Does carpet deaden the sound too much?


I’ve always had my speakers on carpet, but alway feel my system could be a little more livelier. Is it the carpet that absorbs life out of the sound? 
mike

hiendmmoe

I think you're right.

Most recording studios don't have thick carpets and aren't heavily furnished either.

Give me an underdamped room rather than an oversampled one any day.

Everyone's room/ears are different.

Definitely a YMMV topic.

Damping/diffusion as needed. Just like cooking-salt/pepper to taste.

The proximity of the speakers to the floor means it is the very closest first reflection point, unless you have speakers sitting right besides walls (even if you have to downsize the listening triangle, bring speakers off the side walls if you can), it's the closest surface.

Obviously I don't know what you're using, speakers, amps, front end or even the size of the room? If you have your speakers toed in, or what other room treatment you may or may not have?
The floor coverings would not be the first place I'd go hunting for the lack of lifelike presentation. And musical instruments are often bright, sharp and startling sounding in real life, so yeah I can see you'd want that. Flavor!

Your question, for any of us trying to respond with useful information will require enquiry - This opinion is based solely on the assumption that your response coming off the floor is predominantly off axis. The midbass and tweeters should not be firing at the floor, they should by varying degrees be aimed at your head (ears).
On axis for full impact, slightly off axis to attenuate brightness, with your listening apparatus on the same plane as the tweeters  - in general.

If the floor entirely absorbed every bit of energy it was presented, it shouldn't make for more than a meager portion of the voicing of your loudspeakers, if the tweeter is at ear height with you sitting in a standard listening chair.

Please by all means elaborate on what you're using, and in what conditions it's playing?
 

Carpet certainly absorbs sound (as does plush furniture, etc), but absorbs 'life' out of it? I guess that's pretty subjective. I've always had wall-to-wall carpets and ain't no shortage of life coming out of my speakers, unless there's a shortage of life to the music. 

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