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Room Treatments, When are they required?

Hey Audiogoners!!!

I threw my first BBq in my new home this weekend. One of my guests who is also into audio gear came and we ended up talking a bit about audio gear.

My livingroom where the audiogear will be has 15ft vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors, and opens up to the dining room and kitchen. All pretty much in one real big l-shaped room.

I was telling him about my future upgrqade plans, which are nothing too extraordary, im thinking of some Parasound Amps and some Vandersteen 2CEs or 3As. It iwll be run 100% seperate from my HT system, but in the same room.

Anyways, he told me that it was a waste of money and there is no point in upgrading what i have unless i have a Dedicated listening room.

Personally, i think the accoustics in my livingroom are fantastic. Yes, some echo busters along the back wall or something might help out, but sound there is rich and full of live. Snap your fingers you get a nice clean SNAP, it doesent echo or linger any longer than it should. I have 3 very plush couches that do wonders for echo absorption.

When did everyone else start getting into room treatments and dedicated listening rooms?

Personally, i disagree with him, vandersteen 2ce's powered by some Parasound Amps will sound better than some radioshack speakers powered by a Denon 3505. No doubt about it in my mind. I dont care if it is installed in a dedicated room or a subway tunnel. it will sound better and i plan to upgrade.

When do YOU feel it is time to work on the room instead of the system?
Is there a certain price tag on the system that you feel is useless to upgrade further without having a dedicate room or room treatments?

Just curious.

Oh yeah, HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!
Woulda got that out earlier if i had been sober in the past few days.
slappy

Showing 1 response by lugnut

lugnut
1,190 posts
 
Hi Slappy,

Hope the hangover isn't too bad. The reality is that an untreated room can sound very good although the sweet spot may be the only really satisfying place to listen. I've been a homeowner since 1976 and indulged my desire for a dedicated listening room. Initially I just wanted a safe and secure place for all my stuff and the freedom to close the door and not allow anyone in if it were a mess, which has often been the case.

I joined a fairly large group of audiophiles in this area that take turns hosting events. One of the members has a dedicated room that is not only top flight for listening but is real eye candy to boot. I recently was over to another members home where he has integrated his system in a very lovely living area without any treatments. This living room system sounded very good and if the home and all his gear was mine I would not add acoustic treatments unless they didn't distract from the room asthetics.

Ideally one would want a dedicated listening room with whatever level of treatments worked well. However, reality consists of compromises with a lot of things. Accumulate your new gear. In five to ten years you may be able to indulge yourself with a new room and enjoy that extra couple of percent of performance.
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