How to get better bass in a small untreated room?

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Beitrag

zhopudey
Stammgast

#1 erstellt: 24. Okt 2007, 13:43

Now that my experience level in listening to hifi is slightly above zero, I have a better idea of what kind of sound I'm looking for. I yearn for better bass.

Now I'm not saying "more bass", cause I don't want to be misinterpreted. I mean, of course I want the bass to go deeper, but it should still be tight and fast and musical, etc.

As you might have read in my other thread, my "lack of bass" problem was due to bad placement and room acoustics. I've solved it to some extent with a different placement. There is still some boom, which I didn't hear when I had the speakers in the (much bigger)living room. So I was just wondering to myself, if I put floorstanders in my room, they would probably boom even more.

I haven't heard many subwoofers, but from what I've read, good subs for music cost a pretty penny

So what are my options? I understand treating my room would vastly improve the sound, but I have a feeling that I need more than what most bookshelves offer. Would floorstanders (maybe the smaller 2-ways) work well in a treated room? Would sealed speakers be better than ported ones? Are any sealed floorstanders available?

P.S.- I'm not actually upgrading. No money

This is just for knowledge's sake.

square_wave
Inventar

#2 erstellt: 24. Okt 2007, 16:13

Tight, fast and musical bass (I will include DETAILED to the list) is something all audiophiles yearn for. But this is very difficult to achieve in an untreated small room. You need a big / medium size room with lots of heavy furniture, thick curtains, thick rugs, treatments in crucial places and a well setup system. The best you can do is improve the bass you get now with proper placement of speakers and system setup. Good speaker cables and interconnects are necessary too.
Rives audio and their forum at audio asylum is a good site to hang out to learn some tips.

http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/rives/bbs.html

Arj
Inventar

#3 erstellt: 25. Okt 2007, 08:07

for tight bass you first need a system which can produce it and secondly a room which does not add its own Boom/colouration to the sound

colourations can be reduced to a very large extent with room treatments.

BTW can you try out a Corner plavement ie the speakers firing in diagonally. one of the best ways to reduce higher frequency colourations is slightly nearfield (5-6 ft) placement of listener from speaker.

I just redid my setup last night and the soundstage change is fantastic

Arj
Inventar

#4 erstellt: 25. Okt 2007, 08:12

Square, thatks for the link..it is nice reading

Arj
Inventar

#5 erstellt: 25. Okt 2007, 08:23

There is another link i had archived which is a must read

http://decware.com/newsite/mainmenu.htm

in particular the bvelow quote is very true for many setups..

The bottom line is that many people buy expensive "high end" audio gear and set it (improperly unbeknown to them) up in their family rooms and decide they're audiophiles. They buy and read the high end journals and then wonder what in the world "delineation" and "layers" mean. I'm not saying it's any fault of their own, only that too many people are spending too much money trying to get better imaging and more depth, or just overall better sound and aren't realizing the goal they seek is unobtainable in this scenario.

zhopudey
Stammgast

#6 erstellt: 25. Okt 2007, 08:53

Thanks for the links. Very informative

Keep the tips coming

I won't be able to do much in my current room, but I'm shifting next year. I'll get to plan out the interiors of my room before moving in. So all this info will come in handy then

I'm afraid I still have one foot in this category

Forget delineation, I don't even understand soundstaging

(I mean, I understand what its supposed to be, but I haven't experienced it yet)

[Beitrag von zhopudey am 25. Okt 2007, 08:58 bearbeitet]

Arj
Inventar

#7 erstellt: 25. Okt 2007, 09:32

zhopudey schrieb:

I don't even understand soundstaging

(I mean, I understand what its supposed to be, but I haven't experienced it yet)

soundstaging is something you should experience with your current setup in a good placement unless your source is really flawed.
try the corner placement. it really helps in small rooms.

another link to help you. it is fairly straightforward acoustics but even if it takes multiple readings to digest it is well worth it.

http://decware.com/newsite/mainmenu.htm

zhopudey
Stammgast

#8 erstellt: 25. Okt 2007, 12:37

I checked his 3 optimal room formulas. Mine would fit the 1st one if I lower the ceiling to 8'