022 Share Posted November 20, 2022 I'm with BK. I am now throwing quilts over my big screen TV and the sound is so much better. mostly spacial and highs. Depth is amazing and I have an opening in the wall behind the speakers (each speaker has a full wall behind them wiht opening in the middle of the wall. Hard to explain. 🙂. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GdnrBob Posted November 20, 2022 Share Posted November 20, 2022 I would try putting a blanket/rug on the wall behind the system, and see if that changes things. If so, you could get an inexpensive Ikea bookshelf to fill in the area. Nothing like lots of absorptive/reflective books. And, you could also house your album collection near the turntable...😁 If you are near Long Island, I have a bunch of acoustic panels that a nice Audiogoner gave me, and I would give to you for free. Bob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratocaster Posted November 21, 2022 Author Share Posted November 21, 2022 Hi Bob, thanks for the tips and the offer.. I am in San Diego so will have to pass on the panels. I have some panels and objects that can provide diffusion and am going to work on the placement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ipspam Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Looking better. What if you raised that burgundy looking storage/seat between the piano and speaker. To the midrange/tweeter height so it could act as your side wall first reflection breakup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GdnrBob Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 1 hour ago, stratocaster said: . I am in San Diego so will have to pass on the panels. If things go smoothly, I hope to travel to CA this winter. I'll visit my brother in San Diego (Poway) and hopefully have time to visit other members. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmz Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 7 minutes ago, Ipspam said: Looking better. What if you raised that burgundy looking storage/seat between the piano and speaker. To the midrange/tweeter height so it could act as your side wall first reflection breakup Or twisted it slightly. The piano looks like specular reflections would not short towards the listener. On 11/20/2022 at 10:54 AM, stratocaster said: Thanks amigos.. got my bass back and the family is more forgiving now with the critique.. still a lot of room for improvement. Have some old panels out but am not sure whether I should hook them behind the speakers. There only one side where I can install the panel. Check image for reference… Visually it looks a whole lot more like what I would expect. I would still try pulling the speaker towards you a foot, or ~300mm. Or some amount to see if it snaps into a some “magical imaging” local minima/maxima. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratocaster Posted November 24, 2022 Author Share Posted November 24, 2022 Thanks all for all the tips and suggestions. With some placement and positioning combinations I have it back to sounding sublime and without the sub on. I have the speakers 28 inches from the rear wall with significant tilt. I also covered the piano with a tapestry and both these steps have seemed to have tempered the echoing. I an also in the process of installing a couple of Audimute acoustic clouds and putting a rug on the floor by this weekend. Will post pictures once it’s done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratocaster Posted November 24, 2022 Author Share Posted November 24, 2022 On 11/21/2022 at 3:05 PM, GdnrBob said: If things go smoothly, I hope to travel to CA this winter. I'll visit my brother in San Diego (Poway) and hopefully have time to visit other members. B Bob, you said this last year as well but didn’t make it all the way here. Keep us posted… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GdnrBob Posted November 26, 2022 Share Posted November 26, 2022 I know, I know... That stupid covid variant screwed up my plans. This year, I got not only the bivalent Covid vaccine, but the flu vaccine, so, hopefully, I will be exempt from whatever happens, but, who knows? And, I am also at the whim of whatever the airlines decide to charge... Ohh, the Humanities... Bob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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