Room treatment-I was afraid of this


There I was with a dedicated room-not ideal being nearly square and a less than 8' ceiling-and barely adequate music, not awful but the system had sounded better. I tried moving things about some with differing results but nothing satisfying. Part of the problem was moving from a 30x35 foot room with an 18' ceiling. I was used to the speakers being well out into the room, far apart and sitting pretty far away. I used the odd integer matrix method promoted by Vandersteen but hadn't considered either placing them closer to the wall or moving near field. Nick at GIK recommended both, as well as some furniture rearranging that made a very pleasant difference. That was all the encouragement I needed to order bass traps, 1st and 2nd reflection panels and front and rear wall treatments. Installed them by about 4pm Monday and listened until 2 am, back at it last night from 3pm-1am. It's just as so many have said, this is a serious component upgrade. It is matched in scale only when I went from Vandersteen 2CE's to Chapman T-77SE's. Not a single aspect of the listening experience that isn't enhanced. So now the problem; I suppose a lot of the glowing stuff folks make of cables, power cords, fuses, and on and on also make significant differences. How long can it be before I'm off and running on that stuff?
128x128wideload

Showing 6 responses by wideload

Thanks for the responses. Yes, going down to 15x19 was an awakening. I have since removed all furniture except my listening chair. I did experiment with a half dozen IC's and SC's a couple years ago, but that was before the move. Running Grover Huffman. Just never pulled trigger on power cords. Mojo Audio Mac Mini and Exogal DAC have external power supplies so I didn't think cords mattered. Could stand to do something about the mismatched generic cords on the Hypex blocs though. Will take nonoise's advice and live with things awhile. Crazy happy with GIK treatment. Really an ear opener. 
Good morning pmotz. The room is 15x19x7'8". I have the speaker baffles 32" from front wall and 39" from sidewalls. My chair, now the only piece of furniture-got rid of everything else-is 82" from front wall.  Near field. Now using 14 GIK panels/traps with very nice results. 

Oops, should've included that the 15' wall is the front wall.  The speakers are nearly in the corners much like Mapman suggested. The corner is occupied by a bass trap 
Milpai,  despite being a member for 16 years here I've never figured out how to post photos or even a description my system. Probably not that hard. I'll take a shot at it one of these days. You have a lovely system and room. Have you tried moving your listening position 38% from front wall as the folks at GIK suggest? Works for me. 

Nonoise, congrats on ending up with two speakers you love. I move mine along to friends and family and get to hear them occasionally. Sliding the headrest up and down on my chair is an adventure in sound shaping. Hi Douglas, yes it's me still thoroughly enjoying the Chapman's. I hope you and your family are well.  Of course I trust your recommendation and will make cords my next purchase, although it'll be awhile. Your review of the Exogal lead me to that piece and I am very happy with it. Milpai, I consider the wall I'm facing the front wall. I know others refer to it as the rear as it's behind the speakers.