digital room correction


My system consists of the following:

B&W 803S
Mac 352
Mac C41
Wyred4 Sound dac2

I have a fairly congested great room as far as furniture, but have managed to get my speakers about 44 from back wall, but unfortunately around 46" from side wall. I do have a cabinet between speakers, but speakers are fairly far infront of the cabinet. Listening position is about 9 feet from each speaker.

I have tried for years with moderate success to position my speakers. My soundstage is OK and my detail is pretty good, but I never have reached the holy grail that I read about, which is more depth, wall to wall soundstage and that holographic feel.I am starting to think its a myth (seriously)after hundreds of repositions.

I know my room is tough. I really like my Dac2 and have been using J River 15 as my software. Has anyone played with their limited room correction, Is there a good, reliable but not too technical room correction package that may help get me to the next level?
dmm53

Showing 1 response by bryoncunningham

I never have reached the holy grail that I read about, which is more depth, wall to wall soundstage and that holographic feel.

I don't think room correction is the right approach to this problem. I use room correction myself, so I am not discouraging you from trying it. Room correction, or simply EQ, can yield huge improvements in bass SQ, but it is not the best approach to issues relating to imaging and soundstaging, IMO.

I strongly suspect that the problem is your listening room.

If you want more depth, I'm afraid you're going to have to get rid of the cabinet between the speakers. IME, any large object between the speakers diminishes soundstage depth and interferes with "holographic" imaging. If you could get your speakers farther from the front wall, that might also help improve depth.

If you want to improve the overall size of the soundstage, you may want to look at the ratio of diffusion to absorption in the room. Is the room overly damped? Adding diffusion can dramatically improve soundstaging.

If you remove the cabinet from between the speakers and add diffusion both behind the speakers and at the first-order reflection points on the side walls, I think you will be well on your way toward finding what you're looking for.

Good luck.

Bryon