How would you rate your listening room?


I think most people visiting Audiogon are familiar with Stereophile's equipment rating system. So, more or less using that system, how does your main listening room rate as to potential music quality? I've given this some thought, and at 14'W 22'L and 7.5'H, I'd rate my room as "B", mainly because of decent dimensions. With the addition of ASC treatment(s), which I've done, I'd upgrade it to "B+", and if I were to go to good quality monitor speakers (which I won't) with bass to about 40HZ, I could maybe upgrade the room to "A-". My room could never be full class A IMHO because of low ceiling height. I'd like 9 ft. ceilings and a 2-3 more feet of width. Also, as I like good sized near full range speakers (I have Vand. 3Asigs.), I doubt I'd be willing to go to smaller speakers. Have others thought of rating their rooms? Cheers. Craig.
garfish

Showing 2 responses by onhwy61

I give my room a solid "B". Its dimension are 33x14x8.5 with wood floors and drywall over brick. It's slightly live sounding. I use acoustic treatment (11 various roomtune products). The room has a deep notch at 50Hz and a boost centered around 80Hz. Although noticeable, neither is particularly bothersome. The ambient noise level is typically somewhat high at 53dB (C weighted). It's mostly low frequency rumble from high overhead airplanes and nearby trains. I live more than 10 miles from O'Hare (not in a direct flight path either) and the nearest train line is 1.5 miles away. Apparently, low frequency sounds can travel quite far.
Njonker, your bass response is not as serious a problem as you think. Although the exact frequencies may differ, nearly all domestic rooms without serious acoustic treatment exhibit the sort of problems you have detailed. A bass trap that would be effective at 50-60Hz will be very large, however, if the problem is particularly annoying, than a more effective solution is to use an outboard equalizer. The dip at 125Hz is probably phase cancellation from the floor reflection. Try placing something that will soak up sound at the "mirror point" between your speaker and the listening position. I use a large fabric foot rest.