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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
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".
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Rogercmd...Tone controls are useful to modify particular recordings to suit your ear, but they cannot duplicate the function of an equalizer. The DEQ2496 has 31 boost/cut bands vs two boost/cut filters for tone controls. If you heard any improvement with tone controls I am even more convinced that an equalizer would help. I recommend the DEQ2496 because in addition to sounding good (and not breaking the bank) it has an automatic room equalization function.
eldragon
707 posts
 
Why don't you mount them on the ceiling?
lowfidelity
40 posts
 
First of all, congratulations on your twins! I have a set that will soon be four and raising them and our 5 year old has been an adventure to say the least ... and extremely rewarding! I will say that the first three months of your twins lives will be the most challenging you have ever faced. Not to worry though, it gets easier from there. Feel free to email me anytime if you want to discuss twins.

As far as the bookshelf situation, the Sound Quest ISOL-Pads isolation pads may help: http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ddaccstwek&1136916573
I have not used them for speakers on a bookshelf. I have used them under speakers on various stands and noted improved sound in situations where the speaker and or stand were not well damped. I also used them between the sat and sub modules of my VR-4jr speakers.

Enjoy!
rogercmd OP
11 posts
 
Lowfidelity - thanks for keeping this all in perspective with the twin comments. I agree that they are much more important than speaker placement!

Eldragon - can't mount them on the ceiling: the bookshelves go all the way to the ceiling and the room is too small to hang them in front of the shelves (they'd end up directly above the listening position).

Eldartford - still dubious about equalization despite the effects of tone control, mostly because of the extreme skepticism or outright resistance displayed by most A'gon members in other forums. Perhaps no true audiophile would put their speakers in a position that would require equalization. But I'd rather play with other aspects for now and not add more components to a system that will someday soon be in a better space. Nonetheless, there is often wisdom in heresy, and you may be the Galileo amongst us. Thank you for your input, and if nothing else works, I'll add more hardware (it does sound like a neat toy!).

Keep the tips coming.

Roger
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