Digital Room Correction vs Room Treatments
I finally got a mic and used REW to analyze my room. Attached is the freq response for 3 different speakers (Monitor Audio Gold Reference 20, Sonus Faber Electa Amator II, and Sonus Faber Concerto Domus).
They all show similar characteristics - at least the most prominent ones. I did play around with the Amators trying them closer together and more forward in the room, but the major characteristics you see were mostly unchanged.
With this magnitude and number of deviations from a more ideal frequency response curve, am I better off biting the bullet and just doing digital room correction, or can these issues be addressed with room treatments without going crazy and having the room look like Frankenstein’s lab.
Cost is a consideration, but doing it right/better is the most important factor.
If digital room correction is a viable way to address this, what are the best solutions today? My system is largely analog (80’s/90’s Mcintosh preamp/amp, tube phono stage), and streaming isn’t a priority (though I’m not against it).
If the better digital correction solutions come in the form of a streaming HW solution, that’s fine, I’d do that.
Just looking for guidance on the best way to deal with the room, as both serious room treatments and digital EQ room correction are both areas I haven’t delved into before.
Thanks all. If more info is needed, let me know. My room is 11.5’ wide and 15.5’ long with the speakers on the short wall. Backs of speakers are 3-3.5’ off the front wall and they’re at least 2ft from either side wall. Some placement flexibility is there, but not a huge amount.
@kofibaffour So if the corner wedges are 12" x 12" x 17" (hypotenuse) and as long as needed to stretch from cabinet top to ceiling or on top of a cabinet between the ceiling and back wall - this size will still be beneficial? FYI, it's actually further back into the room that reduces the major null. This 50-80Hz null is pretty much there with every speaker, but various in magnitude based on listening position. So it must be a room thing, as with the 35Hz peak. |
Got a single SVS SB 1000 Pro and played with some of the settings. In conjunction with the variable loudness and 5 band EQ on my McIntosh C35 (I only tweaked one band), here’s my latest frequency response curve:
It’s zoomed in a fair amount so looks pretty lumpy, but the orange lines show the +/-3dB range and red lines the +/-5dB lines, so I’m mostly within 3dB except for the 100Hz and 575Hz peaks, ignoring the 28Hz peak as I think I can deal with that with the room compensation feature on the SVS and there’s likely little source material with musical info that low anyway (with my musical library). So not bad at all. I’m not sure a second sub is really required, but am open to picking a second SVS up if I can find one for a good price. |
I'm a firm believer that bass trapping can solve a lot of issues for little money and effort. Taming that low end helps a bunch as Eric pointed out. My room response before and after bass traps and treatments: https://www.audiogon.com/systems/10635#&gid=1&pid=10 That resulted in a +- 4.5 db range for my sweeps. I was told years ago that +-5 is a reasonable target for room response. If true, then I've told my pea brain to just hold tight and enjoy.
All of this is in my TN systems page photos. I failed at pasting in the graph photo here. No matter what I do or how I measure I have not eliminated the 100 hz bump. I've considered a cheap equalizer to knock it down but really don't want another device in the chain. The room is like Mother Nature. It always prevails.
|
@bugredmachine Your system seems to have a little extra energy from 1-6kHz - does it seem a bit bright to you? |
@captouch I don’t really feel that it is bright. I am a very analytical listener as well and like the air I get. Maybe that psyches me into a satisfaction level. My hearing is pretty decent to 14khz for an old man per the test 3 years ago. You’ll notice that this region also attenuated 3 to 4 db just by taming the bass. At the time, new room, new speakers to me, and lots of first reflection treatments have helped the response. I’m not into tooting my own horn, but it sounds pretty awesome these days. Cables can have a great impact, of course, but I have no listening fatigue after spending 3 years evaluating cables and "choosing wisely" for synergy. Happy listening. |
