2. speakers
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Just moved - sound destroyed

Hi guys,

Some might remember me from having complained about the sound quality i was getting with a bedroom setup i had while living with a (jerk) roommate (didn't want to leave the system in the living room for fear of what might happen to it). I used to complain about lack of clarity, bass bloat etc. , which i deemed to be a result of the room in which the system was placed.

Recently, I moved to a new condo. I thought that i would really, finally be able to enjoy my system, but I'm soooo utterly disappointed it's not even funny.

This new place is open concept (albeit quite small) and is carpeted (whereas the other room was not... although the other setup had a huge bed as the 'seating position' in the previous room, which stifled a lot of the sound).

The positioning is as follows: room is approx 10x15... system is on a nine foot wide wall, which divides the living room and bedroom. To the right are windows which are covered in vertical blinds. To the left, the room is open. Speakers are positioned so the ports are able to use the rear wall as reinforcement. I've pulled the speakers out about 20 inches or so from the wall.

here's what i get: Muddy, undefined bass or rather, bass without punch (i can still hear the differentiation of bass notes, but there's just no 'wallup' to it). Vocals are veiled in a big way...even the best recordings I have sound mediocre...The highs go from being dull to being too hard...The speakers have lost their 'boogie factor'. Further, the sound has no real depth and can be described as a 'wall of sound'... which i believe is inherent to my speakers anyway.

Further, when i plug my Blue Circle power line pillow into any of the outlets on the same line, it trips the breaker! I don't know why that is... perhaps my system is not getting the proper current required.

Any ideas from anyone? The guy who sold me the speakers is going to swing by at some point to have a look (he's particularly good w/ setup).

i'm sooooooooo disappointed. I need you all to console me.

system:

unico (stock)
neat mystiques
Rotel rcd 971 w/ link DAC III half nelson
Ecosse speaker cables
loose
dlwask
270 posts
 
Be patient is all I can say and experiment as much as you can with your gear and positioning. Intentionly place your speakers in the wrong position so you know what it sounds like, really. Its fun and you really will learn a lot about your equipment and the room its in and where the line is for trade offs (bass extension, muddy sound, room overload, clarity, soundstaging etc...)

Electrical and wiring is part of the room/system equation if you as me. Move everything to one side of the sub panel that has a motor on it or is "noisy" then your system on the other side with dedicated circuits if possible.

Also do some research from the web (Rives, Harmon, Cardas and AA room acoustics thread are all good reads). My current room is certainly less than ideal, but I am now to the point of not worrying about it too much.

I am planning a move in the next 6 months myself and am a bit stressed about the room change. I'll get a dedicated room one way or another, its part of my home buying requirements, but I'm a uncertain about how it will end up. I'm sure I'll figure it out in due time.

A friend has a spectrum analyzer that I hope to try out soon to see just where things are at. Its a great tool to see and measure what your ears are actually hearing. A great tool if you really want to get into the details.
onemug
784 posts
 
What caught my eye in reading your plea was that the Blue Circle was causing the breaker to trip. For a cheap experiment, buy a long extension cord at Home Depot and plug it into a different circuit, actually get one long enough and try several different plugs and see what happens. Good luck.
musicslug
430 posts
 
you might try bringing the speakers further from the wall to reduce the mud

the open wall on the left will seriously mess with the balance between the two sides

good luck!
yr44
57 posts
 
Just a suggestion, maybe good, maybe not:
Try positioning the speakers parallel to the diagonal of the room, so that when you draw a direct line from L spkr to R spkr, the middle of that direct line intersects w/ its perpendicular line drawn from the corner of the room.
This way, at least the reflection plane will be less uniform and angled differently. In my prev smallish living room (15x17) this positioning gave better result.
What Dodgealum said makes a lot of sense, too.
BTW, I think 20" is too close.
drjjpdc
80 posts
 
Loose, can you put some weight on your speakers? Muddy bass can be tightened with some weight. 25 lb bags of lead shot are cheap (about $15.00 in NJ) and available at your local gun shop.
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