Small Size Room

No matter what stage you are in, there are so many things you can do to improve your situation. But as one put it "The best thing one can spend on their system is time."

That is so true. If you want a hi-fi sound, go spend $100k and plug the system in. About a year ago, I had listened to a system that retailed for $130k. It sounded like it cost no more than $5k. And it was a well treated, dedicated room with some top name brand components. Cabling alone retailed for $35k. About the only thing one can say when one encounters a system like this is "That's amazing!"

If you want a system that is involving and musical and gets you tapping your feet, wanting to move you into the music, and keeping you awake at night, plan on spending substantially less that the $100k, but also plan on spending weeks, months, and even years addressing every little aspect of your system.

The breakdown of the main categories to address include:

1. Your room characteristics and acoustics.
2. Your system's individual components.
3. Your system's synergy as a whole.
4. Your system's power source and AC line conditiong.
5. Handling all air-borne vibrations and resonance via your racks, points, spikes, vibrapods, etc..

For example, here's just a few things to consider if you have not already done so:

Installing dedicated lines for your primary components i.e. amp, pre, and cdp. It's amazing how more involving your system becomes and general sonic improvement can be had with this inexpensive tweak. Especially for a high current drawing amplifier. But you should also use custom house wire and outlets if you do this, to ensure you're getting the most out of the tweaks. And you should experiment with grounding or disconnecting the grounds for sonic differences.

Also, you make no mention of a racking system. This should not be at the top of your list of issues to address, but with the right system, a rack and Star Sound's Audio Points under rack and all components, terrific improvements at be found in both the micro- and macro-dynamic categories.

Hope this helps,

-IMO

That's OK Sogood51, actually WAF is not a problem. my speakers are along the short wall which is covered with
stewart screen and because of the way I setup my projector, I can't put my speakers along the long wall.
The biggest challenge I'm having is my speakers are right underneath a beam about a foot down from the ceiling. is this causing the lack of headroom? I tried to experiment by moving my speakers forward and backward just to avoid the beam, but its not giving the headroom that I hear from my system in family room.

Sorry Tonusa, WAF (wife acceptance factor), aka: will she let you put your speakers were they sound best.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the suggestions. I would certainly checkout the cara software. About my room setup, I do have carpeted floor over a concrete and drywall all around including ceiling. my door is a french door which has glass on both but covered with a thick drape. a leather couch about 2' in front of the door.
My system is:
B&W N802-Front
B&W htm1-Center
klipsch- rear
lexicon mc12-controller
lexicon nt225 amp
citation 7.1 amp
pioneer 47a dvd player
zenith 3 gun front projector.

I'm gonna try to take some pics of my HT so i can post it here.
As far as WAF setup, please fill me up since I don't know exactly what it meant.

Again, Thanks a million,

tonusa

My second system is in a room of this size, it sounds very good. Do you have WAF on speaker setup in this room? That can be a big problem in a room this size. What is your system? With room tweaks and proper speaker size as well as placement, you may be able to be very happy with this room after all. I would call your room more in the med. range of room size. If you must place your speakers against or close to the rear wall, you may want to try a long wall setup, this can sometimes make a big change. It does in my room.

You certainly do not have the biggest of rooms but you are still quite a measurement from having the smallest of rooms.

My room is roughly 12.5 ft. x 18 ft. x 8 ft. I am quite satisfied with the room demensions. Although I don't think I need any speakers larger than my Aerial 10T's.

Perhaps if you were more specific about what you think are sonic deficiencies. Take a digital picture and post it with your system.

You might describe the room: i.e.
o Carpeting, rugs, carpet pads.
o Sub-flooring, concrete, wood, crawlspace underneath, etc.
o What's on the walls? Lots of glass, windows, window covering types, etc..
o Ceiling, flat, beams,
o Bookcases, books,
o Wall panelings?
o Lamps, Floor lamps, recessed lighting, etc.
o Furishings, glass tabletops, wrought iron, leathers, cloth, etc..
o Fireplace surrounds, doors, openings, etc..

Listing these things and the placement of your speakers and listening chair can help determine what, if any, deficiencies you may be experiencing.

Then again, it could be the equipment itself as ultimately it is the synergy of the whole and the quality of each that determine the final music presentation.

-IMO

Instead you should look at treating the room you have first, check out www.rivesaudio.com where you can plug in your room and find out where your problems are. I just bought their CARA software to model my small room and test setups before I buy treatments.

At my old place I made my square room sound better my system in much larger rooms without treatments.