Is my room doomed? Pic


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4049/4525445010_d045b8812d_b.jpg

For a discription of room dimensions and equipment you can click my system's page.

While the system is pretty new, I'm having a hard time getting it to sound anywhere as good as the dealer/distributor using very similar equipment (outside the preamp). Is it my room?

The center image is good but the soundstage height/depth is not what I know these speakers are capable of. The depth of the layers in the soundstage is also shallow. I have no sidewalls, and the speakers are firing into floor to ceiling windows (but I do draw the curtains).

Any suggestions? Pull the speakers out more? Toe in more?
enzo618
I would say it's 70% room / 30% set up. The room is a wide open space with little boundary reinforcement, it may be better suited to an omnidirectional radiator. The back wall (being a hard flat surface) won't help any with the soundstage. Actually, every surface being hard and flat isn't helping. Lastly, I think your seating position may be too close to the back wall.

I really wanted to post to say that if you laid out this kind of money at one dealer, they had better get over to your place and help you find a position you are happy with. It's one thing for a dealer to sell you a $1000 pair of speakers and say "have fun"; but when you buy a precision instrument like this system, the dealer has a responsibility to make sure it is performing to your expectations.
"It's one thing for a dealer to sell you a $1000 pair of speakers and say "have fun"; but when you buy a precision instrument like this system, the dealer has a responsibility to make sure it is performing to your expectations."

I agree with that!
Beautiful room and system, congratulations. If it were mine, I would try a couple of the Diffuser panels from Acoustic Revive . They are more versatile than many of the room tx's and do many things depending on where you place them. I would try them on the sides, behind and also on the backwall and see how each position effected the sound. It could give you an idea of where the issue is too. They can stand on their own or be hung and are not too out of line with your decor. Furutech also makes some.

Maybe I missed it but were the cables and power treatments the same in the dealer's system?
I would guess the side firing woofers and lack of side walls is the major part of the problem. Wrong room or wrong speakers, take your pick. An omni like MBL or Duevel would certainly be an option. In that space, you could also do a large planar like the Magnepan 20.1 or high quality stand mount 2 ways and a pair of subs like the Wilson Benesch Torus. You have a beautiful living area.
Enzo...I would say 2 things. First, i totally agree that your dealer should be in there helping you dial-in the setup and particularly the speaker placement relative to seating position to get a result that approximates what you heard at the dealer's showroom. If he/she is incapable of helping you out (then I would stop doing busines with that dealer), I would call Andy Payor at Rockport Technologies and ask for his advice (you can email him pics of your room along with dimensions). he is very customer focused and always willing to help. He will also be interested to know that a dealer of his is not able/willing to help Rockport clients get the optimal performance out of their speakers. Finally, i would spend $30 and get Jim Smith's book "Get Better Sound" which has a very detailes and meticulous description of how to determine speaker placement in a room. Much of what 11flat6 said is described in much more detail in there. However, i would first get the dealer in there to make adjustments and go from there. Good luck and beautiful system. I think Rockport speakers are phenomenal and we know that Ansy Payor loves to pair them up with Gryphon amplification, so you have a synergistic system there. Finally, one of the other comments above suggested switching the speakers so that the side firing woofers are pointing in towards one another instead of firing outwards. I think that is worth a try to see if it improves anything for you. Good luck.