Tweakers' Asylum

I am still amazed..

75.111.54.216

sanman

At how many folks just plain resist doing acoustic treatments for their audio system. I mean, for a few hundred dollars you can turn a nightmare into a dream! I have a modest living room system that mages like crazy mostly due to treatments and speaker placement.
"When the demon is at your door, in the mornin' it won't be there no more"
Steely Dan

Follow Ups:

RE: I am still amazed.. - stehno 22:14:22 01/07/15 (0)
Funny. I actually go out of my way to demonstrate that acoustic treatments significance is next to nill, if not nill. Unless perhaps the room is extremely unreasonable.

When I exhibited at a few shows in 2011, I intentionally left all the pictures and mirrors in the rooms on the wall and uncovered.

At one show I had the smallest sized room with large full-range speakers at at times played at 100 - 105 db. Besides the very positive comments on the sound itself, the next most common feedback I overheard was these speakers should be overwhelming the room but they're not or these speakers should be boomy but they're not. Never at a single show did one person comment on first reflection issues, poor acoustics, etc.

Think of it this way. Imagine you had a live jazz band playing in your living room at reasonably loud but still enjoyable levels. The last thing on your mind would be acoutically treating the room and you wouldn't think twice about first or second reflections, bass suck outs or humps, etc.

Simply because you are hearing a live band in its entirety including every music note and its complete info. Would they sound better in a recording or concert hall? Sure they would. But they would sound no less live.

Now take a SOTA-level playback system that is reproducing only a small percentage of the entire music info embedded in the recording where the music is boomy, flat, 2-D, lifeless, shouty, and every sharp note is beaming straight for your ear like a laser. Or perhaps I'm ill-equipped to properly set up a room and place the speakers. Perhaps in these circumstances, room treatments and acoustic anomalies become the most important thing. But I wouldn't know nuthin' 'bout that.
RE: I am still amazed.. - Dryginger2 15:23:59 01/07/15 (0)
Personally found that the presence of panels and base traps degraded the aesthetics of my living room and so removed much of the pleasure of listening to music.
After their removal I kept looking for a solution to the first reflection at the French windows pictured here that did not involve drapes obscuring the light and view. A year later, after buying a pair of 40mm Black dots for each of my speakers from Ron Hedrick of Marigo Audio, I asked him if he knew of some miracle solution to the first-reflection challenge presented by my French windows. He promptly suggested two pairs of these adhesive-backed discs for each of the 75" tall x 45" wide French glass windows. While very happy with the difference that his pair of Black Dots on each of my speakers had made to the sound, I was skeptical of the window application. Having nothing to lose thanks to the 30-day MBG, I ordered them.
Sticking the four pairs into their correct position took a little time but there was no break-in time afterwards. The moment the music started I immediately heard a new precision to the location of the instruments and all the notes snapped into sharper focus out of the background. So it is possible to address the first reflection-point without ugliness, shutting out the light or killing the view and I am totally delighted with this solution. You may observe the two pairs of 40mm black Dots on each window in the picture. A link is included below.
DG
- Marigo Audio Ultra Dots (Open in New Window)
Edits: 01/07/15
Here hear! - Awe-d-o-file 06:28:02 01/07/15 (0)
I could not agree more! I see great gear in foul rooms and it sounds like crap. Like you said a few to several hundred dollars which is nothing compared to the many thousands some spend on gear.

And DIY costs even less and is not hard, I did it.

E
T

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