Room Issues


Hi I live in a 2400 square foot modern glass and concrete single roomed loft (think IKEA), with high ceilings. The back and side wall are glass, and because of WAF, sound treatment or drapes are out. I had a pair of ML Quests that never sounded right, even after I added Tact preamp/amp/room equalizer and rolled off the top. I was thinking that either I should give up on bass and listen to a nearfield small monitor, or eliminate the back/sidewave issue by going to a directional speaker like Tannoy or even klipsch LaScalas.
I listen to classical music of all types.
Suggestions?
128x128fstein
I think that fairly high-output speakers with a smooth power response would work best in a room that size. They can be narrow pattern or wide pattern, but the point is unless you listen nearfield the reverberant field's energy will dominate the tonal balance. The on-axis response will be relatively unimportant; it's the power response that will matter the most.

The "power response" is the summed omnidirectional response, and smooth power response implies a fairly uniform radiation pattern up and down the spectrum. It can widen at lower frequencies, but we don't want any significant narrowing or blooming of the pattern in the midrange or treble (though some beaming in the high treble may be unavoidable).

Also, it would be nice to be able to adjust the relative level of the highs and lows. Bass is probably swallowed up in that room, on the other hand sounds like it's a fairly "live" or possibly even "bright" environment.

I would not have expected a hybrid electrostat to work well in such a space, as the radiation characteristics of the woofer and panel are fairly dissimilar, and equalization cannot correct radiation patterns. Something like big Tannoys or Klipsch Heritage speakers are imho a better bet. Big Maggies are another possibility; they have good power response. If you are a recent lottery winner, then maybe even the MBL Radialstrahlers - but personally I think a narrower-pattern speaker with good power response is more likely to work well.

Duke
dealer/manufacturer
TacT Audio preamp/RCS works best with:
* spks that have wide dispersion
* preferably full range
* Dipoles are very troublesome for RCS like TecT
* Lots of amp power to compensate for very deep valleys

Sorry to tell you this but RCS like TecT
(and don't get me wrong, it is a great tool - i own one of the original models[moddified] & it served me well over the years)
will not do miracles. Especially in the room like yours, ML spks (which I still own - Aerius i) & no treatments.
Filling your space (2.4K sq.f) with quality bass - is going to be a problem ($$$$ & know-how).

You are going to be faced with a difficult choices........