In-Room responce measurement with Legacy Focus SE speakers

@OP Nice place to record in with that reverb. Not so good for listening.

OP:

I was pretty much right, and yet no one on Audiogon ever takes my advice. Sigh. 😪

The good news is these frequencies are easy to deal with without getting too thick/exotic or expensive. GIK and ATS acoustics are places to start. GIK makes some panels you can have printed on with artwork.

Let your T60 be your guide and tackle the problem frequencies first. When you are done the bass will be more exposed and you’ll want to start considering speaker placement and bass traps (considering, not buying) if your room modes are severe. You may even end up with a system that sounds like it has too much bass, or has severely strong notes. All that will happen in time.

@erik_squires I’m on your side man! You were 100% right, and dead on!!!!! Maybe you’re just ahead of your time and they are behind the curve? 😆

So he happened to have 6 of those yellow 2" fiberglass panels (unfinished). I talked him into letting me place them stacked two high directly between the speakers (in line) and directly next to the outside left and right of the speakers.
This had a MASSIVE effect on the sound quality.
The RT60 showed those exact same trouble spectrum, but instead of being 600ms to 0ver 800ms of reverb, the were cut down to 400 to 200ms!!!
Granted, if I snap my fingers or clap my hands, you still hear an echo, but I am ’moving the needle’ and getting him to actually realize he has horrible reverb/echo, and can hear some dramatic shifts to the opposite effect.
I am hoping to now find ON the walls where to put these 6 (which will lessen the new ’nulling’ effect by at least half), and make some strong suggestions for getting actual acoustic panels installed of size.

I think the actual biggest issue is his ceiling: the greatest expanse with NOTHING on it. His front wall doesn’t even have the equipment on it: it’s just bare, so I am going to start with that wall in general, first.

I honestly haven’t heard ANY room bass bloom as of yet, and I would be a little surprised if I did (I even did the walk around against the walls and never found any more bass). But, with the panels directly next to the speakers , things actually did sound ’fuller’ and warmer, and the bass ’felt’ more present. There was NO change to the frequency sweep...but the RT60 as I mentioned was dramatically different. I’m trying to get him to learn to hear what is actual recorded room/studio spatial sound (studio echo), vs his-room-created echo, or over-enhancing echo (imagine a recording with studio atmosphere and echo/time delay sound, coupled with a room that creates the same effect from the speakers!!).

There were a couple singer-guitar solo pieces I played that he immediately didn’t like, "it sounds a bit dead, like there’s no room or space where they are playing": yes, that is because there isn’t any (the tracks were VERY closely mic’d).....but does it sound like they are HERE, in the room with us?" Then I would play a track that did have a bit of studio space (more open room mic’d), and he noticed a big difference in the two different tracks. Then, I removed the panels entirely from that second track, and asked him "does it sound a bit much, like ’too much’ sound for just a guy and a guitar? In comparison?" He sort-of admitted it sounded better with the panels in place, but I could also tell that he was struggling to sort of be open to/accept what he was hearing (I’m learning a lot too).

There are so many recordings and sessions and events that are actually poorly or not the best recordings, or mic work, or space...but when I hear those things on my system, I am nearly elated because I can hear and feel how different recording CAN be. Like an NPR Tiny Desk of Tyler Childers, vs "Our Vinyl" recording session of the same 3 Tyler Childer songs, vs "Red Barn Radio" (all three on Youtube). Thanks to the videos, you can see where things are microphoned, the room treatment, the space. On my system the ROOM changes with the session: the sound matches the different spaces, different tone acoustics and room space cues. With my dads system-they all sound ’mostly’ the same, and lack impact and feel.

@yoyoyaya I was almost thinking the same thing!  Like, I wish I had and played the guitar, and could play a tune in the space, then play the same song thru the sound system and illustrate how much is "one generation of echo/reverb sound", and when the other is COMPOUNDED echo/reverb!!

@erik_squires A lot of us read and take your advice.  But it is those who don't who are vocal and argumentative.  Often taking your advice results in quiet satisfaction of a problem solved.  

Jerry