Perfect, these were just the pointers I was after.
@ohlala I think I will seek out that “Master Handbook of Acoustics” book. I treat this as a hobby so I might as well learn as much as I can in the process.
That said I might also go the GIK route based on others’ positive experiences with their free consulting service. Does GIK have nicer prints than simple solid color panels? This is going on our living room so introducing panels can go one of two ways with the rest of the family… at least I can say it’s better than stacking pillows and blankets everywhere which I am constantly doing these days!
There are no bass issues I can detect in my room (albeit Rel subwoofers are incoming so we’ll see!) and definitely some minor echo issues.
@erik_squires thanks for the tip on the TV. Not sure installing drapes will work aesthetically (but maybe?), and my fear is that there will be too much dampening as the drapes would hang from the ceiling. A heavy quilt over the TV itself seems like slightly too much, and if I allow it to hang lower than the TV it gets even worse. Therefore I’m still thinking an acoustic panel with some simple hooks I can attach might fit the bill. Won’t be an issue for me to remove, the TV doesn’t get used daily, but my stereo does.
@erik_squires you mentioned diffusers behind the TV and to the sides of the TV. How do I know when to use diffusers vs dampeners? I would have guessed that dampeners would be what I want behind the speakers to the left and right of the TV, but I’m also thinking you are likely right as I’m only guessing…
@kota1 thanks for the link, will check it out as well.
Not sure if I have picky speakers or if my room is picky, but getting my speakers positioned just right was a very intensive process. Distance from the rear wall was pretty simple but experimenting with distance apart and toe-in drove me nuts, because the absolute tiniest adjustment made big differences I could easily hear. Once I reached this micro-adjustment stage, it was vocals in the center of the soundstage that I found to be wildly changing with the tiniest of adjustments. Some adjustments would add “air” around the vocals and some would remove air but add focus and coherence. Took a while to get the right blend of the two and I was using headphones to use as a reference to what the vocals should sound like in my room. Finally nailed that balance.