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Bass reinforcement for very large room

My main system resides in the great room of our open-concept house - essentially a 30x30 open area (entryway, family room, dining room, kitchen) with 15' ceilings.

My second system resides in the 11x15 master bedroom.

Recently I have become especially aware at how much better the much more modest system in the BR sounds - it is weighty and more authoritative. Why? Because no matter what sort of main speakers I use in the large room, it seems they cannot produce enough space for that very large space. In contrast, the BR speakers, with smaller drivers and lesser bass extension, pressurize the room and fill it with sound so easily.

The speakers (now) are Hyperion 938s. They are a quite-capable full-range speaker, solid to the low 30s or so. (The 'lack of weight' that plagues the great room is something that surely extents all the way up to the upper-bass, probably 125-150 Hz, so the speakers' extension is really not too vital. IOW, if they were flat to 20 Hz it wouldn't be much different.)

I am thinking subs are the only/best way to cure this. I could use some kind of EQ - but that would undoubtedly result in great driver excursion and an extreme load on my (modestly-powered) amplifiers. I think I need a lot more driver *area*. In other words, in this case there's no replacement for displacement. (And, by the way, I am no 'bass fiend'.)

I've had subs before. I don't like them because it seems they just never integrate *perfectly*. Especially if they must be relied on all the way up to 100 Hz or higher (which is something I've never even tried).

I don't really have any questions per se and am really just ruminating out loud, but if anyone has any thoughts to share, be my guest. (Moving might be my best bet.)
paulfolbrecht
johnk's avatar
johnk
1,975 posts
 
Altec model 19 a good idea...
paulfolbrecht OP
603 posts
 
Bmckenney, I mispoke there really: one speaker is 3' from side wall. But the other "side wall" is just a 1' jog in the wall - it comes out just 1 ft. And then another 5' later it jogs a bit more for the bedroom door and then the foyer. But the actual wall is 15' from that speaker.

So, in another words, the speakers are in a 15' "alove" along that wall, which is essentially open on the right side. The speakers are about 8' apart, with the listening distance at 10' as I'd said.

That wall is the only possibly location for speakers. It's how the house is built. The living room is open on the right (foyer/dining room) and the rear (dinette & kitchen).

Shardone, I have tried subs only for very low bass, crossing them sharply at 30-35 Hz. So I think that using subs (and good ones) crossed higher but at lower level might fill in that light-sounding midbass nicely.

I probably somewhat exaggerated (unintentionally) the problem here in the OP. It's not like the room sounds terribly thin or awful - as a matter of fact it sounds great most of the time on most material. But it is lacking that very full/pressurized bass feel you get in smaller rooms. There is "enough" bass to shake the floor on some material, but it's not the same. I've been listening in this room for years, and had not "noticed" this problem, nor had others comment on it, until I acclimated myself to the effects of listening in the smaller room.
bmckenney
91 posts
 
I don't quite understand your room(s) dimensions. It sounds confusing. Pictures would help. I have no experience with setting up speakers in a huge room, but I believe if you have big enough speakers you can energize it just like you can a smaller room. If I'm wrong, then sorry.

I know what you mean about an energized room, and I know what you mean when its not. And it is all about speaker placement. But if you have L-shaped room or alcoves or whatever you have, and placement constraints because of the wife or living spaces, then you're screwed. And you can have these same issues in smaller rooms too, IMO. I don't agree that medium and small sized rooms will be always energized at all. I've heard enough that suck so badly, including at dealers who just don't get speaker placement, that I know small rooms will sound like your big room. So I feel its therefore just as possible to load a large room like a small room.

If you have appropriate speakers for the room, size wise etc, you're not done. You need to place them properly.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,428 posts
 
Smaller room - let say 15x15 will amplify 40Hz (1150/15/2=38Hz) creating effect of bass pressure while 30x30 room amplifies 20Hz not present in music material therefore sounding more flat (natural).
ghstudio
141 posts
 
You will save yourself a lot of grief by inserting an Audyssey MultiEQ in the system to smooth any Sub you install...and smooth out any other room gremlins. It's amazing how that device will change the entire sound (for the better).
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