2 Channel system sounds weak and lackluster

Well that's a bummer.  Small and medium sized rooms always have a place where the bass gets cancelled out and causes a big dip in LF volume.  Try moving you seating position and see if that brings up the bass you're hearing.

The untreated room is a real problem.  Since the room is almost the most important component in the system I would work on that, even if it's just baby steps, before swapping out equipment.  Too many people change all kinds of equipment and never deal with the room and end up frustrated.

The untreated room is sending full force, full range sound reflections off all the surfaces in the room competing with the direct sound from your mains.  This will be mostly mid range and HF signals that will arrive at your listening position all out of time (phase).  Good luck and cheers.

Depending on the age, I would check the DC offset on the amp.   It is easy.  Here is the procedure:

To check DC offset on an amplifier, connect a multimeter to the speaker terminals, with the black lead to the negative and the red lead to the positive. Ensure the amplifier is powered on and not muted, and the volume is set to a low level. A reading of 0 mV or close to it indicates a properly working amplifier. 

Note:  I have an old 90’s ADCOM GFA-585LE that was not sounding right.  My DC offset was .9 volts, ie. almost 1 volt.  Way, way too high.  After a repair, it sounded great again. 

Hi @boxboy83 ,  Is the sound equally dull with vinyl vs digital?  I always found the Directstream dull sounding.  If with everything, I would perhaps try a more enlightened amplifier.  I have not heard this AR amp.   I am not surprised the Wharfedale speakers were worse.  If you were to look at a new amp, what would be your price range, and new or used?

Just speculating:  I believe that amp is an older Class D design?   Wondering if that could be a bottleneck.  Of course with older gear there is always the possibility of deterioration over time.  

If so there are newer options that are very cost effective and low risk to try.  

Adding a sub even in a small room can also often help add ooomph.

+1 @rick_n   

The reflections are going to play havoc with the sound.  I agree that before you start swapping out equipment, work on the seating position and try some makeshift acoustic treatments just to see where that takes the sound.  Throw down a rug(s) in front of the speakers.  Got a couple of book cases, put them in on the side walls where the 1st reflection point is.  Put a few pillows in the corners.  Extra sofa, put it on the back wall.  You get the idea.

And just double check the speakers are hooked up correctly and not out of phase.  The picture of the back of the amp shows the speaker connections are mirror imaged left to right.  (The "+" connections are to the outside.)

Lastly, you mentioned moving the speakers around.  Have you also played with the toe-in as well?

...just my 2 cents...   

- Jeff

Sounds like room acoustics to me. A room of that size can be a great audio room. Your equipment definitely sounds up to the task. 

Before doing anything permanent. Start by simulating room treatments. Get all the couch cushions and pile up behind the speakers. Find a way to lay temporary carpets... if necessary, pull out multiple layers of towels and all the bedding and cover the floor. You want to deaden behind the speakers, and reflection points on the sidewalls and the floors. 

I just finished helping a friend turn an extra room about the size of yours into and audio room. It sounds fantastic. We started with couch cushions, pillows and carpets and then over the last year he purchased new and used ASC tube traps and panels. The room sounds fantastic with Wilson Watt Puppies. You can turn it up loud and  it sounds great, dynamic with deep punchy bass. 

Ultimately we chose the narrow wall to place the speakers. 

I would get a large rug for the floor and try the speakers on the long wall.  

I once lived in a rental house while we were looking for something permanent.  The living room was small and rectangular.  I put the speakers on the short wall and it sounded awful. I didn't listen to music much in that house. That might not be your problem , but it's worth a try. 

Agree if not sure, definitely play around with the setup first before changing anything.

Do you have Roon?   Any other DSP at your disposal?  That's a good weapon for bad acoustics, but get the room conditioned and setup as best possible always first.

Thanks for all the replies. I knew room treatment was important but I didn't realize it would cause the sound to be so off. I have moved in and out, side to side, toed in and out and while I notice differences, that never seems to lift the veil so to speak. I'll rearrange the room tonight and see if the long wall helps at all.

When using all of the components in previous apartments I never had issues but they have never all been in a dedicated room this size. I will try and buy a rug or something first and try the cushion techniques but replacing components are way out of my budget at the moment. 

