I don't really know if ceiling height is the sole, or even the most important of your problems. There is probably lots of concrete which has its own acoustic rules. With out lots of wall treatments you are stuck with what you have. If this is temporary, I suggest you invest more energy in the room you are building and don't worry for now. A really good set of head phones helps.
Soundstage/Imaging and The Room
I'm encountering an interesting phenomena.
I moved to Connecticut from California. When in California, I had a 10 x 13 x 27 room, dedicated outlets, the works. I had no problem with imaging,soundstage, etc. Now, here in Connecticut (I know! the geography counts for beans, but I wanted to give some background), I'm temporarily in a basement in the family home. The basement ceiling is 8' , with joists (planks that support the structure and hold up the floor) hanging down from the actual celing and spaced every two feet. So, in essence, with the 7" joists (planks of wood) hanging down, the height is about 7'5" and I notice that there's NO imaging whatsoever. I had even installed dedicated circuits (2) for the time being.
What's your take on minimum ceiling height for imaging? By the way, the basement is open, so it's 23' x 40' (give or take 5 feet). I can hear low level detail when music is playing, but the actual imaging is fascinatingly absent.
Equipment is a First Presence preamp, a Marsh A400s amp, Arcam FMJ23, Shunyata power cords, PS Audio line conditioner (and power cords) and Nordost interconnect with Synergistic speaker cable.
I've actually tried the setup two different ways: with the speakers set up so that they are aimed parallel to the joists, and setup so that they are aimed perpendicular to the joists --- no difference in imaging, but the sound is more "distant" when they're fired perpendicular to the joists. The music loses some "intimacy."
I'm finding this interesting. In a couple of months, I'll have a dedicated room added onto the house, but still, what are everyone's views on how the room's ceiling height affects imaging -- and soundstage boundaries? I'm wondering if all the ceiling joists hanging down interrupt and reflect the sound back onto the concrete floor and walls, and confuse the ear/brain into not "seeing" imaging. Especially since it makes it seem like a "low ceiling" effect. What do you think?
I moved to Connecticut from California. When in California, I had a 10 x 13 x 27 room, dedicated outlets, the works. I had no problem with imaging,soundstage, etc. Now, here in Connecticut (I know! the geography counts for beans, but I wanted to give some background), I'm temporarily in a basement in the family home. The basement ceiling is 8' , with joists (planks that support the structure and hold up the floor) hanging down from the actual celing and spaced every two feet. So, in essence, with the 7" joists (planks of wood) hanging down, the height is about 7'5" and I notice that there's NO imaging whatsoever. I had even installed dedicated circuits (2) for the time being.
What's your take on minimum ceiling height for imaging? By the way, the basement is open, so it's 23' x 40' (give or take 5 feet). I can hear low level detail when music is playing, but the actual imaging is fascinatingly absent.
Equipment is a First Presence preamp, a Marsh A400s amp, Arcam FMJ23, Shunyata power cords, PS Audio line conditioner (and power cords) and Nordost interconnect with Synergistic speaker cable.
I've actually tried the setup two different ways: with the speakers set up so that they are aimed parallel to the joists, and setup so that they are aimed perpendicular to the joists --- no difference in imaging, but the sound is more "distant" when they're fired perpendicular to the joists. The music loses some "intimacy."
I'm finding this interesting. In a couple of months, I'll have a dedicated room added onto the house, but still, what are everyone's views on how the room's ceiling height affects imaging -- and soundstage boundaries? I'm wondering if all the ceiling joists hanging down interrupt and reflect the sound back onto the concrete floor and walls, and confuse the ear/brain into not "seeing" imaging. Especially since it makes it seem like a "low ceiling" effect. What do you think?
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- 12 posts total
- 12 posts total