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EQUIPMENT FORUMS >> MINI TORII >> Moved the system to a spare room
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Message started by Fireblade on 04/29/13 at 13:20:15

Title: Moved the system to a spare room
Post by Fireblade on 04/29/13 at 13:20:15

Yesterday I finally got to it. Smaller listening area (9' x 12'), but with better distribution and fewer obstacles than in the living room. Speakers are 5' apart, and the sweet spot placed with my ears about 7' from the speakers' firing plane. Sub is just besides the right speaker, on the bare floor. I guess this new setting becomes closer to what is called 'near-field.'

Initial impressions: Not too bad, considering there are bare walls on both sides at this point (something that will be fixed with drapes, eventually). The Persian rug between the speakers and the sweet spot helps a lot.

I still need to play around with the speakers' and Sub position, as I'm getting a little boominess over demanding music peaks (too much reflection), and the bass is not yet as defined as it was in the living room (a little vague). Other than that (transparency, soundstage), are all at a good starting point.

I don't have to set up the speakers/stands on every session anymore (as I had to do in the living room for esthetics), so that's an added benefit by itself.

Title: Re: Moved the system to a spare room
Post by jpv on 04/29/13 at 13:54:23

Will this be a dedicated listening room? :)

Title: Re: Moved the system to a spare room
Post by Fireblade on 04/29/13 at 14:05:21

That is the objective in the end, yes.

Title: Re: Moved the system to a spare room
Post by Rivieraranch on 04/30/13 at 01:14:22

That is what you should have done in the beginning. I remember that being one of your alternatives at the outset. I am sure you will be able to really fine tune the presentation now. My room is just a small bit larger than that.

Title: Re: Moved the system to a spare room
Post by Fireblade on 04/30/13 at 02:49:52

Nice of you to remember. Indeed, now that I have tried, I can conclude that would have been a better first choice. The dimensions on that room seemed too constrained at the time, though.

It will require a lot of fine-tuning modifications to take the sound to where I want it to be, but this is the only possible way, as the living room was not really modifiable to that extent.

I'm currently experimenting with Sub positioning, but the drapes on both lateral walls are a must to kill much of the mid-to-high reflections.

The Mini Torii is a lion in this smaller setting, with plenty of volume in reserve. The other advantage I found, is for the first time I'm further away from the speakers than the distance between them (Isosceles triangle, with the sweet spot in the inverted vertex). This allows more time-space to the sound waves to blend and hit the sweetspot, and should assist in soundstage/imaging too.

We'll see.

Title: Re: Moved the system to a spare room
Post by jpv on 04/30/13 at 13:23:53

Glad to see this will be a dedicated room. Hopefully no WAF to contend with. My room is the "man cave" and I do whatever I want to it. I would suggest you get REW from the Home Theater shack and learn how to use it, if you haven't already. It will show you what is going on in the room and really aid you in positioning the subs.
No matter how much you try you will never get it right just by ear.
It will show you the effects of the room treatment, help you determine the speaker and listening position. I takes a while to figure it out but the results are worth it.

Title: Re: Moved the system to a spare room
Post by Fireblade on 05/01/13 at 02:29:42

Thanks for the thumbs up. Yeah, actually, the wife was instrumental in inducing my decision ... I guess to see to it that I would finally gather up all those contraptions and get them the hell out of the living room ;D

Seriously, though, this is the first time I'll be able to literally shape a listening room totally in favor of sound. I just need to do this one step at a time.

I'm not familiar with REW, but an internet search will take care of my ignorance. I assume it provides sound distribution feedback, to assist in a convergent trial-and-error fine-tuning process?

Right now, I don't need REW to know my two lateral walls are over-reflecting all the speakers' output. Once I fix that, I can approach the issue in a more sophisticated (and efficient) way, as you suggest.

My intentions are not to achieve the ultimate room tuning, but to manage a decent sounding environment that will make better justice to my beloved rig.