Questions about room size and speaker choice

Thanks for all of your responses.
The system is already there so holding off on buying new equipment, or getting a set of headphones is really not an option, with the exception of speakers, but a pair of Harbeths or De Vore Gibbon Super 8s, for example, could still work and be a great long term upgrade I believe. I will be in the apt for at least 2 years (unless we hit the lottery), which is a chunk of time so I'd like to get the best out of the room.

The room is not really square since it has extensions on sides and in one of the corners. The listening space is however, pretty much (the speaker placement in terms of effective space, if that makes sense). I placed a queen size mattress topper foam on the wall behind the speakers and behind the listening chair to minimize reflections and deaden the room a little. I'm also hoping this will help with vibrations reaching the neighbors to some extent.

The speakers are currently 7 feet apart and I placed the listening chair about the same distance form the speakers. That leaves about 2 feet to the wall behind the chair. Any other suggestions?

I have worked with small and large rooms because I have moved a few times.

The good:

All in all a small room is not total death to a system and it can still sound good. What most people seem to not fully understand is room boundaries are the issue not volume of the room. The shortest distance will make the biggest issues. These are of course side and front wall. But here is the kicker... people forget the ceiling!

Many large rooms (say 15X25+) are in the basement and have still have bass issues because of the low ceiling. If you have a 8 foot or less ceiling you will almost always have some bass boom some where below 100hz.

So my point is don't take negative comment to heart to much and use your own ears (and a db meter).


The bad:
The sad truth is your system will never sound as good as it could in a larger room, no if ands or buts.

Suggestions:
Use a good bit of toe in and buy speakers where the drivers are close together and mesh well. Near-field can be great but you need the right speakers to pull it off. One of the best near-field speakers I have heard are Magnepan 1.7s. I would try putting your seat so your head is 10" off the rear wall and move your speakers off the front wall more. The difference from your head being 10" and two feet off the back wall will be very small. But the advantages of having you speakers off the front wall will really help bass boom and sound stage. This will put your speakers (measured from the front baffle) two feet of the front wall and your ears 8ft from the speakers.

All in all it is your room and people on the internet can not tell you how it sounds. I have shoe-horned large speakers into small rooms and put monitors in BIG rooms... it was all a leaning experiance some better some worse but always fun. I have found the most important factor for any room is understanding how your speakers disperse their sound and adjusting the speaker and seating location accordingly.

Thanks James for your wise advice! Just so I understand correctly: the speakers are currently 3.2 feet from the front wall (measured from the front baffle) and a little less than 2 feet from the side wall (measured from the center of the speaker). Are you suggesting that I put them more into the room and move my chair back?

No, 3 feet off the front wall is plenty and the magic number where improvements happen. I thought you had them a good bit closer. I have found that distance from the speakers is important for driver integration which translates to better imaging and soundstage.

The totems may work well at only 7 feet but it seems pretty close. Try moving your chair back a little and see (leaving the speakers). The driver integration maybe better. There maybe a bass node at the back of the room you will here if you get to close (may not be there either).

It is best not to sit close to the back wall but I would trade a little more rear wall reflections for better driver integration... you may not though. Give it a shot and see, it should be a pretty easy test.

Last question I wanted to ask: there are many acoustic treatment products available for reasonable and ridiculous prices on the Internet. However, I find it all rather confusing; absorption vs. diffusion vs. bass traps vs. soundproofing and combination of any of the above. Does anyone have any experience with acoustic treatment and could give me some advice as to what would work best in my listening room? Thank you.