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Speaker Help Required

I have a 12'x14' living room with a cathedral ceiling.

My 2-channel audio system is along the 12' back wall. I have a 6.5' audio / video rack which houses all my audio gear (mostly Linn) with a bookshelf speaker (Linn Katan) at each side of this rack (roughly 7.5' apart) sitting on stands (Linn Katan stands). The left speaker is about 3' from the side wall and 2' from the back wall with a powered subwoofer (Linn Sizmik 10.25) between the left speaker and the side wall in the corner. The right speaker is also 2' from the back wall but no side wall since it is an opening to my hallway.

Because of this setup, I’m hearing more of the left speaker than the right speaker. I tried different amounts of toe-in, which seems to help a little but I’m still not 100% satisfied. Some people have suggested that since the Katan are very small speakers, the subwoofer is not only providing the added bass but may be participating in some midrange too which is why I’m hearing more of the left channel.

Since I cannot move things around in my living room nor add a door to the hallway opening, I’m looking for a pair of “full range” floorstanding speakers to replace my bookshelves / subwoofer combo in hopes of rectifying this problem. Also, my wife is totally opposed to any “room insulation / sound proofing” idea since we use this room for entertaining friends and family and the décor is her territory.

What floorstanding speakers would you recommend for a $2000-$2500 budget that will help with my issue?
agiaccio
blindjim
3,092 posts
 
Good thoughts Newbie...

Do go lookl at the rives website however too. the info there on what to not do or where problems can occur will be mighty helpful.

how about some really nice heavy drapes on a custom rod with hold backs to overcome that opening. They can add some flair and be pulled back when not listening.... just a thought... and less invasive way to help overcome the suck out that vacant wll is providing.
agiaccio OP
147 posts
 
All, thanks for all the great feedback / suggestions!

I did some quick tests last night, based on some of your recommendations, and below are my findings.

When playing music as is, the image seems to be coming from the left side of the room. That is, I hear more of the left speaker than the right. So as a quick test, I disconnected my subwoofer (which is in the left corner of the room) and as soon as I did the imaging was dead center. Therefore, it does look like the subwoofer is contributing to some of the midrange, which causes the image to shift to the left. Unfortunately, the sound seems a little “thin” without the subwoofer.

So now my project for the weekend will be to first experiment with subwoofer settings. If that does not work, I will see if I can move the subwoofer to a different location (maybe next to the right speaker). If I cannot find a suitable location for the subwoofer to get the imaging right, I may go back to my original idea of trading my bookshelves / subwoofer combo to a pair of floorstanding (full range) loudspeakers.

If I do decide to go with the floorstanding speakers, what would you recommend in the $2000 - $2500 price range?
maxhammer4
4 posts
 
I hope its not true but you might have a loss of hearing in your right ear?
magfan
1,583 posts
 
Same problem, compounded by Magnepan dipole issue! My room even tosses in a few 45'angles!
WAF Institute approved panels are on tap. With the sub x-over at 45hz, i don't think that's an issue and I have yet to detect bass problems....so for now, I'm going to let that one lie.
I have also noted, in late nite, house VERY quiet sessions that much L/R bias seems to be source material related.
Some recordings just seem to be off-center.
blindjim
3,092 posts
 
Magfan makes a valid point... use a test CD.

Having your sub set to cover a higher range than it needs to will give the effect of fuller sound. However in so doing you might be masking a portion of the bandwidth and losing detail. I've done exactly this same thing, and enjoyed the effect... for a while. when it was revealed to me this was a possibility I checked it out and they were right.

I made the changes needed by getting the components which would provide that fuller sound without overemphasis of some other portion of the freq range. Ultimately, it was a better sub… and better sub placement. I would play with position, x over, phase, and cut off first. A lot.... as tedious as it may be, it'll pay off.

Until you resolve that issue getting other speakers will still leave you in the same boat. I did that too. Bought other speakers before I bought the sub, so I'm not talking out of my hat here.

....if you gotta have floorstanders though... Silverline does a pretty good job, Vienna Acoustic seem to have a good rep, Paradigm and Phase tech too offer great value and very good performance. $2K - $2.5K puts you right into the hot bed of many, many, many good speakers.

Good luck.
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