2. speakers
  3. 1123137920

Switch from Genesis V to ???

We moved from a big house in Houston (huge listening room with 11 foot ceiling) to a smaller house in Los Angeles. My current listening room is 13' wide by 23' long, 8' ceiling.

The problem is my main speakers, Genesis Vs, sound "congested" in this new environment. I don't know if it is because of the room dimensions or the composition of the walls/floor/etc., but I'm not nearly as happy as I used to be with these great speakers.

I have lately begun to think about going with something smaller with a decent sub to give me some of the bottom end I'd be missong without the Gens.

So what do I do - try to tweek the room and the speaker setup, or swap out speakers? I have to admit that all the press and positive comments about the Merlin VSM line has piqued my interest. I do like a speaker with a lot of detail and musicality, but I also like plenty of slam (I'm a professional musician and like my music LOUD).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Jim
jwilt
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
You may want to experiment with tuning the room. Go get some compressed fiberglass Owens Corning seven hundred series panels from an acoustics supply company. I got them for about $5 each. Place them in critical areas around the room. You'll get a feel for how they absorb reflections. It should at least tell you if tuning the room will make a big difference. I would guess it will. If it doesn't, you haven't spent all that much. If it does, you can go ahead and cover the panels with material of your choice, and it makes an aesthetically pleasing tuning solution to the room. I found that tuning the room with sound panels (did by self, didn't hire in a pro) was one of the most inexpensive, yet profound improvements in my system.
jwilt OP
45 posts
 
Thanks for the responses, guys. To answer a few questions, the floor is commercial grade vinyl plank flooring (sounds cheesy but is actually nice) over concrete. I am limited in speaker placement as there needs to be a walkway to a door behind the system (in the right corner of the room). Also, and I know this is a BIG no-no with dipoles, there is an armoire in between the Vs that houses the television and some of my other components. In the move, I had to consolidate my 2 channel and theater setups. I have moved my speakers as far forward as possible, but they are barely in front of the armoire - this is another reason I am considering the change. I'm afraid I may have painted myself into a bit of a corner with this setup. I was thinking of possibly going with a dlp or plasma screen to eliminate the furniture in-between.

Thanks again.

Jim
richards
145 posts
 
Jwilt
1) You'll never get the Genesis sounding good in that position. Dipoles NEED room to brrrreeeeeathe, with nothing in between.
2) Definitely get rid of the armoir if you can't pull the speakers into the room (or at least put a blanket over it). A plasma would be a good start, or a projector even better.
3) If you can't move the speakers further out into the room, I'd consider changing speakers. I'm a recent convert and fan of line arrays, which load the room in a benign way.
More to discover