Open Floor Plan Listening Room

Yup right on.  It’s a struggle :)

I was hoping to not go the way of subwoofers as I’ve heard these speakers sound great in other rooms and wanted to stay with ribbons.  I probably am asking for too much haha.

thanks!

Thanks for the advice guys.

I’m using a Krell FPB400cx amplifier.  Previously I was using a KSA-200s.

What I’ve noticed is that sitting at the kitchen island (creating a half wall of sorts behind me) I pick up a lot of low bass frequencies.  The normal sitting position on the couch in the living room in front of the speakers has a complete lack of bass.  My theory is that if I could put a dividing wall in behind my couch that can be opened or closed I can have the best of both worlds- open floor plan and an enclosed listening room.

Without a wall behind me I’m looking at a room that essentially has 45’ of space (with a large kitchen island in the middle) which I fear is too much for these Apogees.  I’ve heard them in a large but enclosed room and they sound much better.  Even if I enclose the room I would still have plenty of space for the Apogees to breathe (roughly 20’ x 17’). 

Thanks everyone!  Perhaps I should get someone to come in and measure what’s happening with the low frequency sound waves.  Sounds like closing off the room is not the way to go here from what I’m reading.  

Aux, let me look into the room treatments after the sound/room consultation.
Kenny, would be great to see your setup.

thanks

Understood.  If I should go the subwoofer(s) route I assume I’ll have to introduce new crossovers in my system as well?

Awesome, thanks all for enlightening me!

Question.. pardon my lack of knowledge here- My setup is currently all XLR (balanced) cables. How do I wire for subs? Do I need separate crossovers or do some of these active subs have built in crossovers. If I were to go that route would the signal flowing out to the main speakers be compromised by the quality of the connectors/wiring at the subs?

What’s the best way to wire for subs without compromising on cable influences? I know, I know, many of you don’t believe cables make any difference but with planar speakers like these Apogees they are very sensitive to the cables used in the signal path.

Thanks Will.  Looks like there’s a consensus here :)

I have a Krell KRC-HR.   I’m pretty sure I read in the manual that it outputs to both balanced and unbalanced simultaneously, so I should be able to do this.  Are there any timing issues I need to worry about in this setup?

So just an update I’m contemplating buying one or two REL T9i subwoofers and connecting them using the high input with supplied cable directly from my stereo amplifier.  This seems like it would give me the best way to carry the original signal through all my components and wouldn’t mess much with timing (although the subs have their own class A/B amps built-in.

im going to give REL a call hopefully Friday and see what they recommend to match well with my Apogees.  It seems the T9i works well with Maggies so likely would be a similar pairing with Apogees.

I will keep everyone posted on the results.  The RELs I believe have a 120-day free audition period which is great.  They even pay return shipping.

Thanks everyone, you likely saved me a lot of money trying to create a useless pseudo-wall behind my couch.

This is all extremely invaluable information.  Wow this forum is impressive.  I'm processing all this info; a lot of what you say makes a lot of sense to me.  I think I will have to play with it a bit alternating between high input and low inputs.  I do know that REL absolutely recommends using the high inputs to push the same signal forward through all the equipment, but I have the luxury of trying the low input as well due to my preamp and extra cable I have lying around.  Thanks guys.

Good to know and I suspect you’re right with regards to finding the correct overlap point in frequencies with the full range speakers.  I do have an audiophile friend nearby who can help with this.  I also plan to purchase the appropriate measuring components to make it easier.  I may have a local company who specializes in this come out for a consultation as well.

Excellent, thank you.  Funny you should mention Acoustic Frontiers.  That’s who I reached out to for a quote in order to handle the work of calibrating and positioning my subs and speakers.  They are local to me so if the consultation price is right that’ll work out really well.

Thanks for the advice Andy!  I feel better about the open space than I used to.

I'm convinced re: the room measurements.  I did reach out to a local specialist but their prices seem a bit steep to me at this point.  Also, they insist on a solution of cutting off the bass to the Apogees and letting the subs do the work.  Normally I would be happy with that, but with Apogees the bass ribbons are their strength.  The definition, when you hear it, is fantastic.  

I'm going to attempt to measure and figure out the room bass issues myself and if I don't succeed I can always go back to the consultant.  I've ordered the mic that is recommended.  Wish me luck!  Either way I'll come out of this learning a lot more about sound engineering.  Thanks for all the feedback here I've already learned a lot, mainly that my original assumptions were probably completely wrong about the room.  

Hi All,

Thanks again for all the advice. I wanted to provide an update- I purchased a couple REL T9/i subwoofers for stereo setup and dialed them in using my ears. The improvement has been just outstanding. I enjoy listening to music again, even regular rock music that was not from the best recordings. This is about as close as I can get to getting an Infinity IRS (Beta or V) system at a palatable price. No doubt the Infinitys are better (but comparatively I am satisfied with the sound I have now at the right price overall).

Note that I did originally buy measuring equipment but I didn’t have the time to really understand how I should interpret the results. I do intend to go back and try and take a more scientific approach to all of this but in the meantime trusting my ears has resulted in, well, pleasing my ears. 🙂

Next on the list is to get rid of a bit of boom I’m now getting in the lower frequency bass. I already pulled the subs out from the corners and positioned halfway along the side walls at an angle towards the listening position and that has helped with the tight higher frequency bass and reducing boom in the lower frequencies. I also took the styrofoam and cardboatd box the subs came in and placed those directly behind the subs and that has helped quite a bit as well. I intend to go the professional room treatment route and will post updates as I discover newer ways to thin out my wallet.   Talking to GIK about treatments.  Perhaps next on the list after room treatment might be experimentation with servo controlled subs.

Thanks again for all your help. Saved me from wasting a lot of money on the wrong areas of my room.