Speakers that sound great in terrible rooms

Hi @audiokinesis

Oh, I believe that different types of speaker dispersion patterns will sound different, and some may sound excellent in a hotel room. I have no doubt that bi-polar or cardioid or line sources are going to attack the problem of the hotel room very differently. I’m not "skeptical" but I’m inexperienced. I would love to hear your speakers at a show.

My comment is more general in that in a poor sounding room audiophiles often attempt to do detailed comparison between speakers or cables or whatnot when I can barely stand to be in the room.



Best,

E

Alot of interesting discussion. When I hear "terrible room" I imagine alot of potential improvement with minimal effort, i.e. low-hanging fruit. Simple acoustic testing could pinpoint the most critical problems to address.

So is there universal agreement that given $x to spend, one should spend some of that on basic room treatment thereby getting better sound out of whatever speaker is chosen? 

I use a room that might otherwise have been called "terrible".  I did a lot of work to it, but the finishing touch acoustically was the ArtNovion wall treatment. I dislike the appearance of most wall treatment, but what got is seriously beautiful and highly effective on he specific acoustic problems  my room had. Having lived through the room problem, the synergy between room acoustics and speakers should NEVER be ignored.  

I got to thinking, I listen to my stereo indirectly a great deal of the time. I'm at my desk 90% of the time, in the kitchen area, but the stereo is in the living room.  Honestly it sounds really nice (for a humble system).

Must be the GIK Acoustics. :)

Best,

E

@papafrog:

So is there universal agreement that given $x to spend, one should spend some of that on basic room treatment thereby getting better sound out of whatever speaker is chosen?

Nothing in audiophile land is universal, but the acousticians and my own experience says yes. You don’t have to think of this as a percentage, but room treatment makes rooms more speaker friendly, more bass and subwoofer friendly as well. Many 2-way speakers will sound much bigger with room treatment. So much so a 3-way or subwoofer may be less important.

Timbral balance, imaging, transparency and resolution all are enhanced by a good room. I can highly recommend GIK acoustic products regardless of the cost of the rest of the equipment.

But the point of this thread was, in my mind, a thought exercise, what if these are not options? What then?

I like Larson and Janszen also. I will add Spatial and Amphion to the mix - both control directivity pretty well.