Other replies: Yes, the sound is equally off with vinyl or CD. The directstream has been some of the most revealing audio I've heard in my personal system but at another apartment using the wharfedales and a smaller amp. The ARC has been used before with the Focal and Rega with fantastic results as well. Not to say it isn't a possible bottleneck but it would be a new development. I will definitely re-check all my connections to make sure the phase isn't messed up somewhere but I'm fairly confident its setup right.

One other thing to note: I'm located in Alaska, so buying things might be possible but shipping is a bear and there are no local stores to really try or experiment with

Are you a hunter?  A bear skin rug might be just what you need.  :) 

I forgot to mention something important.  If you're going to spend your hard earned money on finishing your room with rugs, drapes or whatever, use natural fibers.  Synthetic fibers like polyester, rayon etc. will help but they are still reflective.  You will get much, much better results with natural fibers like wool, cotton etc. Good luck!

get your speakers away from the walls.....

get your speakers away from the walls.....

Yup.  Almost always a good idea unless specifically designed otherwise.

Once they sound best away from walls, then add a sub if needed.  That's a good formula in general.

 dull and lifeless is not a room problem. Since you tried 2 different speakers, I'd swap the amp.

A bear skin rug might be just what you need.  :) 

shipping is a bear 

problem solved

 dull and lifeless is not a room problem. Since you tried 2 different speakers, I’d swap the amp.

I generally agree with this. By all means, OP should experiment with positioning in case he’s sitting in an null whereby bass is largely cancelled out - but quite often when sound is bad, it’s squarely the gear’s fault. 

Now my favored Tannoys are a different than most because 1. their controlled dispersion makes them more room friendly and 2. their internal fast-on connectors (drivers, binding posts) are awful and come loose easily - but a lesson I learned is to ensure your drivers are actually wired correctly. At least feel the woofer surrounds during playback, to verify they’re working. A "cold" woofer will certainly make the sound lacking! I’ve also recieved a set of Tannoys with all kinds of mis-wired nonsense - out of phase, tweeter and woofer leads mixed up - they obviously sounded like GARBAGE until that was resolved, then they sounded GREAT :) There are many mistakes made out there, and they aren’t always caught.

Given that you tried two different speakers and have two different sources, I would put my bets on something is wrong with the amp or the cables (out of phase, etc).  But usually phase or room problems are not this drastic, especially if you listened near field and you have front ported speakers.  When is the last time (if at all) you have heard the playback you expected from your amp?  Or possibly electrical issue before or after the breaker box?

dull and lifeless is not a room problem. Since you tried 2 different speakers, I'd swap the amp

Swapping the new speakers for Wharfedale Dentons clearly made the sound worse.  So logic says upgrading the speakers would likely make the sound better.

Like @mulveling I am a big fan of single apparent source speakers because they reduce the confusing effects of wall reflections.  I'd try some KEF, Fyne or Tannoys

The first thing I’d do is get some kind of a rug down as that bare floor is definitely not doing you any favors.  It might not solve your problem but will almost certainly improve your sound regardless, and it’s at least a start.  Is the lack of impact more of a bass thing or is it up above that as well?

@boxboy83 

As mentioned this size room can sound great. You could try a corner set up too. I highly recommend consulting Jeff at hdacoustics. He is very good and very reasonable on the price of designing what your room needs. He designed my room and I built it while my speakers were being built. Good luck! 
 

Ron 

I would create a 3ft triangle listening space and really listen to what's coming out of the speakers. Play at a low volume and just focus on the level of detail and dynamics. This should minimize the room effects so you can determine whether the sound is lackluster coming out of the speakers. If so, room treatment might not help much. But if it sounds good close up, the room is the problem. 

@boxboy83 

Had the same issue with a Luxman 590 AX II trying to drive a pair of KEF Reference 1 Metas. It was a totally lifeless presentation with no bass. I brought the amp to my local dealer, thinking it was defective. It was not; the amp could not drive the speakers. I purchased a pair of McIntosh MC 611s, and the problem was solved. I could fool you into thinking that I am running subs!

BTW, I posted here, and most said it was my room. It is your amp; change it out. Room treatments are highly overrated. No matter what you do or how much you spend on treatments, you will not bring life to the system—best of luck.

Do you use Q-Tips at all?

@gano nailed it ... 

