Poor listening environment, any point upgrading?

[Patrick Dixon]

The wardrobe looks really nice!

You should be able to get decent mid and treble, but bass is often a problem particularly when speakers are in corners. Floor standing speakers usually generate more bass than standmounts, so if you have a boomy bass problem that may not be the way to go.

The lack of treble may indicate that the speakers are broken. Can you get them checked out by someone who could tell? Any dealer worth his salt should be happy to let you try out equipment (particulary speakers) at home - it's really the only way to tell if it's going to work for you, no matter how good it sounds in the shop.

Assuming the speakers are OK, first check that they are properly levelled and don't rock. Play around a little with what you have now; if you can improve things, that will give you more confidence when upgrading. Try moving the right speaker away from the wardrobe - can you move the whole thing left slightly and maybe angle the speakers in a little? Try moving the speakers away from the back wall too, often an inch or two can make a big difference.

[jonheal]

I'm afraid you're just going to have to move. ;-)

[Butane Bob]

Thanks for all the suggestions

As to how I listen - I listen in 2 different ways, background music whilst having dinner etc, but also put a beanbag in the room at the sweetspot for more in depth listening. Both are equally important

Interesting that the Aegis 3 is notorious for the boomy bass problem. About the socks - there are ports in the front and rear, socks in each or just rear? How far from the back wall is ideal?

The wardrobe is French by the way The treble is there, just not as crisp as I would like, I dont think the speakers are broken. As to levelling the speakers - the house is old and the floor is not level, I suppose I could try and adjust the spikes to stabilise them a bit better.

It seems a lot of people are suggesting moving the speakers around, I will go and have a mess around try bringing them forward a bit, toe them in etc

As for moving I just did that! I'm afraid a big garden and a good local school took priority over audio fideilty!

Thanks

[Andrew B.]

Thanks for all the suggestions

As to how I listen - I listen in 2 different ways, background music whilst having dinner etc, but also put a beanbag in the room at the sweetspot for more in depth listening. Both are equally important

Interesting that the Aegis 3 is notorious for the boomy bass problem. About the socks - there are ports in the front and rear, socks in each or just rear? How far from the back wall is ideal?

The wardrobe is French by the way The treble is there, just not as crisp as I would like, I dont think the speakers are broken. As to levelling the speakers - the house is old and the floor is not level, I suppose I could try and adjust the spikes to stabilise them a bit better.

It seems a lot of people are suggesting moving the speakers around, I will go and have a mess around try bringing them forward a bit, toe them in etc

As for moving I just did that! I'm afraid a big garden and a good local school took priority over audio fideilty!

Thanks

Socks in the rear ports should be enough. But first try moving the speakers away from the wall. About 3 feet should be sufficient (obviously not too wife-friendly, but it will at least give you an idea of what is possible). If they still sound bad 3 feet away from the wall, when they are ahead of the wardrobe and no longer have much bass reinforcement from the rear wall, then you need to upgrade....

Andrew

[dnighorn]

I agree with all of those that encourage you to move the speakers. It appears that they are way too close to the wall. I found that .5 meters is a minimum. The bass will tighten and the imaging will improve dramatically. The wardrobe is really causing a problem by setting up a huge boundary reflection from one speaker. This results in the sound getting to you in two or more 'waves', thus muddying the sound. If you can get the speakers ahead of the wardrobe then this should improve somewhat.

Another thing to try is varying the toe-in angle. Do this in very small increments to see if you get an improvement.

I would not spend money on other equipment until you are satisfied that you are getting the best out of the current stuff - and that it isn't good enough.

David

[inguz]

Using a digital room-correction system you should be able to hear a big improvement -- tighter bass, especially. (Is anyone else working on integrating DRC with squeezebox/slimserver?)

[P Floding]

If you buy speakers and amplifiers for 2 grand (£ not $) today, you can get equipment that clearly sounds better than a similarly priced set aroung 1995-7.

How do I know - I have done it myself

Tom

Sure, but what is the point if you have absolutely no control over the physical layout of the system?

[P Floding]

Using a digital room-correction system you should be able to hear a big improvement -- tighter bass, especially. (Is anyone else working on integrating DRC with squeezebox/slimserver?)

That would help, but it won't move the speakers further apart.

BTW, "anyone else"? Is anyone at all working on DRC for the SB? Sure would be cool!

[Butane Bob]

Well I have just moved the speakers around a bit, brought them forward as much as I can (30cm from the rear wall), and toed them in. I also decided to listen to each one in turn switching over the balance - and interestingly I noticed the right hand speaker sounded much better than the left. In fact the left hand speaker was decidedly lacking in treble.

I took the front panel off and discovered the tweeter had a huge dent in it, presumably one of my offspring has wondered what the shiny black round thing is and stuck their finger right in the middle of it!! Anyway with careful manipulation I managed to restore said tweeter to its former glory. Things are sounding altogether much healthier now!

The treble is crisper now I have two functioning tweeters and the bass is much tighter, I suspect from bringing the speakers forward, and I didnt spend a penny.

Thanks for all your help!

[Phil Leigh]

tact 2.2 - NOW!