@elizabeth On the role of room acoustics as related to this topic, I would encourage @N80 and others that for a beginner it doesn't have to be complex and in some ways, you don't even "need to know what to listen for".
Most beginners choose dynamic (cone driver) speakers and they almost all emit sound at wide angles that result in sound reflecting off the side walls that hurt sound quality. Doesn't matter if we are talking floorstanders or monitors on stands, they all do it, mainly from tweeters & midrange drivers. Absorptive panels at the first & second reflection points, will almost certainly reduce echo and improve clarity of vocals and higher pitch instruments. Inexpensive options like these
https://mioculture.com/shop/wall-ceiling-tiles/acoustic-weave-paperforms-white
or DIY homemade alternatives made of Owen's Corning fiberglass from the local hardware store are worthy of consideration.
Absorption of floor reflections with a natural Fibre rug between seat & speakers almost always help, especially when dealing with hard flooring of tile or wood, but also with synthetic carpet.
Glass windows are super reflective and natural fibre heavy upholstered curtains will tame them every time.
By playing a test tone CD of varying frequencies one can easily identify bass interactions with the room. Many rooms inherently have certain frequencies that play too loud(peaks) and others not loud enough (dips). The extent of those anomalies will be an indication of if bass traps in the corners behind the speakers would be a help or not. Fixing bass issues is sometimes pretty tricky, but I am confident that you will get the point.
I find it frustrating when folks spend big bucks on gear, ignore the room issues and later lose enthusiasm for the hobby, because they aren't drawn to the music playing on their system. Rooms need to be conquered and it's not that hard nor expensive to do so.
While a DSP approach might be an alternative, I have always been leary of adding more cables and boxes, as the chance of noise and grounding problems increases. Perhaps newer DSP solutions exist that surpass what I have heard. Cheers,
Spencer
Most beginners choose dynamic (cone driver) speakers and they almost all emit sound at wide angles that result in sound reflecting off the side walls that hurt sound quality. Doesn't matter if we are talking floorstanders or monitors on stands, they all do it, mainly from tweeters & midrange drivers. Absorptive panels at the first & second reflection points, will almost certainly reduce echo and improve clarity of vocals and higher pitch instruments. Inexpensive options like these
https://mioculture.com/shop/wall-ceiling-tiles/acoustic-weave-paperforms-white
or DIY homemade alternatives made of Owen's Corning fiberglass from the local hardware store are worthy of consideration.
Absorption of floor reflections with a natural Fibre rug between seat & speakers almost always help, especially when dealing with hard flooring of tile or wood, but also with synthetic carpet.
Glass windows are super reflective and natural fibre heavy upholstered curtains will tame them every time.
By playing a test tone CD of varying frequencies one can easily identify bass interactions with the room. Many rooms inherently have certain frequencies that play too loud(peaks) and others not loud enough (dips). The extent of those anomalies will be an indication of if bass traps in the corners behind the speakers would be a help or not. Fixing bass issues is sometimes pretty tricky, but I am confident that you will get the point.
I find it frustrating when folks spend big bucks on gear, ignore the room issues and later lose enthusiasm for the hobby, because they aren't drawn to the music playing on their system. Rooms need to be conquered and it's not that hard nor expensive to do so.
While a DSP approach might be an alternative, I have always been leary of adding more cables and boxes, as the chance of noise and grounding problems increases. Perhaps newer DSP solutions exist that surpass what I have heard. Cheers,
Spencer