Room Acoustics and Speaker interaction.

Nvp,

No offense taken. We're all here to help each other out and try to give advice to the best of our knowledge. Given the size of the room and where you want to place the speakers, I would go with Nvp's suggestion and get a front ported speaker and see how it goes. If it's still too boomy, consider room correction.

Hi guys,

Yes, I have tried some speakers in this small room already.

I've tried my late 1960's vintage 12" Tannoy Monitor Golds in custom cabinets that had dual front ports. Very boomy on the bass notes.

I've tried my late 1960's vintage Wharfedale W25's which are in a sealed enclosure, two way speaker with 8" woofer. No problems whatsoever, except that due to age, the cabinets are not up to my wife's approval for this room.

I've been thinking about the little Harbeth P3esr which is a sealed box, but it is a lossy design though. Or possibly the Harbeth M30.1 which is front ported, but a little larger than my vintage Wharfedale W25.

I've also been considering the DeVore Gibbon 3XL which is front ported.

There are no dealers near me for any of these speakers, however I will be attending the AXPONA show in Chicago and will be able to at least hear the Harbeths there for the first time.

So in answer to some of the questions from posts above....yes, this little room can have a booming bass problem as evidenced by the use of my Tannoy Golds, but at the same time, no problem exists with my sealed Wharfedale W25's.

So that is what lead me to ask about speaker design. Is the problem with ports, vs sealed design? Or is the problem with the amount of air the 12" gold driver can move vs the 8" driver of the Wharfedale?

I won't be buying anything until after the Chicago show. I appreciate everyone's willingness to help me with this and the sharing of everyone's thoughts and ideas. This IS a GREAT forum with very HELPFUL people. Thank you to EVERYONE.

"I've been thinking about the little Harbeth P3esr which is a sealed box, but it is a lossy design though."

What does the fact that it's a lossy design have to do with your situation and whether it will sound good in your room?

Hi Chayro,

Probably absolutely nothing.....I honestly really do not know. As I was talking about different speaker designs (sealed, ported, etc) and knowing that the Harbeth is lossy and specifically part of it's design, where some other speakers are not, I was simply just mentioning it.

As I do not know if this fact would play a role in my situation, I was hoping that someone that has more knowledge and experience with them than I might chime in.

Best regards,

Unfortunately, my experience has been that you just have to try different speakers and hope that the response clicks with the acoustic properties in your room. When you don't have placement options within the room, you just have to hope you find something that works. OTOH, Harbeths are designed to be used in actual control rooms and for nearfield listening situations, so you're on the right track, IMO.