If I remember correctly, the Focal Aria 936 have vented ports, one of which is located under the speaker cabinet ... correct?  I spent an afternoon auditioning those speakers several years ago in a sound room that was a little larger than yours (i.e.  basically a 17' or 18' square with 7.5' ceiling), had minimal room treatment, dropped panel non-metal (probably fiberglass) ceiling tiles and thin builder's grade wall-to-wall carpeting.  They were powered by a MAC MA5200, then a similar Luxman integrated and fed some pristine vinyl through a Rega P3 & Ortofon 2M Blue.  Listened to some of my test CDs, as well.  In that particular room, the Focal were positioned with their backs (not baffles) a good 2.5' to 3' from the wall behind them and separated from each other by around 8' or 9'.  My ears fell in love with those speakers!

How close to the wall in your room do you need to position your Focal to get the sound you prefer?  Is your room strictly rectangular?  Windows?  How many?  Where?  Any behind the listening position?  How much empty space is there behind the listening position?  What's under your vinyl flooring?  Plywood subfloor?  Concrete?  Is the ceiling drywall or something else?  Does it have beams?  Is there more than one egress or opening in the room?  Are the walls drywall?  How much and what kind of furniture do you have in the room?  Stuffed?  Minimal furnishings?  Large bookcases?

I know!  I know!  Lots of questions!  However, as some have alluded to here, all variables to consider because a sound room is as important as the components you put in it.  There is such a thing as overkill when it comes to speakers and power sources for any given sound room and too little oomph.  As for most things related to audiophile sound fidelity, matching components is important, and the sound room is all too often left out of that equation.

I am certainly no expert when it comes to sound room design.  However, from a practical point of view of having had different kinds of sound systems in many different kinds & sizes of sound rooms, per se, I would think twice about putting down wall-to-wall carpeting.  I recently got rid of my wall-to-wall carpeting and discovered there was antique type tongue & groove wide pine flooring underneath.  So, I had that refinished and listened to my system for a while with the bare wood floor.  Later, for aesthetic reasons, I put down a couple large Persian rugs and couldn't be more pleased with the improved sound fidelity over the wall-to-wall carpeting.  My sound room (i.e.  living room), however, is larger than yours and has a higher ceiling.  So, I guess I'm seconding or thirding or whatever the motion to experiment a bit, first, before going whole hog and putting down wall-to-wall carpeting.  Use some rugs or get some remnants to carpet the whole room and try that.  Then, use some area rugs in front of the speakers, etc.  I think that might give you a pretty good idea of where to go from there.  You may find you don't need any sophisticated room treatment(s) at all, and simple window curtains or drapes or a strategically placed bookcase might suffice.

Good Luck!   

Until you address room acoustics, nothing you do will matter much to improve your sound quality. Given your room dimensions, the critical distance, the point at which the reverberant sound level equals the direct sound level is between 18 and 24" in front of your speakers. At a normal listening distance, about 90% of what you hear is the room. Room equalization, contrary to popular belief, can do nothing to address this, as it only affects the input INTO the room and not the reflected OUTPUT, the reverberant field, of the room.

Some recommendations have been made using rugs and furniture - they will help a little, but a small room treatment package, including 6 - 2’X4’ 2" custom covered rock wool or fiber glass panels and a couple bass traps is really the answer. Room calculation will show you the recommend minimum square footage of coverage for your room. Acoustimac https://www.acoustimac.com/room-package-deals/home-theater-packages makes a great package for about $850, covered in your choice of materials and colors that will do the job. Once hung wall panels are easy, youll need a friend and a stepladder for the ceiling), you will hear a found improvement, and can start with other tweaks like speaker placement and toe-in which will now be easily audible. And don’t believe that more expensive panels work better. Under the covers they’re almost all Fiberglass 704 or Rockwool. 

Your Focal speakers are capable of sounding great, especially for their price point.  I had some paired with a Naim Supernait 3 in a large room and they sounded great.  I agree with others that a rug and furnishings could help, but I don’t think this is your only issue, I think it’s worth trying a different amp.

Thinking about this more I still say it’s the amp (maybe damaged during the move?) or the power / electrical wiring at the new place (either before or after the breaker, or maybe both?).  Try getting an extension cord long enough to get to another circuit?  Try bringing over the smallest speakers and amp plus the CD source to a friend’s house and try it there?

