Is there any hope for my room?

How solid are the surfaces? I moved my system into a room with paneling once and lost all bass reproduction. Moved it back into room with standard drywall and bass returned. I think the paneling flexed instead of reflected low freq.
I'm sure someone here will have answer. Good luck.

Throw this one back at Rives. If you can get these folks involved you might get your problem solved. they are in business so this might cost something but you will get what you pay for.

hi tim,i too recently got my first dedicated room & at first it sucked all the life right out from under the music but as i started filling the room with other furnishings such as my desk & some large pictures on the walls the life started comming back.

is your rig set up square to the room? when i tried to set up mine that way it was a limp noodel so i set it back up kitty corner & furnished all the corners in the room.

BIG IMPROVEMENT THERE!

you cant tell from the pics of my room but i have a huge picture window & insulating it & all the other windows really helped too.

i wouldnt rush right out & spend a ton on room treatments unless you have unlimited cash flow,try some simple stuff like furnishing the room & ill bet you get back the life.

even some type of quilts on the walls will help a ton & a few throw rugs but in my case i needed to get furnishings into the room that were the same height as my listening level.

im curious as to how this turns out for you,keep us updated.

mike.

Are you moving the listening position as well as the speakers? That can make a huge difference. Are you using a RS meter and test disc? That would be a big help as well.

Agree with Newbee. I had a similar problem in the new room in my house. It was funky shaped. I was changing speaker placement to no avail. It would just increase the existing node "booms." The nulls were still there. I wasn't until I started moving the listening position out into the room that the bass response started to even out. I had to be 4.5 foot (minimum!!) out into the room before the sound started to sound even.

I also recommend Newbee's request to use one of the Stereophile test discs (bass tones decade track, 200Hz-20Hz) and the Radio Shack SPL meter. I used the digital meter (since I had trouble finding the analog one) and Stereophile test disc 2 ($0.99 cents at half price books, used).

It took me about 10 days using the meter and test disc to zero in one my current speaker location and listening chair location. The trick is to be methodical, chart down the values, then move either the speakers or the chair one at a time and in one direction at a time. Plus I was learning a lot at the time. You start to learn how the different movements affect the response. About 1-2 hours a day for 10 days. Like I said. Take your time. Sub took another 2-3 days to dial in after than point. But I pretty much had it nailed after the first day. The other days were all fine tuning. You do start to get pretty good at if after a while of practice. :-)

I'd say the problem may lie with your listening chair location. Don't let her give you grief. move that couch around and stick to your guns!

Aaron

What feet are on the speakers? Some nice sharp spikes may help???

Thanks for the responses folks,
Timrhu,the walls are drywall with one wall being brick inlay.
Unclejeff,finances dont allow,from what I have read I am sure it would be money well spent.
Bigjoe,I have tried the speakers on two walls and two corners,no luck yet.The room is fairly empty,just a chair,rack,and speakers.
Newbee,yes I can blame the chair just as much as the speakers for my sore back.I have a rat shack special,no test disc yet,have the rives test cd on its way(should have been here by now)
Aroc,it would be nice to have booms of some sort,at least I would have something to work with,I think.My back will testify that the experimentation of chair placement has been implemented.As far as the wife is concerned,I dont think she cares what I do in there as long as I dont call her some of the names the stereo has earned here lately.
Elevick,the speakers are on spikes,tried with and without,no luck
Tim

update
I was fortunate enough to run across a individual on the net who knew about my problem and more importantly knew how to fix it!! I was told the reason for me lacking deep bass was phase issues.Somewhere in the frequency range above my problem area the sound waves were colliding and cancelling out everything below it.Which made sense to me since I have pulled the dumbass stunt of hooking the new speaker cables up out of phase and wondered where my bass had went.He told me that I needed "rigid fiberglass" and lots of it.Now this is not something you can buy at home depot or the like,it seems like it is a supplier only thing and I went to great lengths to find it.It comes in 2ftx4ft pieces and the thickness anywhere from 1in to 4in thk.I bought 18 pieces,it came three to bag and so far I only have 5 pieces up and there is a HUGE improvement.I put one up and listen,then I will put another up and listen some more.As far as the bass goes,I am not "there" yet but there is definitely a light at the end of the tunnel.Hopefully somewhere between piece #5 and #18 I will have it.
Thanks again to everyone who posted
Tim

Tim,

Owen Corning 705-706 perhaps?
If not, please be specific as to what it is and where you bought it as I am looking for the same thing.

Thanks,

David

David,
owens 705 was a recommendation made to me.I was told the important thing to look for was how dense the fiberglass was and to get a density of at least 3lbs per cubic foot up to 6lbs per cubic foot.Just for the record,owens 703 is 3lbs cu ft and the 705 is 6lbs cu ft.Keep in mind along with being called rigid fiberglass,it has several aliases such as mineral wool,rock fiber,and mineral fiber.The brand I ended up with was ROXUL with a density of 3.5lbs cu ft.None of my local hardware stores or lumber yards had it or even knew what i was talking about when I asked for it.I had to dig the phone book out and looked under insulation and found a insulation supplier that was willing to do businiss with me(several of them would only do business with contractors)The roxul just happened to be the brand that they had with the density I wanted.If you live in Ohio I will send contact info on the supplier.

Thank you Tim,

I live in Southern Ontario and am rapidly running out of resources to find the OC 705 stuff. I am building a Jon Risch sidewall panel trap and I guess that I am going to have to go with the lower density stuff (OC 703) (i.e. 3 lbs/ft3) for the backing and just use a little more (6" thickness) for actual fiberglass.

David

hey fellas,if your looking for rigid fiberglass sheets try & industrial roofing supply or even a roofing company.

FWIW there are rigid insulation sheets that offer the same characteristics as fiberglass without the mess & without itchin your ass off messin with it & are alot easier to find.

in my line of work we use several different rigid insulation boards for sound damping over top of school gymnasiums one of which is fiberglass panels but the other alternative is "polyisocurinate" & its better than fiberglass panels.

the polyisocurinate is called(ISO)for short & pronounced ICE-O is a blown type fiberglass based foam that comes in either 4ft x 4ft or 4ft x 8ft sheets & thicknesses range from 1/2 inch to 4inch thick in 1/2 inch incraments.

the ISO insulation is made by johns manville & by owens corning & is easier to find & cheaper too plus just about every roofing supply house on the planet carries a large stock of iso in all thicknesses.

i hope this helps.

mike.

Thanks Mike.