Tools to measure in room response

Kschiu, I did borrow a friend's RTA to verify my general tweeter level setting. That gave a reasonable overall response curve but was lacking in detail (the measure bars move slightly with the pink noise).

For a more detailed adjustment of speaker placement for smoothest bass response, the RS SPL meter (which I calibrated at work against a B&K SPL) and Stereophile Test CD (any of 1-3 will work) did a reasonably good job.

I placed the SPL meter on a photo tri-pod, positioned where my head would be in the prime listening location. Then with a volume level of about 85 dB I ran and recorded the reading for 1K (reference sound level), then each of the tones from 200 Hz on down to 31 Hz (lower frequencies are notably incorrect on the RS meter but we are looking at relative measurements here so constant errors should be acceptable) on the test disk. I then added the total deviation from the 1K reference for all bass frequencies (ignoring + or -) for a given speaker location. This supplied a rough picture of the smoothness of the bass response. I continued making such readings as I moved the speakers out from the front wall. The response (deviation) became flatter as I moved the speakers out to a given point, then they began increasing as I moved them further. This was time consuming since I moved the speakers 2" at a time until I found the range with less variation, then I moved them 1" at a time. I was quite satisfied with the results.

Good luck.

Sleepysurf

Thanks for the insights about what to expect.

Pryso- That will, indeed, give you a very rough estimate unless you sample and average several locations in/near the main listening position. The reason is that the FR, especially in the bass, can vary substantially over a span of several inches (similar to the distance between your ears) and no one sample is entirely representative of the sound at the main seat.

Kal

Has anyone tried this item?

>Phonic PAA3 Handheld Audio Analyzer w/USB Interface

I had a dealer use this in conjunction with his laptop to take measurements.

Wondering how this compares to the XTZ analyzer?

Kal, thanks for your comments. I attempted to be as "rigorous" as possible with this somewhat crude method.

First I placed the SPL meter at the location where my head would be with normal listening. Obviously this required moving the listening chair to position the tri pod. Also I measured my ear hight from the floor when seated and set the meter at that same elevation. BTW, my RS instructions say to position the analog meter at 90 degrees from the sound source. A friend with the same model meter (but probably newer by several years) has instructions to point the meter at the source!?!

Then as I moved my speakers in 2" increments I found one distance where the aggregate deviation from the 1K reference was the lowest. So I then moved the speakers forward and backward by 1" from that point, measuring each. This was like focusing a telephoto lens and allowed me to position my speakers within an inch for smoothest response. I found this more satisfactory than I had been able to position by ear previously (although admittedly I had not tired so many positions).

Given your point on the small distance variations, I don't see how any other process could provide a better approximation.