Took over a room - needs wall treatments. Suggestions?
07-11-2011, 05:36 PM
#1
Nordschleife Master
Thread Starter
Took over a room - needs wall treatments. Suggestions?
A few years before I met my wife, I had a couple friends start to get me into audio systems. I'd buy their hand-me-downs as they upgraded. I usually had it all wired in with the big-screen since it was just me. Just as I was really getting into it, I moved to Seattle and my "growth" was kind of stunted... (lack of quality used-gear shops, far away from aforementioned audiophile friends, and met/married my wife and thus took on other interests.)
Since getting married, my setup has hardly been used. It's frankly made me a little sad knowing that most of the use it gets is when my 7 year old step son flips it on to watch Scooby Doo. Whenever I'd sit down to actively "listen" I'd either be told to "turn it down" or would find that the speakers got moved around (and as such didn't sound "right" until I messed with it and repositioned everything.) The plan was always to build out a dedicated theater/listening room in the basement like a good friend of mine did (probably $50k buildout, just in audio gear - custom Mark Seton speakers, etc) but seeing as how the basement keeps getting pushed down on the priority list, I started considering just selling my gear as it just wasn't getting used.
So last week as part of her anniversary gift to me, my wife agreed to let me take over the little sitting room in our master bedroom. It's 9'2 x 9'6 so it's small - but it was always just a wasted space before where junk just collected. I moved the audio stuff over into there, picked up a small cheap couch from Ikea, and I'm up and running. It's JUST a listening room.
My "ability" as an audiophile when it came to setting up the room never really stretched beyond basic positioning of the speakers. With such a small space and barren walls there is a strong echo and the system seems to be a lot brighter than before.
Anybody got any good tips or links to sites that cover simple ways to help deaden up a room a little? Would be nice to deaden up the space a little without undertaking any kind of serious construction (such as doubling up on the drywall, etc.) or shelling out $1000 in sound panels. (If I'm going to go that far then I'll just look at building a room in the basement.) I'm willing to fabricate and make panels myself to keep costs down if there are economical materials I can buy that will work.
For those interested, the gear is fairly simple:
PSB Platinum M2 mains (bought used)
PSB Platinum M2 center (bought used)
PSB Image B25 rears (first set I bought new)
Sony DA-3ES as a pre-amp (hand me down)
Denon DVD-2900 player (hand me down)
Emotiva LPA-1 amp (hand me down)
Straightwire Symphony interconnects (hand me down)
Some of the brightness is definitely the equipment - the PSBs are bright to begin with, and adding the Emotiva amp, while it gave the entire range more "oomph" (I think they call it "presence"?) it added even more brightness. I toned some of it down by adding some extra speaker cloth between the tweeter and speaker grill. Ideally I'd get a smoother amp (a Mc would probably work well based on how smooth - too smooth - it made my buddy's DynAudio's sound) but for now, I've got what I've got.
Most everything I listen to is 2-channel (especially now that there is no longer a TV with this setup) and the music itself varies pretty broadly, though I usually prefer to listen to stuff with strong vocal tracks. A little Ana Caram, some Dianna Krall, John Mayer, Sting, and Evanescence (awesome vocals) are probably among the most-listened-to artists in my collection when I want to sit and relax.
Open to any "budget" ideas for room setup!
Thanks!
Since getting married, my setup has hardly been used. It's frankly made me a little sad knowing that most of the use it gets is when my 7 year old step son flips it on to watch Scooby Doo. Whenever I'd sit down to actively "listen" I'd either be told to "turn it down" or would find that the speakers got moved around (and as such didn't sound "right" until I messed with it and repositioned everything.) The plan was always to build out a dedicated theater/listening room in the basement like a good friend of mine did (probably $50k buildout, just in audio gear - custom Mark Seton speakers, etc) but seeing as how the basement keeps getting pushed down on the priority list, I started considering just selling my gear as it just wasn't getting used.
So last week as part of her anniversary gift to me, my wife agreed to let me take over the little sitting room in our master bedroom. It's 9'2 x 9'6 so it's small - but it was always just a wasted space before where junk just collected. I moved the audio stuff over into there, picked up a small cheap couch from Ikea, and I'm up and running. It's JUST a listening room.
My "ability" as an audiophile when it came to setting up the room never really stretched beyond basic positioning of the speakers. With such a small space and barren walls there is a strong echo and the system seems to be a lot brighter than before.
Anybody got any good tips or links to sites that cover simple ways to help deaden up a room a little? Would be nice to deaden up the space a little without undertaking any kind of serious construction (such as doubling up on the drywall, etc.) or shelling out $1000 in sound panels. (If I'm going to go that far then I'll just look at building a room in the basement.) I'm willing to fabricate and make panels myself to keep costs down if there are economical materials I can buy that will work.
For those interested, the gear is fairly simple:
PSB Platinum M2 mains (bought used)
PSB Platinum M2 center (bought used)
PSB Image B25 rears (first set I bought new)
Sony DA-3ES as a pre-amp (hand me down)
Denon DVD-2900 player (hand me down)
Emotiva LPA-1 amp (hand me down)
Straightwire Symphony interconnects (hand me down)
Some of the brightness is definitely the equipment - the PSBs are bright to begin with, and adding the Emotiva amp, while it gave the entire range more "oomph" (I think they call it "presence"?) it added even more brightness. I toned some of it down by adding some extra speaker cloth between the tweeter and speaker grill. Ideally I'd get a smoother amp (a Mc would probably work well based on how smooth - too smooth - it made my buddy's DynAudio's sound) but for now, I've got what I've got.
Most everything I listen to is 2-channel (especially now that there is no longer a TV with this setup) and the music itself varies pretty broadly, though I usually prefer to listen to stuff with strong vocal tracks. A little Ana Caram, some Dianna Krall, John Mayer, Sting, and Evanescence (awesome vocals) are probably among the most-listened-to artists in my collection when I want to sit and relax.
Open to any "budget" ideas for room setup!
Thanks!
07-11-2011, 10:28 PM
#3
What is on the floor ? I've made a number of panels in my home electronics days , 1/2 in plywood some spray adhesive some thin seat foam or matted dacron , covered with fabric and you have a panel .
07-12-2011, 08:45 AM
#4
Nordschleife Master
Thread Starter
Thanks for the suggestions so far.
07-12-2011, 07:52 PM
#5
No problem , been a A/V installer for about 20 yrs , I've seen many rooms . I am also in the process of "Taking over a room" setting up a McIntosh , Legacy audio , VPI Table , Music Hall SACD . Maybe when summer is over and I don't have any more visitors . 
