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New set up in asymmetrical room - speaker placement etc

Hi there,
First time posting here. I'm hoping for some advice on speaker placement/room treatment in my room.

My room is not symmetrical; it is 11ft wide by 12ft long. On one end of the room (lengthways) there is a bay window. The bay doesn't take up the whole width of the room but starts approx 2ft+ from the wall on either side. The bay itself is about 2ft deep and around 6ft wide.

On the wall facing the bay is a large old world cast iron radiator. To the right of this as you face it is the door to the room

On one of the long walls is is a very shallow fire breast which is 5inches deep, so shallow alcoves. The long wall opposite is featureless.

Due to the radiator and door on one short wall and the bay at the other, I have positioned my speakers either side of the firebreast. My listening position (sofa against wall/head about 12 inches from wall with cushions on top of sofa to soften reflections for the moment) is facing the fireplace at the moment about 6ft from the speakers, the speakers are a similar distance apart from one another. They are about 16inches from the back wall, and 33inches from the side walls

The room has been recently repurposed and is now a dedicated hifi room. I have recently got back in to hifi after a 20yr hiatus. I sold all my old gear very many years ago due to other life priorities, so have started again from scratch. So the room and all the equipment are new, and being absolutely bamboozled by all the acoustic information/theory/science, I was hoping to pick your brains for just some "where to start" advice.

Knowing what speakers I have would help 😊; I have a pair of Quad S2 on stands, powered by a Rega Elex-r, sourced by the Bluesound Node (2021 model) and a CDT to the Node's DAC.

I set everything up last Friday and have run the system for about 100+ hrs to burn/break everything in (Radio Paradise left running mostly, with some short listening periods) before looking at serious speaker placement/room treatment etc. I don't have the budget to fully treat the room at the moment, so am just looking for advice on where to start, and advice on what I see as problem areas of the room, and for bass/mid bloom.

  1. The early reflection point for the left speaker will be actually in the bay; on the windows are plantation shutters (open by day, closed at night). I can't imagine what effect the windows/ shutters have on the early reflection point. I imagine the shutters would give some scattering, variable on whether open or shut. Should I use a stand mounted absorber panel where the reflection point would be if the bay were not there and it was one continuous wall? 
  2. For the right speaker, the early reflection point is where the radiator is; again, should I use a stand mount absorber here? 
  3. For the shallow alcoves, should I use bass traps/absorbers? I don't listen to bass heavy music, but nonetheless I'm getting "bloom" I assume from bass and low-mids. 
  4. All walls apart from where the sofa is are bare, so starting with a blank canvas, and probably need to reduce reflections generally, as I do get a little fatigue at the moment. I was thinking absorber panels on the wall behind me/listening position. The wall/firebreast directly in front of me, and the wall above the radiator I was planning on hanging art work to dampen down some of the Echo. Forgot to mention, I have a large wool rug covering most of the floor, which is oak tongue and groove laid on a suspended wooden floor. 
Apologies for the long post, I just wanted to be as detailed as possible. I'll add room photos when I figure out how 😊. 

Thanks very much for reading

Kind regards

Lyndon


128x128painter24
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
That room is fine. The window shades are diffusors. Fireplace too, if you get that big table out of the way. You do not in general want anything between the speakers, and if there is then the bigger and flatter the worse it is. Play around, you will hear what I mean. 

Take the speakers off the spikes. This will make it a lot easier to move them around listening for their best location. While you are figuring that out order some Nobsound springs. Unless you want to aim higher then Townshend Pods to replace the spikes. Huge improvement! 

You will find if you do this a lot of your "room problems" are really speakers vibrating the floor and walls. Remove this by isolating them on springs and you remove a lot of your "room problems". Remove them even more using damped Townshend Pods or Podiums, so much resonant coloration will be gone you won't believe it. This is way more effective than slapping panels everywhere. 

But seriously, remove the spikes. The most valuable thing you can do right now is play around with lots of different layouts. Moving the chair and components is just as important as moving the speakers. The easier you make this the more likely you are to do it. So ditch the spikes.
tablejockey
3,920 posts
 
I'd push that sofa closer out into the room also, closer to the speakers.

Again, JUST another thing to try. You're too far away from the speakers.  I'd start with the equilateral triangle position, based on the speakers new position, with the sofa pushed into the room away from the wall.

Push the sofa back according to ears. 


erik_squires
16,186 posts
 
For the first reflection points, and the radiator behind the speakers, get combination diffusors absorbers.  The GIK impression series panels are ideal, and you can get them with feet so they can be stood up without wall mounting.  Ideal for putting in front of your radiator and next to the bay.

Get the thickest panels you can behind your head, and don't neglect ceiling panels.

Lastly, if you are lucky enough to use Roon or a preamp with DSP, equalize your speakers so they are similar.  Don't attempt a flat curve, attempt an equal curve.  Due to the room you'll find some frequencies more prevalent than others.

Then listen and adjust accordingly.
painter24's avatar
painter24 OP
311 posts
 
I'd push that sofa closer out into the room also, closer to the speakers.

Again, JUST another thing to try. You're too far away from the speakers. I'd start with the equilateral triangle position, based on the speakers new position, with the sofa pushed into the room away from the wall.

Thanks again tablejockey, I've moved the sofa further in to the room about 10 inches. I'm now 7ft from speakers, which are 6ft apart. This is definitely improving things overall.

@millercarbon the Townshend are a little beyond my means. I know they are highly regarded, just out of my reach 😊. I was looking at cheaper alternatives; ie the viablue UFO series. Are these viable to put under my speaker stands (I can't make out from the website if you can add a M8 thread in to the bottom of the stand and into the UFO?)

@erik_squires  thanks for the advice for the panels; I am looking at GIK panels, and also Blue Frog Audio. Would you recommend panels in the alcoves behind the speakers?

Thanks very much everyone, the changes I've been able to implement just this afternoon have improved the sound quality..... Not to mention my mood 😊

Regards

Lyndon
erik_squires
16,186 posts
 
If you have alcoves on one side, but not the other, you might want to use matching absorbers on both sides.  This should give you a more uniform reflection field.
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