2. misc-audio
  3. 1424751425

too much acoustic treatment suck mids, shrill highs

I have a room that is 14 1/2 by 27. 8 ft ceiling - berber carpet on slab.

My speakers are along the long wall, 3 feet out, 8 ft equa distant in a near field Cardas setup. I wish the room was 2 feet deeper

My system used to sound very natural
I upgraded amps, speakers and did room treatments in preparation for the new gear

Finding just the right amp / speaker synergy has been a quest

The room had a slap echo that I previosly tamed with 5 Echo Buster panels behing the listener 1/2 foot on the back wall.

I did a consultation with Real Traps and it was scary the amount of excess room energy once the sound treatments were completed. They did a great job suggesting treatments for my room

I have a sketch of the room and treatments at my office I will add tomorrow.
There is a partial cut out around my couch. I have switched out the wall behind me to diffraction panels, the four corners have corner mondo bass traps. I have absorption panels for the first point ceiling reflections. The side walls are too far away for first reflection issues but have bookcases full of books and albums. No treatments behind the soeakers - windows and artwork constrained.

Here is my issue. When music is dynamic my equipment sounds like it has an emphasis on the treble at the expense of the midrange.

I have chosen neutral sounding speakers, cables, amps.
Now I'm wondering if I haven't overdone my room treatments.

Music without a lot of high impact dynamic treble - think Norah Jones, Nick Drake, Bill Evans - sounds fabulous. Great tonality, a you are there sound. Harder music sounds a little edgy and this is on a pristine vinyl rig and Audio Research CD 9 cd player. Doshi pre and mono blocks. Various cables, Several pairs of speakers and amps. Lower volumes are better but 95 db things get shriller. Imaging is to die for, it's tonality in the top end or supression in the midrange that is the issue

I've went from a low efficiency 84 db speakers with 300 watt hybrid high watt setup, to a 97 db sensitivity 80 watt tube synergy.
It is really coming together

The sounds is more refined but still has frequency issues.
I've tried so many things. Hence the note to consider the treatment factor.

The music sounds more natural in the next room

Would it be worth taking elements of the treatments out of the equation?
Go back to absorption instead of diffusion behind my head?

Sounds like I need to touch base with the sound consultants for advice.
Tom
128x128audiotomb

Showing 3 responses by zd542

zd542
5,339 posts
 
I have some experience with this type of problem. You have to be really careful when dealing with HF's, because there's a good chance that its not the room.

"The music sounds more natural in the next room"

That's almost always the case, regardless of the system. One thing that you can do, and I highly recommend it, is to set your system up in a different room just as a test to see if the problem goes away. If the problem still exists, its almost certainly going to be a component issue.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"02-26-15: Sabai
Zd542,

You stated, "One thing that you can do, and I highly recommend it, is to set your system up in a different room just as a test to see if the problem goes away." That's an interesting suggestion. I would never thought of that."

It all depends on what you're trying to do. I made the suggestion because of what the OP said here.

"Here is my issue. When music is dynamic my equipment sounds like it has an emphasis on the treble at the expense of the midrange.

I have chosen neutral sounding speakers, cables, amps.
Now I'm wondering if I haven't overdone my room treatments.

Music without a lot of high impact dynamic treble - think Norah Jones, Nick Drake, Bill Evans - sounds fabulous. Great tonality, a you are there sound. Harder music sounds a little edgy and this is on a pristine vinyl rig and Audio Research CD 9 cd player. Doshi pre and mono blocks. Various cables, Several pairs of speakers and amps. Lower volumes are better but 95 db things get shriller. Imaging is to die for, it's tonality in the top end or supression in the midrange that is the issue"

It didn't seem like he was too sure what the root of his problem was. And given that it was in the upper frequencies, I thought trying the system in a different room may help figure out what the problem is. Its much harder to fix HF problems by tuning the room because they're so directional. In most systems, you have a direct line of sight from the tweeter to the listening chair. So, for example, if you have a sibilance problem that's equipment related, I find that the problem will follow the system regardless of the room. I'm not saying the system will sound exactly the same, just that you should still hear the sibilance issue regardless of the room and how the room is treated. If the OP had a different kind of problem, such as a bass issue, moving the system to a different room probably won't help all that much in diagnosing the problem. Keep in mind, though, that this is the nature of trouble shooting. My suggestion is just 1 of several possible causes, so I could be wrong. But the more causes you can rule out, the closer you get to isolating the problem.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
Zephyr24069,

Thanks. But I wouldn't say it was brilliant. Its just a quick way to eliminate some possibilities as to what could be causing the problem.
More to discover