Is my room doomed? Pic

You have a lot of great suggestions to try. Cmalak's suggestion to email some pictures to Andy and talk to him by phone is a great idea. Seems like you need to definitively settle the issue of the side-firing woofers in that room before you start chasing your tail in an endless pursuit.

Here is the disturbing thing about tweaking. I have found that in a highly resolving system, the seemingly most inconsequential change can make or break the system. I have experienced this repeatedly. Even if you are 95% there, it is ALWAYS about that last 5%. Right now, I am almost afraid to make a change.

Enzo:

I'm waiting for the delivery of my own pair of Aquila. I noticed in photos of various systems on Audiogon that there is no consistent pattern as to how people set up their RT speakers with side firing woofers.

I asked Andy Payor about this and he said that the woofers should ALWAYS be facing towards one another.

I suspect this is your problem. Hopefully I'll be able to compare notes with you soon.

Ken Golden

Rtn1, Almost afraid or very afraid?

Ken/Lasercd,

Yeah let's definitely keep in touch on how your Aquilas are going. I just moved the side firing woofers so they point each other to try it out. I think there was a definite improvement on tighness and punch as well as overall balance. I still have to do some more careful listening and playing around with speaker positioning and see how it works out.

My theory on the lack of great hall space is the lack of sidewalls, i.e the lack of time delayed reflections that gives you the sense of space and depth. I'm going to try some diffusion on the front wall behind the spakers to see if it helps.

RTN1 - agree it's the accumulation of small changes that will make a huge difference over time. We'll see I guess.

The idea to use Omni directional speakers is an intersting one. I may explore that if all else fails.

Cheers.

Has your dealer been involved in your speaker setup or offered any suggestions?