Filling a 6600 Cu. ft. room


Hi there I am curious to see just how large of speakers and how many sub woofers it would take to fill a 30x40 space

Its a barn and has vaulted ceilings obviously due to a barn.
Im not certain what the spacing up there would be

Im dreaming of one day getting the genesis 300 when im on top of the world. I havent heard them, I just have extreme faith in arnie nudell and havent seen many speakers that really make me wanna upgrade from B&W Matrix 804's. The JM Labs mezzo Utopias interest me as well as the leagcy focus 20/20. I have heard the new Etopia EM with the VTL Seigfrieds and was blown away and its not the greatest reference but i have the focal utopia components and subs from 2000 or so in my car and they do rock just amazing, I even find myself listening to the jazz staion occasionaly because it comes in well and im not a jazz guy. Any way Ive been looking at the Velodyne HGS18, Paradigm Servo 15, I know enough to know i can no longer go with what seems cool and I need to get help from folks that really know whats up.
128x128systembuilder
Systembuilder, based on your last response it seems that you agree that a single pair of speakers for a space of your size is going to be a compromise. The best suggestion I can make is to try a pair or Ohm Walsh 5000 speakers. I have not heard a pair of Ohm speakers in a space as challenging as yours, but I have heard them in smaller rooms and I think that they might be the best combination of stereo imaging and diffuse sound (the latter for lack of a better term).

I am not implying that this is the best idea; only that this is MY best idea, based on your specific requirements.
I am currently in a 28X35 foot space with 14' ceilings.

The medium sized dipole monitors on stands (Cerious Too) are in 1 area a few feet from the walls, with dual woofers (cerious Bass) against the walls. Sitting about 12 feet away from the speaker, there is no problem hearing anyplace in the space. The sound travels. Bass may be a bit less in certain areas, but boosted to correct that would create too much bass in the prime listening spot. However you may want to look into a line array which drops only half of point sources as the distance doubles. Scaeana's are fantastic.

I would worry most about acoustic treatment as Reverberation will be a battle.
Hi,
Your needs are pretty specialized. I would gather few of us have experience with a 40x30x tall as a barn ceiling room. I recommend using the systems gallery part of Agon and reaching out to the other members with such a large room. A quick glance of these systems show speakers like VMPS, Apogee, Focal, etc. They might at least share their experiences with you. Filling up a barn-type structure sounds pretty daunting, just guessing, you will need at min two of your velodyne subs. At the Bay Area Audio Show this summer, Legacy (think it was their Whispers) filled up a good size ball room with their speakers. It sounded pretty good to me. Best of luck and enjoy the barn house, I always thought the designs can be very rustic cool.
Ok so in response to many comments.

My listening tastes are mostly Rock, Reggae/Dancehall, I love older bluesy rock. A little Hip-Hop, Rap, Funk, R&B and I plan on watching movies on it as well.

I want to have a um kind of blend between filling the space and dedicated listening area. More towards msolid listening space where I can still rock out while working around the house or cooking. Part of me would prefer to do a second system where I could do inwall speakers throughout the house for such purposes but the expense to be worthwhile wouldnt make sense to me as I want to build one fine system

As far as Subs go I have been looking into the Velodyne HGS15's and 18's as they have come down signifigantly in price and velodyne can fix the amps for me as there only 2 hours away

The most important thing to me is getting strings of a guitar right and being able to take a little bit of serious pounding. If its a reference I have found Equitech really puts out the sound im looking for. I know its just a conditioner but it really makes the chords just seem right.
The question remains: Do you need to "fill that space" or do you need to have good sound in the portion of it used for serious listening?
Horns would work best why over pay for a costly dynamic that will be pushed to fill 6000sqft
A space that large would benefit from multiple subs....even if you have to buy 'less' sub but more of 'em.
Example:: Spend 3 large on a single mondo sub. OR half that each on a pair? I think the pair would yield more uniform bass and just as good extension as the biggie...
A lot depends on your listening preferences, which you have not described for us. If you just want to play background music, pick a pair of speakers and place them where you want. They will probably be too loud close to the source and not loud enough farther away.

I agree with Kal (as always), a dedicated space will give you the best option to hear music the best way e.g. optimized for the room. Pick your gear according to the size of the dedicated space.

Third option: why do you need to be limited to one rig? You can place two or more small systems in various parts of the barn space, the setup optimized for the "local" space. This is a no brainer if you will be using an audio streamer like Sonos or the Logitech systems. If you use active speakers you will not need anything other than the streaming devices and the speakers. More gear is a good thing, IMHO. Disclaimer - my wife does not agree.
I vote for putting the stereo (one question answered) in a portion of the larger space. First, a subdivision would have to be substantial to be isolated but, second, whatever internal walls you build will introduce their influence on the sound. OTOH, if you are going to dedicate a portion of the room to the system and to serious listening, you do not have to "fill" the room.

Kal
Basicly I am building a barn, I am going back and forth on putting a listening room in (Expensive) or just putting my stereo on one side of the house and not having to build any walls except for the bathroom, and it would be 6 foot wools and a barn ceiling 1/2 or 2/3 as much space, MY Cu. Ft. was off
6600 cu.ft? 30x40 means 1200sq.ft. To get that to 6600cf.ft. means you have a ceiling height between 5 and 6 feet. That cannot be right.

I suspect that a pair of Mezzo Utopias might be suitable, especially if you are planning on adding subs. I have heard the Utopias give a great performance in a similar-sized room (with a 16ft ceiling) and my daughter has a room of that size with a Revel 5.1 system that works pretty well.

You say you are not a jazz fan but you do not say what you do want this system for. What kind of music? Will this be only a 2 channel system?

Kal
Please add JBL Everest speakers to your list of large space speakers. I think you will be impressed, not withstanding there $30K price.