Another reminder about room acoustics....

My living room is open on the right side to the dining area, on the left is a fireplace wall and bookshelves. I always had trouble due to the lack of sound reflection from the carpeted dining room, compared to the reflection off the fireplace and bookcase wall. Well...

We just finished some light remodeling, which included new carpet in the living (listening) room, and hardwood in the adjoining dining area. Got all my gear set back up last night and a couple of things were VERY apparent...

1) The bass in the room is much tighter now. I had a bit of a "bump" at around 50-60hz before, and it's noticeably flattened. I attribute this to carpet and padding that are much denser than the old carpet and pad. We installed a berber and a 120 ounce premium waffle type pad in the place of cheap contractor grade plush carpet and lightweight re-bond pad. Even the wife noticed that the rooom sounds, in her words, "clearer" and "richer"- and that was on a Steely Dan CD she's really not fond of.

2) The image is better defined and there is more ambient sound. I didn't have to try and skew the speakers to make up for the lack of a primary reflection from the right side as I did before. There's still obviously a difference between the left siding having a wall and the right a dining room, but with that dining room floor covered in a reflective surface, there is a lot more sound coming back than there was before, when it was basically a black hole for sound.

3) I hadn't really listened in a week or more since the house was torn up and things always sound better after an ear vacation it seems.

I think the biggest surprise was the improvement in bass which I attribute to the carpet and pad (correctly?). Next time you're looking at that stuff keep it in mind that better pad not only lasts longer and feels better, it might very well sound better.