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Thoughts on Speakers for a Small Audio/Video Room

Hoping to get some thoughts from the group here. 

I recently moved into a dedicated TV/audio room, but the room size is on the small side: 15.5ft x 11.5ft.  As pics will show, there's quite a bit in there, so empty volume is decreased further due to that.

I've been using Aerial Acoustics Model 7B speakers, which I've been very happy with in larger spaces, but they seem to be overwhelming the room and I'm getting fairly overwhelming bass. Vocals have sort of a chestiness/congested nature to them, and there are bass undertones to most songs.  If I play records loud, I need to activate my rumble filter, which I never used to have to do.  As a sidetone, I also have Monitor Audio Gold Reference 20's in my collection.

Preamp is a recapped Mcintosh C35 and amp is a recapped MC2255.  Phono pre is a VTL TP 2.5 II, TT is a Marantz TT-15S1 running a SAE1000LT MM cart.

I borrowed a friend's Sonus Faber Electa Amator II's and they sounded very good in my room - sweeter, more natural, no congestion, though I did give up bass slam/impact, which I kind of missed.

Here are pictures of the room:

Front:

Back:

I'm playing around now with plugging the rear ports of the Aerial, as well as putting some acoustic panels in the back corners of the room.  Both of those seem to have helped quite a bit.

As far as measurements, those Aerials are currently about 80" apart, 16" from speaker back to front of cabinet, 96" from each speaker to the listening position.

What's your opinion: With some room treatments/plugged ports, can the Aerials work well in a room of this size, or do I need to move toward smaller speakers?

If I go smaller, any thoughts on something like the Sonus Faber Concerto Domus (there's a pair local to me) or Sonetto III?  Those seem to be more modestly sized, don't go as low.  Would those be at least a lateral to the AA Model 7B's, or a step down in terms of overall speaker quality?  I only mention Sonus Faber models as I was impressed with my friend's speakers and generally do enjoy the smoother, more musical speakers and will give up some detail/pinpoint accuracy if needed to avoid brightness/listening fatigue.

Thanks all. . .

 

captouch
mesch
3,519 posts
 

@captouch  I use my Frirz speakers with a PP EL34 tube amp in triode mode (<20wpc) with no problem.  I have also used 2x4' wall mounted acoustic absorption panels  set diagonally across corners of the front wall. The space behind the panels served as bass trapping. Now with a change to stand mount speakers not going much below 40hz) (which I was using) I am not sure  how much bass trapping you will need.  I do believe you may have too much reduction of upper bass and midrange absorption on your side walls, skewing frequency response increasing  the impression of lower bass. Keep in mind that if you change speakers your room treatment needs will likely change. Particularly regarding bass response.

 

 

 

 

deep_333
1,461 posts
 

If the speaker is too big for your room, overloading your room, etc, it means any car stereo you ever heard in life in that tiny space called a car cabin should have had overwhelming bass, chestiness, congestion, etc. But, that was not the case in the tiny space called the car, right?

Get a umik, rew software and measure what's happening at your listening location. You are most probably sitting on top of some modal peaks. After that  you can start moving yourself and your speakers around a bit (referred to as positional EQ). Aid it with some Schiit Loki analog eq as well and adjust to taste/make do.

Since you seem to be a analog only guy, digital dsp fixes went out the window. Your room is a bit small for treatments that actually work, etc....

 

 

captouch OP
11 posts
 

@mesch Yes, I removed 3 of those large acoustic panels from the side walls already.  Just left two closest to the front of the room.  Can remove those if needed.

I also have acoustic foam inside all the canvas pictures on the walls.  Since that rug is very thin and floors are wood, along with the IKEA CD cabinets on the walls with glass doors, I thought I could benefit from some reflection taming.  But all that foam can be easily removed as well - nothing as far as “room treatments”’ is hard to remove.

yoyoyaya's avatar
yoyoyaya
777 posts
 

@OP - a lot of what advertised as bass traps are broadband absorbers that have some attenuation at lower frequencies but aren't optimised for that freqency range. If you look at Vicoustic or Gik's websites, you'll see cylindrical and triangular corner traps that are specifically tuned to bass frequencies.

erik_squires
16,217 posts
 

Am I treating for general reflections or bass in particular when doing ceilings?

@captouch - Depends on your needs. At least for general reflections but if you find yourself lacking space to put bass traps then using that space to do both is a good idea. The Am Acoustics room mode simulator can really help determine if that would help.

Depending on where and what frequency another related option is the GIK Acoustics Soffit Traps which can run wherever 2 surfaces meet.  You could (not saying SHOULD) run soffit traps all along the edge of the ceiling, which would be extremely good bass traps. 

An intermediate approach is a mondo trap which is a panel, with space from the ceiling to the trap which can do both reflections and mid bass.

The ceiling area in general can be used when the overall room remains too reflective but we are out of places to put absorbers. I have also found that unless you have very high ceilings treating the area between speaker and listener can really enhance imaging and spaciousness.

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