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Help with Martin Logan Aerius Speakers

Hello all...

My listening room is very well dimensioned... I'd say about 15 feet wide, 23 feet long, and 14 feet high. My ML Aerius's are about 3 feet from the back wall, and about 3.75 feet from the side walls. They are about 7.5 feet apart from each other, toed in about 1.5-2 inches toward the listening position (which is about 10 feet away).
Everything sounds great, imaging is very precise, and I'm pretty happy with the soundstage. My only (albeit slight) complaint is the bass... a little on the boomy, muddy side. I'm looking to "clean" up the bass a little, but I have a few questions...

(1) Is this just a weak point with the ML Aerius speakers?
(2) I opened up the back panel... will adding more "stuffing" tighten up the bass? I'm not too concerned with extension down in to the low 30hz region... more interested in a cleaner, tighter bass.
(3) Would adding vibration damping materials to the woofer enclosure help?

I've tried some feable attempts at room treatments (couch pillows and such placed in the corners), and it didn't help very much. Also, I've tried all sorts of different placements in the room... What I have right now is the best for imaging and soundstage, and, like I said, the bass issue is not THAT big a deal. BUT, I figured I might ask for some input... Thanks in advance!
ewha
mburns92's avatar
mburns92
37 posts
 
Amandarae,
Where in the room did you place your traps?

Mike
davebachmann
94 posts
 
Have you tried moving the speakers further into the room? I have my SL3s about 6' in and they sound just fine
jim
418 posts
 
All good general suggestions. What are you driving them with? Choice of amp(s) is critical.

Also, given the dimension of your room, you could go with a larger ML if the opportunity presents itself. The Aerius is a fine speaker for its size, but it is the runt of the litter in every respect. No slam intended, but it does have limitations.
fishinfool
32 posts
 
I owned ML Aerius speakers and they are limited in bass response; in my room, they only went down to 40-50 Hz, depending upon placement and the amplifier used. You can probably get deeper base response by moving them closer to the back wall (try 2'), but I think you will like the overall balance better if you position them further(approx 4-8') out into the room. You might consider using the long wall (23') for your speakers,bringing them approx 3-5 out from the back wall. As a last suggestion, I got the best bass response from the Aerius speakers by using a Krell power amp; nothing else I tried worked as well for bass response.
celtic66
1,615 posts
 
These do need an amplifier with decent dampening factor to control woofer movement. You might follow all the direction given previous and experiment with rope caulking found at Home Depot. Around $5 for a box which you peel off and push into the seems of the woofer enclosure. I've treated several speakers with this and it voices better.
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