Room acoustics and my elecotrstatic loudspeakers

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
Hi, sorry if I put this topic in the wrong subforum.


Recently I moved in with my girlfriend. After years of building and fine-tuning my audio system, which consists of one pair of "full range" electrostatic loudspeakers (they are not really full rage, but still quite good in my own perception), I disassabled my stats and re-assambled them in their new home.


Unfortunately it turned out that the sound was much worse than in my previous home. My previous home had carpet whereas the new home has hard-wood floor. The old home had dimensions of 4x5 meters whereas the new home has a smaller room. (narrower) with a cavity.



My girlfriend uses small bookshelf speakers. My stats sounded much less "three dimensional", less spacious, more flat and more aggresive in the highs. Even bass seemed less present. After trying different setups my MiniDSP 2x4 HD, which I use for equalizing the stat panels, stopped working. (usb connection constantly disconnected)


So I feel a bit depressed as my audio hobby is an important part of my life. Right now I'm brainstorming what I could do to improve things. Should I stop using my stats allthogether and start using them again when I get a bigger house? Or would room treatment make considerable improvements?


My stats measure 40cm widht x 120 cm height. Te diaphragm measures 18 cm width and 100 cm height. I put the stats about 70 cm from a bookcase and about 2,5 cm from listening position. I will see if I can get a plan of the house but I guess the distance from wall to wall is about 4 meters for one directon. The other direction is I guess 7 to 8 meters but thinks like a piano and table make it difficult to put the stats in a good spot.


My question is: are stats an option at all or should I temporarily use different (smaller, non-dipole) loudspeakers? Are there any good room treatments like using a throw carpet in front of the stats? Or adding curtains behind the stats?
 
Naturally, your "adaptation level" will adjust to the new surroundings sound and your mind will come to "understand" the room better. I'd say on a scale of a few days.

Among the most atrocious sounds in my listening career were a friend's Martin Logans in a large house with few but hard furnishings anywhere. But the highs were razor sharp.

Majority of home photos at DIYaudio show rooms that are probably as atrocious.

The nice thing about room sounds is that they bounce a lot before getting to your ears. Which means you can stuff absorbents most anywhere in the room and under the sofa and they'll help.* But best in the right places.

And best with the right materials. But there are many things that absorb pretty good, except for low freq where nothing absorbs well except for Tectum and drywall and bulky traps. Not hard to learn the rules, like hanging hangings a few inches off the wall.

And apropos your DSP thread, I can not imagine ever living without the magic powers that DSP provides, at least when I am listening for pleasure.

B.
*that's also good news for combatting traffic noise coming into your home
 
Last edited:
You can make it work

You can definitely make it work with some room treatments and DSP.

I have a particularly tricky room for my ESL's and it has required a lot of tweaking to get it to sound good to my ears. A throw carpet helped. Accoustic wall panels helped. Adjusting the toe-in on my speakers helped. And yes, DSP/EQ helped, but only with a lot of tweaking.

Your MiniDSP 2x4HD is good enough that you should be able to apply room EQ effectively. Unfortunately it is difficult to take advantage of the FIR filters without purchasing the Dirac Live upgrade (maybe you should consider it?). I have had some luck with rePhase though it really isn't meant for room correction.
 
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.