2. misc-audio
  3. 990842047

I live in a large cement room...

Hi. I would be grateful for anyone out there with acoustical knowledge to offer ideas. Here's my system, room, and issues to address;
#1. OK, THE SYSTEM: Cary CD303, Cary sli80 (with a buffet of NOS tubes, so sexy they're almost pornographic), Meadowlark Hot Rod Shearwaters, 2 Coincident power cords, Harmonic Tech Pro silwayII interconnects, a Chang Lightspeed on the way, and biwired DH Labs T-14 (soon to be replaced with either Harm Tech Pro9 bi's or the Coincident wire). That will be all the upgrades for quite a while, I took some big steps this past year to put together a good system for what I listen to, which is primarily small ensemble acoustic instruments- jazz & classical.
#2. THE ROOM: length 24' width 17' height 8'. Hard tile floor, cement walls, and cement ceilings sprayed with stucco textured with kitty litter, wasn't my idea but it's a nice effect.
Currently I have my speakers 8' out from the short wall ( I live alone :-), and 4' out from one of the long side walls, and 7' from the other side wall, (it has to be this way due to foot traffic considerations), the speakers are about 7' apart from center of drivers.
ROOM TREATMENTS I'VE DONE ALREADY: the whole back wall is covered in two king size egg crate bed pads, then covered by two king size Martha Stewart (taupe colored) cotton blankets, a nice looking wall if I do say so with lots of double stick carpet tape underneath and duct tape on the perimeters. On the floor I've put two throw rugs- Kmart designer rugs, (~4'x7') from the exclusive Tangiers collection, which I throw out and replace whenever the dogs vomit on them. So there is a thin layer of carpet all around me between the speakers and my listening position. On the long wall to my right of the listening position (with the speaker 4' from the side wall) are two large sliding glass doors with panoramic views of the Caribbean, ( I'm in St Thomas, which is why the house is all poured cement). There is a sheet thin drape over the windows. Behind the speakers along the back wall are lots of cardboard boxes from all my equipmemt, and CD racks etc.
ISSUES TO ADDRESS: How can I improve my soundstage/imaging? Speakers are slightly toed in. I don't seem to be able to attatch anything to the ceiling due to the kitty litter, it just wont stick. I think better speaker cables will help. Frequency response seems nice, but I'd love to hear even better imaging. Sorry to be so long winded but I just finished a nice bottle of wine. Jay
jay_carlson

Showing 2 responses by evo845

evo845
70 posts
 
Hi Jay
I have the same situation here on Guam. I,ve done some extensive work with my room. I took 2in. thick foam sheets and covered the ceiling and in the start of the second layer of 2in. sheets.This has made a great leap forward in soundstate and presentation of the musical event. My walls are similar to yours with carpet padding 2 sheets and beige carpet over that . Tile floors are covered with thick oriental carpet and the windows have been treated with 6x6 sheet of 1/4 plywood which has 1 inch thick insulation sheets and covered with dark brown cotton cloth stapled to the back side.
Back to the ceilings. I have the ceiling devided into 3 sections.The 2 inch thick foam sheets have been cut into 8 in,wide running the length of the ceiling, this canceled alot of the slap echo out, which increased soundstage.
Not to over deaden a room I put up first reflections and reflection directly behind the speakers 16in.wx10fth. the speakers dunlavys sc 4 a,s are 6ft. in to the room and 3.5 ft from side walls.The side walls have been treated like the rear wall.
My room is 13x10h x 39ftlen.Its taken over 1 year to get this far down the road the system is stating to be very very musical.
steve
evo845
70 posts
 
Hi Jay
Since Iam the only one to deal with the same situation you are in...The biggest improvement I made was the ceiling.
Foam may not be the best according to other post..but I have expereince in this and they Do not..
Jay I cannot stress this enough.. do the ceiling. After 4 inches of foam on the ceiling It is without a doubt the biggest improvement you well make .
Room improvement is like ..Dunlavy on cable doesent matter. has long has it measures.B.S> Every situation is different,,foam may not measure but listen..
I envite anyone to come and listen to my concrete fortress before saying diff. Ezz and sean you two are most welcome before casting or stating diff.
Put up or shut up
steve
More to discover