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Help Speakers trapped on bookshelves

Help! My "bookshelf" speakers are hopelessly trapped on bookshelves, with no hope of graduating to stands, and I need advice on how to minimize the sonic stifling of the bookshelves. The speakers are Totem Rainmakers fed mostly jazz, folk and rock through a Cambridge Audio Azur 640C cdp and a 640A integrated. Interconnects are Analysis Plus Oval One and speaker cables are XLO ER-12. My home office is in a penthouse room measuring 6ft wide by 13 feet long, and the speakers are relegated to sit in a set of built-in shelves on one of the short walls that includes a fold-out secretary desk. Given the small size of the room (it's the only room in our small apartment that my wife would give up), there is simply no room for speaker stands on either side of the desk, where I do most listening (nearfield I guess). Therefore, until we have a bigger place, the speakers must stay on the shelves, and I need advice on positioning, etc. I've heard that packing books all around them helps, and I've tried that with minimal effect. Also, the speakers are ported, making it even harder. Help! Just please don't suggest that I disregard my wife's input and put them on stands anyway: she's currently carrying our first two children (twins), which gives her three votes to my one. One day, the speakers will be free to roam on stands, but for now I need to tap A'gon members' ingenuity and experience to make the best of this temporary incarceration.

Thanks,
Roger
rogercmd
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,784 posts
 
Roger:

There is always the $200 or so solution. Try a pair of basic Orb Speakers or the Nucleus Micro Speakers from Gallo. These little cubes were made for set-ups like yours and their design actually compensates for the associated room anomalies. If the cubes are not to your liking, try a pair of NHT SB-1's which can be had for under $200 if you shop around. They are acoustic suspension design and can be placed on shelves; near rear walls and perform beautifully. The SB-2's are the only speaker that I have been pleased with in a similar bedroom set-up. Then you can save the Totems for when you can use them as you would like.

Regards, Rich
tgrisham
1,291 posts
 
Mechans....nice....real nice.
upstateaudio's avatar
upstateaudio
249 posts
 
Roger, why don't you contact Totem for suggestions? They are quite helpful to their customers.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
The rear channels of my system are (for reasons you can imagine) relegated to bookshelves in two alcoves, which is worse than an ordinary bookshelf. Furthermore, they are rear-ported Madisound "Odins" (a 7" MTM configuration) and they are horizontal. All in all, couldn't be worse.

The good news is that when I bought a Behringer DEQ2496 Equalizer/Analyser for the front channels I tried it out on the rears. The analyser immediatly showed me the wacko frequency response, and equalization worked wonders. I immediately went out and bought another DEQ2496 for the rears.

So, I suggest you try a DEQ2496. This will set you back only about $300, including microphone.
rogercmd OP
11 posts
 
Thanks again. Per Newton's recommendation, I removed the books that were packed all around the speakers and played with the toe-in. A bit better. But then I read Eldartford's EQ suggestion and a few other threads about equalization and decided to play with the tone controls on my amp (until now I thought it was a sign of weakness to even have tone controls on an amp, and maybe it is...). But I got a major improvement. In this case, it seems as though two wrongs (putting bookshelf speakers on bookshelves and not bypassing the tone controls) have made a right (or at least a not-so-wrong). Don't worry, though, I'm not going to run out and buy an equalizer, and I will bypass the tone controls once again as soon as I get the speakers out of the shelves.

Another question: would it make sense to make miniature "traps" for the corners of the bookshelves behind the speakers? The speakers are, after all, sitting in little 16x16x12 inch "rooms".
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