Interesting (or not) dilemma


I could use some advice here.
I have owned and enjoyed a pair of Revel M20's for a decade. Still like them 
with one important exception.
Due to logistics, I have them on stands some three feet from the back wall
with my seating position seven feet from the speakers --as far back as possible--there's a wall behind the chair.

The room is far from optimum-no carpeting and bare (ok some paintings) walls very solid parquet floors.
(I have a wife enraptured by minimalist design! Room treatments are out.

The problem. These speakers have a serious (on some recordings) bass "hump" at around 100HZ (my guess based upon a comment in Stereophile's original review--it IS there.). It is a distinct boominess
at a very specific HZ level and not present above and below it. These are rear ported speakers with otherwise wonderful sound.

As a solution I was thinking of adding a small subwoofer (REL7) and utilizing a cross over point to
take some of the bass load away from the Revels. Am I nuts? I could use some intelligent advice.

Thanks




128x128johnlnyc
Yeah, I think just pulling your speakers out further from the back wall should help quite a bit, unless maybe your room is square?  I used to pull my speakers 5 feet into the room for serious listening and pushed them back when my wife started yelling at me. 
Thanks--you guys have made me think about this with better perspective. I gotta do something about the room.

The funny thing about the "issue" is the problem only occurs on certain recordings and specific pieces of music on those recordings.

For eg--the Jayhawks "The Eyes of Sarah Jane" when the bass player hits one note at each exact same point in the song--there is a loss of control and the bass literally booms. The rest of the song (and the record)--the bass is tight and beautifully controlled/balanced.

So, at one bass frequency the speaker appears to lose control--it performs well at lower and higher frequencies in the "bass range."
 
I am taking some advice a few posts ago and am going to reconfigure my room--putting the speakers  in the center away from back walls  and my listening position also away from any back wall.

Luckily we are looking to move in a year or so and I can have "room" to design my listening room!
Post removed 
+1 nrenter,
I also had a problem with over ripe bass, eventually solved my issue by plugging speakers ports. It did require other adjustments, changed speaker cables and power cord to integrated amp, but after some time adjusting to new sound, much improved.
Good luck,Gary
Here ya go:

http://tripp.com.au/sbir.htm

Enter dimensions in mm to find the likely frequencies of your peaks and nulls - experiment with placement accordingly. 


Assuming you can't get rid of your wife anytime soon for whatever reason, the best solution may be some form of room EQ.  Something like the DSpeaker anti-mode 2.0 would take care of the hump and probably some other issues, and I've seen them pop up used from time to time for 500-600 bucks. 

http://www.dspeaker.com/en/products/20-dual-core.shtml

I doubt a sub will help since you'll likely want to cross it over well below 100Hz, although a sub is still a good idea for the other significant benefits it can bring.  The anti-mode 2.0 can help integrate that as well.  Best of luck with this. 
Is carpeting out of the picture? It could help in a lot of areas of the sound. Or at least a large area rug?
Ahhhh--easier said than done! You guys are on target though. I moved out from the back wall by a foot and overall sound improves.

I am stuck --untilI can have a dedicated listening room.

I still wonder if adding a small sub would smooth things out. Or...
make things worse.


There is nothing worse than sitting with your head close to a wall. 

You our need to fix your listening position.

Try diagonal placement with your seated position 1/3 of the way into the room.