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Room Treatments, When are they required?

Hey Audiogoners!!!

I threw my first BBq in my new home this weekend. One of my guests who is also into audio gear came and we ended up talking a bit about audio gear.

My livingroom where the audiogear will be has 15ft vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors, and opens up to the dining room and kitchen. All pretty much in one real big l-shaped room.

I was telling him about my future upgrqade plans, which are nothing too extraordary, im thinking of some Parasound Amps and some Vandersteen 2CEs or 3As. It iwll be run 100% seperate from my HT system, but in the same room.

Anyways, he told me that it was a waste of money and there is no point in upgrading what i have unless i have a Dedicated listening room.

Personally, i think the accoustics in my livingroom are fantastic. Yes, some echo busters along the back wall or something might help out, but sound there is rich and full of live. Snap your fingers you get a nice clean SNAP, it doesent echo or linger any longer than it should. I have 3 very plush couches that do wonders for echo absorption.

When did everyone else start getting into room treatments and dedicated listening rooms?

Personally, i disagree with him, vandersteen 2ce's powered by some Parasound Amps will sound better than some radioshack speakers powered by a Denon 3505. No doubt about it in my mind. I dont care if it is installed in a dedicated room or a subway tunnel. it will sound better and i plan to upgrade.

When do YOU feel it is time to work on the room instead of the system?
Is there a certain price tag on the system that you feel is useless to upgrade further without having a dedicate room or room treatments?

Just curious.

Oh yeah, HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!
Woulda got that out earlier if i had been sober in the past few days.
slappy
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
I was wondering what that smell was!

I was also wondering what you think is a dedicated listening room? This is not a room that is only the stereo room. It can be multifunctional (how do you like that word), the thing is it is designed to sound better than a non-dedicated.

You can still have the bar (I mean the burrito bar) along with comfortable furniture and all your Picasso originals.

A listening room has the gear convieniently located, with the speakers properly placed, and a few (hopefully) inconspicuously placed room treatments. How can you rebel against that? It's like your mother said when all the food you liked was gone from the plate and only the steaming pile of asparagus remained, "It's for your own good!" Just do it and quit your whining! And go to your room!
slappy OP
903 posts
 
Hmmm...

I always had the idea a dedicated room was a room where everything was designed 100% around the gear... never really thought of a living room as a dedicated listening room... guess there is no reason it couldnt be.

Well, i herby declare that i no longer have a living room, but an "All Encompasing Large Dedicated Listening Room With Plush Couches, A Dining Room Table, A China Hutch, And A Kitchen Which Not Only Opens Outside To The Front But Also To The Back Through French Doors"

I will call it "AELDLRWPCADRTACHAAKWNOOOTTFBATTBTFD" for short. And maybe call it the "Wnoot Batt" to save time.

HAHAHAHA
surfgod
229 posts
 
Hello Slappy,
When I asked Mike Kotchman owner of Echo Busters, he said that the most important piece of acoustical treatment is the corner tunes. For the side walls, if you do not like the idea of absorbtion pannels, try decorative tapistries. They look great and do a goog job in absorbing sound.
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