What are the limits of room correction/ treatments ?


My old listening room was open to other parts of the house allowing excess bass energy to escape and had a high 13ft. ceiling. Clear tight bass and open clear midrange even when loud. My current room, while bigger ( 17 x 21), is boxy with 9' ceilings and a single door entrance. You can really hear the room getting in the way on many recordings, esp with louder complex recordings. Can room correction + treatments really make my current room sound like the old one?
jim94025

Showing 1 response by goose

This stuff gets kind of tricky but I would recommend the following:

1)  Get your speakers set up to spot where they sound decent including toe in and tilt (front to back)

2)  Add bass traps in the corners

3)  If your room has hardwood floors you will need to put a large area rug in front of the speakers or treat the ceiling

4)  Treat the first reflection points on the walls to the sides of the speakers

5)  I would add absorptive panels or material cautiously.  You can get too much and it makes the room too dead

6)  I have had good success with adding diffusers instead of absorptive panels.  They work great on the back wall behind the listening chair and also on the front wall behind the speakers.  I don't like the cheap foam variety of diffusers and have made mine out of wood. 

There a lot of good sites for information that will do design work if you buy their products.  In my opinion they can go overboard on the absorptive panels since they are also in the sales game.  Just my two cents.