I look with envy at the great rooms that pervade this forum. My situation, however, doesn’t allow for a large dedicated room and I’m after help as to whether to pursue with a set-up in a small (16’x12’) semi-shared room or migrate to a large (23’ x 27’) family area.
The current set-up is in a 16’ x 12’ study set-up with practicalities meaning that the speakers are located across the short wall and first down the long-wall. Set-up uses the 1/3 rule with speakers 4’3” from front wall and near-field listening position a further 4’3” from the front wall. The speakers (Unity Horns + Bass Bins) are angled to cross ahead of the listening position and first reflections don’t seem to be an issue. Control of the bass is via a set of super-chunk bass traps in the front corners and heavy furniture / super-chunks in the rear corners. All this works well with the one issue being that recordings with multiple, close, microphones have a weird sound-stage.
I’ve got an option – albeit a difficult one - to move the entire set-up to our family / kitchen area which is 21’ x 25’ with a wood covered concrete floor. The benefits of this change include better bass response due to the larger dimensions of the room and ability to support multiple subwoofers, as well as use of the speakers for A/V as well as music. Another upside is the ability for late night listening away from the bedrooms. Major downside is that as a shared room it’s not possible to add room treatment. The change will also incur a few brownie points as 18” bass drivers + horns + subwoofers don’t just meld into the aesthetic.
My current view is that – all things considered – the best option is to push ahead with a move to the large room on the basis that distributed woofers can smooth bass response and directional nature of the speakers / large time delays on reflections will mean that mid/high reflections are acceptable. I’m open to any and all advice as I need to feel confident before embarking on a change given the hassle and brownie points.
The current set-up is in a 16’ x 12’ study set-up with practicalities meaning that the speakers are located across the short wall and first down the long-wall. Set-up uses the 1/3 rule with speakers 4’3” from front wall and near-field listening position a further 4’3” from the front wall. The speakers (Unity Horns + Bass Bins) are angled to cross ahead of the listening position and first reflections don’t seem to be an issue. Control of the bass is via a set of super-chunk bass traps in the front corners and heavy furniture / super-chunks in the rear corners. All this works well with the one issue being that recordings with multiple, close, microphones have a weird sound-stage.
I’ve got an option – albeit a difficult one - to move the entire set-up to our family / kitchen area which is 21’ x 25’ with a wood covered concrete floor. The benefits of this change include better bass response due to the larger dimensions of the room and ability to support multiple subwoofers, as well as use of the speakers for A/V as well as music. Another upside is the ability for late night listening away from the bedrooms. Major downside is that as a shared room it’s not possible to add room treatment. The change will also incur a few brownie points as 18” bass drivers + horns + subwoofers don’t just meld into the aesthetic.
My current view is that – all things considered – the best option is to push ahead with a move to the large room on the basis that distributed woofers can smooth bass response and directional nature of the speakers / large time delays on reflections will mean that mid/high reflections are acceptable. I’m open to any and all advice as I need to feel confident before embarking on a change given the hassle and brownie points.
