I live on a busy street, ~30K cars pass by a day. The builder of this home put up a second layer of drywall to keep sound out? Your guess is as good as mine. I have to admit, you know when you open the door though, it gets loud. For whatever reason they did so, that is the end result.
I’ve been trying to figure out why my system just sounds wrong to me. I hear left and right, but there is no depth.
I have a number of shows where I know where people are standing. I envision closing my eyes and having depth but yet it practice, no love. I have my stereo at a higher volume level than ever, capably pushing reasonable to drive speakers. Yet the SPL level barely hits 51db.
Black Magic woman at 51db. “A quiet office” I apologize Mr. Santana.
My hearing is still just fine, drives my kids nuts.
I think my system has super detailed resolution. Just dimensionally flat.
I’d love some insight. How do I make a room more lively, give it more depth?
I went through this book and associated digital downloads in my living room as well.
If I didn’t improve much it was still a fun exercise and it’s the only DSD I own
I took a moment to do some reading from the url provided by @David_Snyder (thank you) and moved my speakers out from the wall.
I had them at about 2 feet (0.6m), they are now about 4 feet (1.2m) and it opened the stage notably.
It must be some mathematical principal: speakers sound great in that location == speakers in an absolutely abhorrent spot for anyone actually moving through said room.
I’ll read more about the different triangles, do some math and see how long snail mail takes. An actual book, how do I use grep with that?!?
I’m reasonably sure I’m still going to ask.
Any way to replicate this sound and put speakers back somewhere that is convenient?
Haha (re: grep), I understand your impatience. Paul’s book is actually a fairly entertaining read, as books on this topic go. If you really want to shortcut the process, you’re looking at paying Jim Smith a few thousand dollars to fly out and do the work for you.
I know some folks who put their speakers on casters so that they can easily pull them out into the room for serious listening. While there are a few loudspeakers that are designed to be placed closer to the wall, I’ve never heard a pair that produce a soundstage with convincing depth.
Then there is convolution dsp room based corrections. Places like HAF can can create files for this. REW - room eq wizard is something you can play with but need a mic setup for these options like Minidsp umik
I’m going to take the time and do it right. Given what I just spent to wire my home for networking though . . . having Mr Smith out doesn’t sound so ridiculous.
But I learn nothing that way. Now if he lets me be me and ask questions++ then bank it. I have a lot of questions.
I’m using the KEF LS 50 Metas. They sounded much better than what they replaced. but it all just sounds/sounded flat.
Pulling them out helped.
Thank you for the links. I’ll be spending time there.
I bought the mic and stand did the REW setup and sweeps.
I generated the filters applied them . . . all of it.
Understood none of it, but monkey see monkey do.
It worked great inside of roon.
When I played a record, it wasn’t applied. My “ground” floor is 8’ (2.4m) above ground with a cellar. A perfect no for bass. It is unlistenable. Movies even worse.
I applied the built in room correction my amp provides (audyssey), with a large measurable change. I used REW to at least see the before/after changes even if I don’t understand what a room modality is, yet.
Even having done so, it sounds 2 dimensional.
I still do not understand why the SPL reads so low.
50w/channel into speakers with:
Maximum output
106 dB
Amplifier power (recommended)
40-100 W
Nominal impedance
8 Ω (min. 3,5 Ω)
at 60% power measures at:
53.6 db @8 ft (2.4m) distance.
53.6db == quiet office.
For reference, the floor here measures at 27.2db@8ft (2.4m)
Nodal bas nulls (suck out) are basically bottomless pits so don’t try to boost the SPL in there but peaks you can tame normally. A flat response is not always the best sound either. Trust your ears
I’m having the room wired beginning of Dec so I’ll read the PS Audio book until then (already ordered). Once they wire the room I’ll move stuff into their “final” place and redo measurements.
Increasing the volume didn’t change my perceived depth of field. Not a daft question in the least. I just get a headache after about 6 hours listening to rock at that level. Classical and Jazz seem to prefer the louder levels I noted too, so that was a win. Rock I need to just turn down.
The other thing to play with is your seating position. Too close/not close enough to a wall behind often affects what you hear due to reflections.
If you can’t move the chair try hanging a quilt or something thick behind your head as an experiment.
I have to pull my floorstanders out like you said everytime I plan a good listening session.
It can be a nightmare with a large dog and a short stocky dog. They often slide on the rug that is also there to help improve the sound and I think one day they will break either a speaker the TV or both.
But until that day the music sound’s great while the speakers are about 1m away from the wall
I’ve had them pulled out all day doing my usual playing whatever is the feel.
My dog has run into the right stand 2x now. He’s old and partially blind. But small and loses to the stand. They have been packed with kiln dried sand, good luck there little buddy. The nasty look he gives is no less diminished though.
I don’t see him winning the long battle, being pulled out from the wall further really makes a huge difference in sound. I’m looking forward to having a book and the audio to follow to see what learning sounds like.
