SF speakers are very nice and we auditioned those and the Focals at the same time. The SF were a bit warm for us it seemed the Focals had better detail. You can’t go wrong with SF tho. Happy listening !
Ron
Seeking advice for speakers for my Family Room
Hello experts,
I am starting out on my quest to finally get some quality speakers, mostly making do with off-brand in-walls, in-ceilings for the most part for my family room.
And wanted to get your advice on what speakers to get for my kind of use case.
USE:
So, these will be used in my Family Room where I will be using them for 60/40 movie watching/listening music. Ocassionally, we would like to be able to pump up the volume and listen to either multi channel audio or 2 channel music for parties etc.
ROOM:
The room has a lot of hard, reflective surfaces (tile flooring, some, tile on the wall behind the TV, it also is a large room (36' wide x 18' deep with 9' ceilings). However, my main listening position/couch and media cabinet and the floor standers will be in the left 15' portion of the width of the room and at 13' away from the speakers/TV. Pictures attached below.
EQUIPMENT:
My receiver is Denon x3700H and I have a Polk PSW-505 12" sub. Eventually, I am open to getting an external amp to use with the pre-outs of my receiver, something like this Class D amp Purifi based VTV stereo amp. But first, I wanted to get my speaker selection nailed down.
SOURCE:
At the moment, I have tried only YT Music (at 256kbps AAC) since I already have a subscription for this. I am not an audiophile and neither is my use case for critical listening. So, while I understand there are better SQ options for streaming music, I have my reasons for sticking with YT music (lyrics, music videos etc)
SPEAKERS AUDITIONED:
I have tried the Klipsch RP-280FA with the Klipsch RP440C center channel and found them unbearably harsh/bright. Tried several modes, but couldn't even get through 2 songs without having to stop. This was at loud volumes...
Next, I tried the KEF R11's and these were MUCH better, but I still found the highs a bit bright.
Other contenders (based on what I am hearing are considered a bit more warmer speakers) I have not tried yet but would like to get some advice on before just going through the hassle of ordering, setting up, trying etc:
-Wharfedale EVO 4.4
-Sonus Faber Lumina V (would have to wait a long time to even get these)
Maybe later, I might look into room treatments, but I am thinking I will leave that for later, that can be a slippery slope/money pit, but for now, I am looking for speakers that don't sound harsh/bright at loud volumes for extended periods of time. I will probably get a matching center as well (for HT/movies) that would need to provide clear dialog.
Thanks,
KG
ROOM PICS:
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- 61 posts total
A sound panel does not really need to be thicker than 2". You only need really thick panels if you want to treat/absorb bass frequencies. I don’t think you will have bass node issues in your very large room and connected rooms.
There is a reason to put absorption right behind the speakers. When sound is generated by speakers, the sound waves will be reflected by the walls behind your listening position. Many reflections make their way back torwards the speaker and are actually reflected again by the wall "directly behind the speaker". This double-echo is what you want to avoid. That is the primary reason for recommending you move the speakers wider to be in front of the windows and use very heavy curtains as a sound absorber for mid and high frequencies. Ultimately, that whole tile floor as well as the tile wall behind the tv is what is killing you. Drywall is pretty okay for acoustics, but you still want to catch first reflections. Wall behind TV - I would look into maybe doing a heavy curtains here. One heavy curtain behind the tv to cover the tile - or possibly a diffusion panel to cover the tile. The diffusion panel could get expensive. Then heavy curtains for the windows. If you use curtains for both tile and windows, maybe think about floor-to-ceiling curtains so that the window/tile sections all look uniform (this is good for wife-acceptance-factor). Left wall - you currently have this multi-colored painting. I would look into getting a couple of GIK Acoustics art deco panels. Maybe a couple of 24x24 panels. Or even a big 48x36 if you want. You don’t need a whole lot of treatment on this wall, but you do need some. The panel should come down to the level of the couch. Good hint - put a mirror on the left wall and move it around. If there is a point where you can see the speakers from your listening position on the couch, you definitely need a panel there. See here: https://www.gikacoustics.com/product-category/acoustic-art-panels/ Floors - put as many large thick area rugs as possible. You have a small rug in front of your couch and I also see a small rug under that coffee table. I think the tile floor right in front of the speaker should get thick rugs for sure. Backyard windows - this is likely far away enough where it won’t affect acoustics too much, but you can put curtains on these windows as well if you still need a little bit more echo absorption. This will help. |
Hiring a professional is an option. But it certainly doesn't hurt to get yourself aquatinted with how the room sounds first hand. Start with clapping several times in the area you will be listening from. Do this as many times as it takes to get a feel for how the room echoes back. Before you clap, imagine what it might sound like and then see if your clap matches your memory. With each new acoustical solve/addition, clap a few times to hear the difference. After a few months you will start to sense what is happening.
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I think you have a difficult room to work with. Your room opens up to the right with all those hard surfaces. You lose a lot of compression and lose your sound stage. Maybe install hardwood floors and put two 9x12 rugs. The timber of the room would warm things up. You might add an ARCAM AVR. They are far better than Denon. you might also go and listen to a pair of the new Revel Performa towers with beryllium tweeters. For $7,000 the really sound wonderful with really nice detail.
Your biggest problem is all that open space to the right with all those reflective surface. So much sound is escaping from the listening area. |
- 61 posts total