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Big systems - Little rooms

I enjoy browsing the Virtual Systems posted online here ( and have posted my own).  I am puzzled , however, by the too common practice of placing large ( and usually expensive) speakers into very tight confines, often less than a foot from the front wall and barely more from the side walls.  Presumably the sitting position is likely against the back wall.  Many of these systems also have significant power and expensive source components.  While I may be as susceptible as most to upgradeitis, I have tried to give some recognition to the size of my listening space in my equipment selection.  Have I overlooked some new approach to managing room acoustics, or are most speakers not as sensitive as some articles describe to position within the room.  It would otherwise seem that these systems might benefit from  a bit of downsizing to achieve superior sound imaging.
sjtm
big_greg
6,621 posts
 
I currently have a pair of Klipsch KLF-30 speakers in my bedroom.  They're almost right up against the wall, only about 5 - 6 feet apart, they are pointed right at my bed, the room has wood paneling and no acoustic treatment. 

They sound terrific!  Do they sound their best?  Not by far. 

I'm trying to sell them and wanted to keep using them until I do.  Once I do, my Canton Vento Reference 9 DC monitors will go back in there.  They are probably "too big" for that room even, but they're better suited for that space.
erik_squires
16,016 posts
 
Yep, it's a pet peeve of mine as well. One JBL super monitor room i saw barely fit the speakers against the wall. In another, hundreds of thousands of dollars of McIntosh gear in absolutely abominable placement.


You can treat a rear wall, but deadening it entirely so you have no ill effect from close placement is very hard to do. Also, I've not seen this. I usually see poor acoustics, massive speakers, and small spaces. Ugh.


I mean,yes, I get the desire for a full sized, 4 tower Infinity Reference Standard, I do, but in a closet? Come on!!
yyzsantabarbara
4,736 posts
 
@sjtm The big speaker in a small room is something I am actually striving to do. I currently have an ideal monitor speaker in my small office, 12x11x9 but I am going to put a floor stander in their to join the club. I don't want a sub and I want the missing bass.

I do have the room treated and it sounds rather good even though my head is against a small wall. See pictures on my virtual system.

An additional solution to shoehorn a bigger speaker into a smaller space is DSP but I am not going to do that unless necessary. Luckily I have the ability to do a home demo of a floor stander that is maybe too large for my room without DSP.
audiokinesis
2,734 posts
 

In a fairly small room (say a spare bedroom), two main issues arise:

1. The bass response will typically have major peaks and dips largely due to the room modes being few and far apart (an inevitable consequence of the room being small); and

2. The reflections above the bass region will arrive after an unusually short time delay because the reflection paths are quite short, so the result is a lot of energy in early reflections. Early reflections are the ones most likely to be detrimental to timbre and imaging, so in a small room imo it is especially important to take them into account.

There are techniques for addressing these issues, but some of them are highly counter-intuitive. Multiple subwoofers intelligently distributed can ime significantly improve the bass region, and using speakers with good radiation pattern control over most of the rest of the spectrum can improve the room interaction up higher as well.

In this context, imo "good radiation pattern control" implies a radiation pattern narrow enough that it can be aimed to minimize early reflections, and uniform enough within its coverage pattern that the reflections are spectrally similar to the direct sound.

This is a bit different from the typical approach of using "small speakers for small rooms and big speakers for big rooms." It is more like, choosing the acoustic behavior of the speaker system to deliberately address the acoustic challenges presented by the room.

Duke

dealer/manufacturer

big_greg
6,621 posts
 
I'm on board with using multiple subs, but in a bedroom? I have one in my bedroom, but never really use it and don't have room for another (or two or three more).
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