I have a small carpeted listening room, 10’ by 12’ with 8’ ceiling, and recently changed the position of my speakers. These are the late Jeff Bagby designed Piccolos with an SB Acoustics SB15NRX30-08 5” midwoofer and SB29RDCN-004 ring tweeter. I built these sealed rather than ported, so the bass is somewhat limited.
Initially the speakers were about 3’ out from the front wall and about 6’ apart. They sounded great and had excellent stereo imaging. But I just didn’t like them sitting so far out into the small room. It annoyed me visually so I moved them back against the front wall. Needless to say the sound changed dramatically. They now boom a lot more bass and don’t have nearly the stereo effect that was there before.
The other change is a small 3’ foot high by 2’ wide equipment cabinet has been move to the front wall directly in-between the speakers. Before that there was nothing between the speakers. Just open wall.
I don’t want to move the speakers back out into the room again. So now the challenge is how to get them to sound the best possible and improve the imaging even with the compromises against the front wall.
Does that mean just electronic compensation to de-emphasis the bass or are there some other things to consider as well? Any suggestions are welcome.
Initially the speakers were about 3’ out from the front wall and about 6’ apart. They sounded great and had excellent stereo imaging. But I just didn’t like them sitting so far out into the small room. It annoyed me visually so I moved them back against the front wall. Needless to say the sound changed dramatically. They now boom a lot more bass and don’t have nearly the stereo effect that was there before.
The other change is a small 3’ foot high by 2’ wide equipment cabinet has been move to the front wall directly in-between the speakers. Before that there was nothing between the speakers. Just open wall.
I don’t want to move the speakers back out into the room again. So now the challenge is how to get them to sound the best possible and improve the imaging even with the compromises against the front wall.
Does that mean just electronic compensation to de-emphasis the bass or are there some other things to consider as well? Any suggestions are welcome.
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I think some more details would help:
There are only few ways to increase the direct sound. One is to move nearer (distance is according to baffle size) or make the baffle larger so that anywhere within the room would still be 'nearfield'. Is it possible for you to come up with any measurements at your LP say, using a capsule mic / computer sound card ? Also, is it possible to make a simple drawing of the front wall, to give an idea of the kind of spacings between things ?
- Does the equipment cabinet between the speakers have hard surfaced doors or is it always open (with TV etc.) ?
- Are the speakers still 6' apart (as before) and which is the front wall the 12' or the 10' one ?
- Are the speakers at the junction between the floor and the wall ?
There are only few ways to increase the direct sound. One is to move nearer (distance is according to baffle size) or make the baffle larger so that anywhere within the room would still be 'nearfield'. Is it possible for you to come up with any measurements at your LP say, using a capsule mic / computer sound card ? Also, is it possible to make a simple drawing of the front wall, to give an idea of the kind of spacings between things ?
With the drivers hard against a wall it's half space with reflections based on its depth plus in theory need to orient them at the room's odd harmonics in both planes, though often have to move them around to be partially in both odd and even to acoustically do some frequency response shaping, so use a room mode calculator to get the info to make a 2D grid to at least get you close enough to fine tune and note that the one's ear's ideally need to either be at the extreme other end or odd harmonic away as well as at the same height as the speaker or at another odd harmonic vertically.
Note too that sometimes significant damping is required on the speaker sides and/or at the top/bottom such as a rolled up bath towel or thick open cell foam pad 'absorber'.
That said, best overall IME is corner loading at the ceiling angled down and toe'd in,. EQ'd to 'taste'.
Note too that sometimes significant damping is required on the speaker sides and/or at the top/bottom such as a rolled up bath towel or thick open cell foam pad 'absorber'.
That said, best overall IME is corner loading at the ceiling angled down and toe'd in,. EQ'd to 'taste'.
Some absorption panels between the speakers/stands and the wall will help a bit. A simple frame 18"W x speaker height +6" with 1-2" thick foam, Sonic Barrier, fiberglass, or rockwool.
Thanks to all for the various suggestions.
I've just realized another major factor in all of this. I've been listening recently only late at night and have reduced the loudness significantly in order to not disturb my wife. As a result the high end has dropped off quite a bit more than the low end and that is why I'm perceiving the increase in bass. If I turn the loudness up to typical daytime listening levels then things even out quite well. So I can probably handle any bass compensation issues with just the tone controls.
The main problem remaining, however, is the big difference in imaging. With the speakers out in the room I had a nice size sound field between the speakers and there was good depth as well. I could hear orchestra instruments in different places and opera singers moving around to different positions on the stage. Now everything seems to be just coming out of the front of the equipment cabinet. The size of the sound field has shrunk and is quite small compared to what it had been before.
I think the next step is to try moving the speakers closer together and see what that does to increase size of the sound field.
Moving the speakers back out into the room is not under consideration. They need to stay against the front wall and I'll have to just accept whatever compromises in sound comes with it that way.
I've just realized another major factor in all of this. I've been listening recently only late at night and have reduced the loudness significantly in order to not disturb my wife. As a result the high end has dropped off quite a bit more than the low end and that is why I'm perceiving the increase in bass. If I turn the loudness up to typical daytime listening levels then things even out quite well. So I can probably handle any bass compensation issues with just the tone controls.
The main problem remaining, however, is the big difference in imaging. With the speakers out in the room I had a nice size sound field between the speakers and there was good depth as well. I could hear orchestra instruments in different places and opera singers moving around to different positions on the stage. Now everything seems to be just coming out of the front of the equipment cabinet. The size of the sound field has shrunk and is quite small compared to what it had been before.
I think the next step is to try moving the speakers closer together and see what that does to increase size of the sound field.
Moving the speakers back out into the room is not under consideration. They need to stay against the front wall and I'll have to just accept whatever compromises in sound comes with it that way.