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My Home Speakers, My Car, and Me...The Ballad of What's Going Wrong?

Okay, so tell me what's going wrong.

My new dedicated room is 13x12x8. It's small. Bare walls. Hard tile floor. Windows on the front wall.

I have some loaner speakers in there at the moment while my other speakers are on order. Right now I have Dynaudio Focus 340s. They are 7ft apart from one another, 29" from the side walls, and 19" from the front wall. I am sitting 9.5ft from the speakers with a glorious center image.

I have ran room correction via my Linn KDS/3, called "Space Optimization." It works very well.

Yet, here I am listening, and verything I put on gives me anxiety. Literally a vibratory feeling that sucks.It's maybe half of a song in and I'm feeling this way.

And I think to myself, "When I'm in my car, cranking my music, why don't I feel the same?" I feel fine in the car. Perfect, even.

So, why would I be feeling this way in my room?

I question if I naturally need to sit further back from the speakers (which I can't do: I'm out of space/room). It seems my best speaker experiences are when I'm at a friend's house and either I'm a really good distance away from the speakers, or the room is very large and/or the speakers are much further apart. All of this, of course, is contrary to what I experience in my car.

Then I think, well, let me try some near field listening with my speakers, and I end up with the same anxious feeling. 

There's really only one more thing I can try, and that is to move all of my gear into the parlor, which is a much bigger room. I couldn't leave my stuff there, because the wife wouldn't want it, but at least I could experiment to see if a greater distance from the speakers will be better. However, that doesn't answer my question of why I feel fine in my auto with the music blaring in such a confined space.

Could it be that a sealed up listening space, full of soft stuff, is optimal?

Here is a diagram of my room (if it matters).

http://imgur.com/PC8LyVX


Thanks for nay thoughts. It's driving me batty.
evolvist
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,767 posts
 
I am thinking a few things:

1. maybe the experience of just sitting in a smallish, bare room listening to music just doesn’t do it for you. I know that I can’t just listen to music for any appreciable amount of time and do nothing else. I have to read, look at my computer, anything. When you are at your friend’s place, there is a social aspect that may help the experience.

2. the room is a little too bare and/ or antiseptic. Maybe you need a rug on the floor. Maybe a couch would work better than a listening chair. Maybe those windows are shouting for some drapes or curtains. Maybe a little homeliness would work wonders. I don’t care too much about getting all the audiophile niceties just right, I just want it to sound real good. I also want to feel comfortable.

3. of course, maybe you need a bigger room. Otherwise it is like being sent to your room, like you were a teenager. Push those speakers close to the wall, if you need some breathing room.

Rich
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,787 posts
 

Could be you don’t expect great sound in the car (I don’t), so you’re not worried about it. In your room you have set your expectations higher, which could be creating anxiety.

Or, it could very well be the acoustics of your room. My new room is very warm (lots of high frequency absorption) and dry (not a lot of reflections, and quick decay), and very quiet. I’m loving the quiet, feeling very insulated from the outside world, and relaxed. As rar1 suggested, try an area rug on the floor, and even a blanket on a wall or two. If that helps, you can then get some acoustical panels to prevent all the harsh wall reflections.

hifiman5's avatar
hifiman5
1,832 posts
 
rar1 and bdp24 both make valid points and suggestions.  My thoughts:

1.  Curtains/drapes over windows.

2.  An area rug between you and the speakers.

3.  Absorbent panels on the wall behind the listening seat so the music, as you hear it, is not bouncing off that wall to your ears for a second listen.  That can be a very unsettling experience.
4.  When possible, put Roomtune-style treatments into the corners of the room and quite importantly in the wall ceiling corners.

From your description, it sounds like the music, as the untreated room is now, is like listening in a bathroom with sound bouncing all over the place off of all hard surfaces.  Most audiophiles will tell you that getting the room right is as important as your gear.  A great kit in a bad room yields bad sound.  Don't be afraid to experiment!  I went to Walmart and bought a foam mattress topper, cut it into appropriate sizes and tacked it up on the wall in various positions, listening to the effect on the music. Once you figure it out, you can move to a more permanent approach to slap echo and other room issues.  First thing to do, treat the wall behind you with absorbent material.

Best of luck and keep an open mind!


roxy54's avatar
roxy54
7,962 posts
 
You need a rug and a good book or magazine.
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