Need qualified room acoustician

Rives Audio designed my room and I have had sonic issues with it since the get-go. To insure it is the room and not some component, I have tried 4 pairs of VERY diverse speakers (Dunlavy, Theil, Seaton Sound and RS), 46 bazillion speaker/listening positions, multiple amps, multiple dacs, multiple preamps, power control, wires and cables., as well as room correction of several flavors. NOTHING works to solve the problem.

Rives refuses to admit the room is the issue no matter how much evidence I provide. An interesting side note is that I have provided him the measurements he requested which confirms to him that his room is not the issue but everyone who has ever been in the room can hear the problem(s). (What does THAT tell us about measurements versus our ears?) He has been in Atlanta twice for CEDIA and will not come by to listen. I know many have had great success with his designs but ...

What bothers me most about this situation is not that the room has a problem but rather that he refuses to admit it his his issue. And when he told me I had ONLY paid for a level 1+ and that level of service ONLY provides plans, I did not take that well.

In fairness, he did do a Level 3 for a friend and that room is awesome. He also did a level 1+ for me previously in another room and that room, from 100hz up, was the best room I have ever heard (but from 100Hz down did nothing nor did he have me build soffit traps even though I had huge Dunlavy's and 4 subs).

I have had Dennis Erskine come by but he has asked for a very hefty sum with no guarantees that he will fix the problem. When Mark Seaton was here during CEDIA, he could hear the problem and made some guesses as to what the cause might be and I tried some of the possible remedies with no success.

Ethan has tried to be very helpful but he does not travel to do consulting.

What other recommendations can anyone make on who else I can contact to try and get this incredibly frustrating issue behind me?

I can not even guess at the number of hours I have spent trying different components, taking untold number of measurements, moving speakers around, adding and changing acoustic products, switching cables, re-measuring, etc!! I just want to listen to music.

(The sonic issue I am dealing with would best be described as upper midrange glare. I have absorptive/diffusive panels and first side wall reflection points, diffusion on the ceiling, diffusers on the rear wall and absorption on the rear side walls, hardwood for the first 7 or 8 feet of flooring and then carpet. I have tried swapping those around as well as rotating the speakers 180 degrees in the room)

JackD201 said:

This might sound like a silly question but where is your rack and what are the shelves of your rack and amp stands made of? Also, what have you got on your front wall?

*I was certified for design and construction of critical listening environments but never practiced professionally

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All of my equipment is in another room sitting on reasonably solid racks. I have tried setting the equipment on the floor (concrete in another room) on carpet and on one other shelving system.The front wall on both sides of the screen is RPG BAD Panels, and there are acoustic panels above and below the screen. I purchased some additional 2 inch thick acoustic panels to completely cover the screen for 2 channel which I will try in a few days.

Thanks all to have given me names. I will start contacting them ASAP.

devert said:

Contact:

Jeff Hedback
Chief Designer, HdA
PH: 317-863-0753
FX: 317-863-2926
www.HdAcoustics.net

BTW- if you're still using the TacT RCS 2.2XP, you should order an upgraded PSU from Aberdeen/Maui Mods and get a LinearX M31 mic.

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Apparently Aberdeen is not interested in my business. I told him (via an email exchange) that I was interested in purchasing his upgraded power supply, asked him how to pay for it and have never received a response . He may be unhappy with me since I posted the comment from one of his Dallas customers who had many unkind things to say about his company.

But the TacT is not the issue. I have used my Jeff Rowland, a Benchmark DAC that can be used as a preamp, and two different surround processors.

Ron Party said:

Chuck, perhaps a visit from a local HAA calibrator: http://www.homeacoustics.net/

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Just went to that site and two of the HAA certified folks in my area are Dennis Ersksine and Adam Pelz. Adam came with Dennis to (and measured) my home and Dennis later submitted a proposal that said they wanted $1400 per day for up to 6 days PLUS what ever acoustic treatments I would need over and above what I already have ---- and i was not guaranteed that it would be fixed. Since after visiting (and measuring) my room it was not intuitively obvious what the problem was, their approach in the proposal was to measure the room, take down some acoustic treatment and re-measure and keep doing that until they found the problem.

I was somewhat disappointed in the proposal and was surprised since Adam Pelz is very highly regarded (as is Dennis). I will try someone else.

Front left corner (have different speakers and front screen wall is now covered with acoustic material)



Left rear shot:



Right rear shot:



Ceiling from front.



Ceiling before fabric covering added:

RBFC said:

If I were Rives, I would want every customer to be ecstatic in their new space. For those contemplating such a sizable investment, any reports of poor customer service could be disastrous to business. While my lone comment here will probably have zero effect on someone with Rives' notoriety, I personally would be less inclined to use his services upon hearing this report.

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His total and complete lack of support in this issue (e.g. he's been in Atlanta twice during all of this and refused to come to my home) and continuing to claim "it's not the room" when it clearly is (not just my opinion and those of some friends but also based upon the opinions of four of his competitors, three of whom have been in the room) demonstrates to me that he just doesn't give a darn. When he told me that my selection of a Level 1 did not include a site visit (even though he knows the room sucks) I knew I had made the wrong choice in selecting his firm.

If I were building from scratch (like a friend of mine and Mike Lavign) I would consider using Chris Huston of his firm (but would also interview some of the names that have been recommended) but would NEVER recommend a Level I or Level II.

Bruce B said:

Our rooms were designed from scratch by Chris Huston. Being in the medical field, I always want a second opinion. I've heard too much annecdotal information about Rives rooms having to be torn down. I hired Bob Hodas for the acoustics. I couldn't be happier. The 2 days that Bob spent in our rooms was the best money I have spent the past 5 years!

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So they were designed by Chris Huston and acoustic treatment added by Bob Hodas? I thought Chris Huston also did acoustic treatment.

What kinds of fees does Bob Hodas charge (or do I need to ask him)?

Bruce: Thanks. I've sent an email to Bob Hodas to see how this might work.