@boxboy83 

Try the tried and true 1/3 1/3 1/3 room division and the equilateral triangle shape as a starting point. Measure your room into thirds using the longest length.  In theory, your speakers would be 4’ 4” from the front wall and your listening position would be 8’8” from the front wall.  Start with the front of your speakers 3’ from the the front wall. Then set them 5’ apart, tweeter to tweeter.  Then measure maybe 4.5’-5’ from the front of your speakers and make the triangle.  That’s where your ears should be.   Start with your speakers aimed at your shoulders. Right speaker aimed at your right shoulder, left at left shoulder.  Everything is variable, but these are generally good starting points.
 

My speakers have the tweeters are mounted too high and the speakers have to be angled down a bunch!  Otherwise the sound is really dull!  It’s really important that the tweeters are at the same height as your ears!

Oh and I don’t know about getting a Bear skin rug, but a carpet and pad is a great place to start with room acoustics.
 

All the best.

The q tip is one possibility as it acts like a ram rod impacting wax in the ear canal.i excavated alot of wax out of people's ear under a microscope for 40 plus years use half rubbing alcohol and half vinegar to clean you ear with a bulb syringe gentle pressure.if your old you could have a change in hearing an audiologist might help with hearing test.enjoy the music hope you find the problem 

@boxboy83 Are you able to set your system up on the room diagonal? If you can try that it may help.

Yes always start with clean ears. 

Untreated room!?!?!  🤣

As a test hang some blankets on all the walls, including and especially behind the speakers and listen again. 
 

You’re welcome!

A lot of good advice.  You know it’s not your equipment because it sounded good to you before in another room, so it’s the room.  Start with affordable treatments like the rug and wall hangings that you mentioned.  Set the mood too. Low level lighting, a comfortable seat and listen with your eyes closed.  Just typing it makes me ready for a nap.  Good luck and enjoy your music! 

You are in need of some room treatments as others have noted.

Lots of advice here, but none of the basics. 

Are the speakers in phase? That will 100% give you what you are describing. 

Is everything setup correctly? Do you have any EQ or tone set wrong? Any muting going on? 

Besides finding the best spot of the speakers, would suggest unplugging everything, setting it all back up, going over every setting, then use some test tones.

I changed 2 cables going to my sub, for weeks my system sounded dull, hollow. Thought my equipment was going out. Actually picked up another amp, plugged it all in, and it sounded wonderful!!! Went back to my old amp, it now sounded better over the "new" one. Found one a speaker cable was backwards. It has been out of phase. Was both happy to figure it out, but sad, I purchased a new amp to figure it out. 

My pre-amp has 3 stage muting. One day, again, after adding a new TT cable, the volume needed to be up all the way. Nothing fixed it. Didn't sound bad, just no volume. Turns out, I pressed one of the muting buttons, also thought my equipment was going out.

Point, is, we panic, when something is not right, in our panic, do something dumb. Sometimes the most obvious problem is the problem.

Ok so update, I swapped out the amp for the one I used with the Wharfedales at my last apartment. It sounded pretty much the same for both speakers. I repositioned my listening room along the long wall and it made a drastic difference, even threw some blankets on the floor to see if that helped at all and it seemed to make a notable improvement. As much as I would love to buy a new amp, finances are pretty tight right now so I can only do so much.

My plan for the moment is go to Costco and buy the small sound deadening panels they had because its cheap and gives me a chance to see how it helps and then get an area rug and throw that down. Thanks to everyone for their advice and input, once I try a few things in the following week I’ll report back. Hopefully it truly is just poor room treatment because that’s a lot easier to get spouse approval for vs new equipment 

@oldaudiophile 

You are correct about the front ports and bottom port, positioned right they are incredibly capable speakers especially for their price point (or the pre-covid discount that I got mine at).

The room is rectangular but with a bump in the wall for a closet (previous owners used it as a bedroom and I will be making it a rectangular room when I can get around to renovating). One window (covered with a blanket currrently) on one long wall, the other long wall is where the door to the room is. The window was to my left when listening on the short wall, behind the speakers when on the long wall. Flooring is vinyl pressed wood planks over top of a concrete foundation (basement room). Drywall ceiling and walls, unsure of quantity or quality of insulation (I would assume a fair amount because Alaska). Inside the room is my small leather loveseat and two 8 cube record shelves, one laying down and one upright, behind the couch and beside the couch.

