2. speakers
  3. 1257740333

Speakers for a 12 x 13 room

So I recently moved to a new room. Sure it's small at 12 x 13 but now I can dedicate it to audio complete with as many room treatments and posters of Otis Redding as my heart desires.

For speakers I am looking at monitors like the Devore 3XL, Audio Note J, and Harbeth Compact 7's. I selected these speakers on sonics (I've heard all but the Harbeth's) but mainly because the specs indicate that the speakers when placed out in the room don't go much below 40Hz.

I HATE boomy out of control bass and with a room as small as mine I feel that bass boom could be a problem. Is there a cut of frequency wise I should be looking for in speakers to avoid bloated bass?

I anticipate a number of nodes especially around 60Hz given my room dimensions so my thought was to have speakers that don't go to much lower than 40hz (-6db). Does that make any sense?

Thanks for the advice!
Vik
vikkysingh

Showing 2 responses by audiokinesis

audiokinesis
2,724 posts
 
Boundary reinforcement in the bass region is typically stronger and sets in earlier (at a higher frequency) in small rooms. In my opinion we'd want the speaker's output in the bass region to be approximately the inverse of this room gain.

Several authors have placed "typical" room gain in the ballpark of 3 dB per octave below 100 Hz or so. This of course varies from room to room, and with speaker and listener positioning within a given room, and also with whether or not the doors into the room are open or closed.

All of that being said, a low-Q sealed box system (rolloff of approximately 6 dB per octave) would probably be a good starting point for a small, bass-heaviness-prone room. This wouldn't solve all the problems inherent in trying to get natural-sounding bass in a small room, but I think it would be a good start.

Duke
dealer/manufacturer
audiokinesis
2,724 posts
 
Vikvilkhu, it sounds like you're thinking of high efficiency main speakers that don't go down very deep plus an equalized sub.

For an optimal small-room system my own thinking is along similar lines, though you might consider using two or more small subs. The reason is NOT to get louder or deeper bass - the reason is to get smoother bass. You see, in small rooms a severe peak-and-dip pattern is inevitable no matter where you place the sub, and equalization alone is not a complete solution. By using two or more small subs placed asymmetrically, each will produce a different peak-and-dip pattern at the listening position. The sum of these dissimilar peak-and-dip patterns will be smoother than what you can get with a single sub, and this will be true throughout the room. Combined with EQ this is a very effective approach.
More to discover