Have you ever seen a member ask for advice about their system and don't understand why they need to make a change? Mistakes in this hobby are generally expensive. Does a list of components tell you how they sound together as a system? No Does a picture of a room tell you how the system sounds in the room? No. Think about the dollars that have been flushed away because the problem was the room and no matter what you stick in there or how much it cost it won't git er done. A flat in room frequency response is a starting point before changing anything. So, why don't more people post measurements when asking for advice? If you want lame advice DON'T post your system in your profile. If you want good advice post your system and a pic. If you want excellent advice include your in room FR measurements (which almost all modern receivers provide or REW can do for free).
Different people like different sound types, whether that be a rolled off top end, or a heavy mid response, etc...
100% true, the software I use has different response curves you can choose or design one of your own. I read a lot of good stuff about the "harman curve" yet it wasn’t what sounded best to my ears.
I think this is coming it a bit high.
I 100% agree, I did title this thread very in your face. The reason is the number of thread I see of people saying "my budget is $$$$ and I want to buy X." That’s it, no system posted, no pics, just "and I like ______ type of music." The next thing you know members here are firing off $$$$$ recommendations and I think that is a poor way to budget (throwing darts in a chat room). I think the way I summed it up is reasonable, the MORE info someone provides (including system, pics, and measurements), the better the advice.
+1, decay times should be .2 to .4 seconds. There is some good info on how to achieve that in this video at the :32 mark. The hard math they use to calculate it follows and the short cut (which I followed to the T) to get it right in your room is at the :43 mark:
We all have our own ways of measuring, and I do it with experimentation and with my ears.
That's the final step in calibrating your room. If it doesn't please your ears no point right?
In recording studios they have standards, rooms are calibrated. Professional installers use standards that are known to reproduce what the engineer heard in the studio. It saves time and money.
This gets me back to my OP, how can someone advise me on a system change when they don't know how my current setup interacts with my room? Changes cost money and I am all for using your ears and experimentation AFTER the room is calibrated.
Thank you for your response regarding receivers. I was thrown off when you mentioned that word because I don't use an AV receiver, and I thought that you might have meant something else.
Moving on, in the thread that you referenced, I was not asking for advice, I was asking for the opinions of other members, and what their experiences were. We all have our own ways of measuring, and I do it with experimentation and with my ears.
I see that you have a lot of threads and posts for someone who has been a member for such a short time. I don't know if it's your intention to stay here for a long time and build relationships with other members but if that is your plan, I would suggest a change of attitude..
A flat in room frequency response at the listening position is NOT what you want. You want a smooth frequency response with a rolled off treble. Exactly how much roll off and the break frequency is up to personal preference. Equally as important are time decay issues.
Sometimes, a flat-line measurement isn't what's best, and I personally don't think someone needs to measure their room to get the best sound. The best measurable response? Possibly. But certainly not the best sound. Different people like different sound types, whether that be a rolled off top end, or a heavy mid response, etc...
Honestly, I'd prefer to tune my room by ear and experimentation. I don't need a graph to know if it sounds good. Actually, I'd prefer NOT to use a program to "figure it out".
Funny you should mention BestBuy as that's what one member said about your system when he PM'd me. That, and saying you're off your rocker. Tell me, are you getting some kind of commission from pushing your junk here on A'gon. Some kind of kickback?
What I want to know is what self respecting audiophile would pack so much junk into their listening room like you've done, trying to fix all the problems you get from it with room treatment, when you could have simplified things and spent some of that hard earned cash on a real system, like the real audiophiles you criticize here?
Why anyone would want to build an audio tomb like yours where great sound goes to die is beyond me. Stop with the Adderall and go into detox. By the way, the last time I used a receiver was back in the late '70s. I've moved on to much better options since then.
Every professional installer (either for the home or the studio) measures, tweaks, measures, listens, and gets it right.
Every Joe Six pack like you that slings money at the problem at Best Buy couldn’t hear the difference anyway. Don’t walk away angry, it’s not my fault you have a blow torch at your wallet and another one you have to sit on every time you turn on your system.
I realize you struggle just using your phone, here get professional help, you can thank me later:
Try as you may, you failed to disguise your animosity in your opening statement. You insult members of this site by issuing challenges based on faulty premises, hiding behind a transparent veil of what you call civility. You're not fooling anyone.
I stand by my original statement.
You got nothing posted about your system that I see yet you posted this thread about racks. It is a waste of space unless you measure, then you KNOW which is better for YOUR room. Why even ask? You will never get the right answer on a chat room board but if you post measurements with rack at different location BOOM, you don't have to guess.
All modern receivers...what are you talking about? What "receivers" that are in common use by many or most of us can tell is the frequency curve of our system?
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