I’ll give it a go with room treatment as you suggested, from what I can tell already it seems to be the right direction

@mswale I went over all of the connections, double and triple checked that they're all going to the correct terminal. Even swapping out to the other amp gave the same results, the only notable change was moving around in the room. I have the option on the Audio Research amp to change the phase and on the DAC I'm using, but no tweaking provided the full change I want until moving the rig around.

then it's your ears :)

@gano I genuinely can't tell if you're trolling or if you're electing to not read the part where I said the sound improved after small adjustments or that the entire system sounded great in the last apartment I lived in 6 months ago. Headphones, earbuds, even my truck, all sound great which is why I specified that it was the 2 channel system that needed assistance. I'm 30 and recently had an audio screening for work, ears are working just fine

I wasn't trolling. I also didn't mean your ears are bad or wrong or off. All I meant was that there is no synergy between the sound and your ears. It sounds like you tried everything and it's still off.

My apologies if it came off offensive, that's not what I meant. 

@mark200mph +1   The ear wax + smutz thing is a substantial possibility. It was for me. 

Knowing I have condition called surfers ear I thought I could get ahead of the issue using over the counter applications and rubber bulb warm water rinses during showering. 

When I finally went to the Doctor his typical measure for removing this type of obstruction didn't work as it had adhered itself to the ear drum. 

He filled the canal with a warm solution that works like WD-40 (his analogy) for twenty minutes . Afterwards he was able to remove a 3/8" wad of junk.  

Even a film of wax and dust on the ear drum will could inhibit the quality of hearing. 

Just trying to make audiophile aware of maximing hearing quality and quality of life.happy listering.

@boxboy83 I'm surprised no one has mentioned AC,  quality of AC can vary widely, the fact you liked system in another room points to this. Also none of what you're complaining about point to the room being the culprit, that room is live, full of reflections, if anything you should be complaining about shrill, overly alive sound. Try to audition a power conditioner before making any other moves.

Have your ears checked first after Q-tipping; hydrogen peroxide flushing is a cheap homebrew means as a second follow-up.  Age effects the ears of all, despite claims to the perfection of one’s hearing.

Putter about with some room treatments....usually ignored, but can yield some great improvements without resorting to finding your closest rabbit hole to dive into.

If you plan to reno the room anyway, get that behind you prior to any major treatments.  Any treatments prior to run the risk of being ill-advised or just plain wrong and a waste of $’s and time...

Get a sub sized for the space and note if there’s still issues.

If you like what you’ve already have, it’s a good exercise to improve upon what’s at hand before taking the dive into one’s chosen ’upgrade’ options.....

At that junction, the only sound that sucks will come from the $’s passing through your wallet or cards..... ;)

@boxboy83 A few more thoughts FWIW:  I don't know what Focal recommends for positioning those speakers.  However, I think positioning them (system too? - same cable lengths?) at the long wall was definitely a good decision in a room with those dimensions.  I'm not familiar with your amp but I am familiar with your TT & cart (on my short list when I bought my new TT).  I sincerely doubt the weak link you're looking for is system or component related, especially since you thought everything sounded good at your previous abode.  Rega is a proponent of low mass design.  As such, more than most other TTs in that class/price point, they need rock solid support.  Hopefully, your rack or whatever you have your components on provides that support.  Is the fidelity shortfall across the board or just related to vinyl?  If vinyl only, then I would ask myself how much mileage does the Exact cart have on it?  Are your records clean?  Do you use stylus cleaner?  Have you checked TT calibration settings since your last move?  A well-maintained Exact cart in a well-maintained system using clean vinyl should provide at least 500 hours of solid play.

What kind of AudioQuest speaker cables and other interconnects are you using?  Any chance any of them got squashed or seriously compressed when you were moving?  If so, you might want to check continuity.  Last thought, what kind of connectors are you using with the speakers?  Banana plugs?  Spades?  Might want to check those, as well.

Good Luck!        

@boxboy83 Almost forgot!  Did your speakers come with bungs?  If so, you might want to experiment with that, too.

A warning to all!  Never use a Q-tip to clean out the wax in your ears. It can be very harmful!

The Dangers of Using Q-Tips for Earwax