Speakers that sound great in terrible rooms


I remember running into an audiophile who refused to consider anything about room acoustics. He bought speakers specifically for live, untreated rooms.

Anyone else? What was your solution?
erik_squires
Another vote for Larsen speakers. I have a room in which I have little flexibility in speaker and listening position. I've tried a number of speakers in that room over several decades and have never been satisfied. In the last year I installed Larsen 6.2 speakers. After all these years, I'm happy with the sound quality. I enjoy this system as much and in some ways more than other rooms where I have complete flexibility with the speaker and listening position. Others have also been impressed. When I play program material with low bass content, it sounds like I've added subwoofers.
Surprised that anyone that sensitive about not changing their room to improve sound would choose that room to set up a system in the first place.  Is there no other room in the house that would have better acoustics?

Sometimes performance of the room can be improved by just drawing the curtains - is that too much meddling in the aesthetics?

If putting the system in the best room in the house (from a sound point of view) or doing anything at all to eliminate glaring sonic issues are not acceptable, I'd say that the best speakers for that person would be a pair of really, really good headphones.
@bpoletti Couldn’t agree more! I’ve just moved from a ranch home with cement floors to a two-story home. The second floor listening room is RIDICULOUSLY bad for audio. The floor is acting like a speaker. I cannot believe the difference from the ranch home to the 2nd story home with the exact same quality components making up my 2 channel audio system. 
The rooms are very similar in size. Basically, it’s a “smallish” room, 11x12x10. The dedicated listening room with the cement floors in the ranch home was ideal for my 2 channel audio system. I had my system “dialed-in” and was thrilled to death with the sound quality I was getting, from an all-tube audio system. 
Now, I don’t even want to turn my audio system on!
Yes, setting up in a “near field “ configuration has helped somewhat to take the room out of the equation and the “bad acoustics” of the room.

For example, it’s harder to follow bass lines and the overall quality of the sound” suffers. There seems to be A LOT of “leakage” of sound. Especially noticeable when walking under the rooms where the stereo is playing. Sounds like a damn night club, thump, thump, thump. 
Anybody have any ideas to help room acoustics in the Vegas area, other than moving my man-cave, 2 channel audio system down to the first floor living room, which OF COURSE ain’t happening with the ol lady. 
@keeferdog  

My room is a little larger than yours - 14 x 26 x 8 1/2 basement room, poured concrete floor and wall behind the speakers.  Other long wall faces outside (walk-out basement), other two are interior framed finished drywall.  BIG speakers with BIG subs.  My problems were much less severe than yours.  That said, here are a few suggestions.  

I suggest that you go to @home, Hobby Lobby or a similar type of store and buy artificial plants.  Big and full with 2" to 5" long leaves, as tall as you can get to fit under your ceiling.  If possible, put them behind your speakers, in the corners and behind you   Small, maybe 4 foot plants, on the side walls between you and the speakers.  They act as big diffusers.  That will take care of sound above the upper bass.  Also absorbs the sound to help "downstairs."  

Bass might be a harder problem.  Try decoupling the speakers from the floor.  Try using books before investing anything.  if you have some Vibrapods laying around try those in the correct rating.  Spikes might not help because they are coupling the speaker to the floor.    

I'm using the plants in this manner and it works great. Just a suggestion for the floors without any experience to back it up.