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Room treatment-I was afraid of this

There I was with a dedicated room-not ideal being nearly square and a less than 8' ceiling-and barely adequate music, not awful but the system had sounded better. I tried moving things about some with differing results but nothing satisfying. Part of the problem was moving from a 30x35 foot room with an 18' ceiling. I was used to the speakers being well out into the room, far apart and sitting pretty far away. I used the odd integer matrix method promoted by Vandersteen but hadn't considered either placing them closer to the wall or moving near field. Nick at GIK recommended both, as well as some furniture rearranging that made a very pleasant difference. That was all the encouragement I needed to order bass traps, 1st and 2nd reflection panels and front and rear wall treatments. Installed them by about 4pm Monday and listened until 2 am, back at it last night from 3pm-1am. It's just as so many have said, this is a serious component upgrade. It is matched in scale only when I went from Vandersteen 2CE's to Chapman T-77SE's. Not a single aspect of the listening experience that isn't enhanced. So now the problem; I suppose a lot of the glowing stuff folks make of cables, power cords, fuses, and on and on also make significant differences. How long can it be before I'm off and running on that stuff?
128x128wideload
oldschool1
39 posts
 
dsyder0cnn,
That would be difference between throwaway vs.$5,000 cables! Buying cables is an exponential equation. Squeezing that last bit of performance cost 10x as the last improvement!
digsmithd
913 posts
 

wow wide load thats a bigger room that i went to...new room 10 by 12...really makes you work for it huh...just got atc 19's no ported cab helped me...definitely bass traps in corner though...and yes no couch...just a chair...which is uncomfortable as hell.

all in all i thinks its the best results ive ever gotten...fwiw

crazyeddy's avatar
crazyeddy
381 posts
 
I too have an unusual room that has been quite frustrating to get tuned in decently. All the room treatment, cables, IC's etc. etc. were helping, but I just could not get the room to the point where I was content. I recently purchased the McIntosh MEN 220 Room Correction unit. It was a real learning curve for me, and I'm still tweaking it, but in my situation the MEN 220 has helped considerably. Just my 2 cents folks
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
I’m working on room treatment right now. Just ordered some broadband absorption panels and a HF absorption panel. I’m excited to get rid of the boominess. One problem I have is my left wall is pretty much all glass. I’m hoping the panels absorb enough to negate the ringing of the glass at high volume, but, if not, have any of you tried mass loading glass with clear vinyl? I’d like to avoid curtains...

@wideload - I was sceptical of the difference cables make and didn’t want to drop a good chunk of cash just to find out. So I did some diy-ing and have discovered that cables can make a huge difference. I’ve made my own ICs, y-cables, speaker cables, power cords and filtered power strip. If you are so inclined, there are loads of good materials available and, other than attention to detail, the skills and tools required are minimal. The connectors used seem to be of critical importance, more so than the cables (which are important, just less so). I’m more than happy to share my sources of info if you like, I just don’t want to hijack this thread..

Euphoric listening!
toolbox149
248 posts
 
I am wondering if anyone has had the opportunity to compare GIK bass traps with and without either the Flexrange Membrane added, or with the Scatterplate added, or with both added.  
As stated by someone above, I also love the sound of reflected upper frequencies.  My listening room duplicates my favorite listening experience; 25th row, dead center at Apline valley. I would hate to part with that sound.  Nevertheless, tightening up lower frequencies might be an improvement.

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