Hello everyone,
I am having a bit of trouble with my setup in my new living room.
I have a pair of Monitor Audio RX6, driven by Creek Audio Evo50 amp. I use Bluesound Node and a Marantz CDP as the source components.
I have also added BK audio XLS 200 subwoofer to mitigate bass null point in my listening room.
Before the addition of the subwoofer I had very tiny bass output on my listening position. The reason is just because of the listening position as it is almost middle of the room ... (just bit close to front wall... ). I also seen that on REW simulation without sub .. and seen some dips around 60h-80hz and 110hz region ... I have added this sub to get bit more low end push and I actually did... now I get decent bass from where I sit but the other places even standup, I get bit boomy sound ... so the balance is not there ...
I am just wondering If I can fix these issues with an addition to miniDSP (with or without dirac) to system or not....
I am also keen on some changes.... may be switching to active speakers .... or event the streaming ones....
What I am looking for is general improvement on balance (with or without sub) and bit more fines .... I am listening on low to mid volumes in general..
Unfortunately changing listening position is not option since both wife factor and the general design of my living room.
Btw... I dont know how but my new Sony TV has a very tiny sub behind the panel which sound very good for the size even on my problematic listening position .. I dont know how but It does.... crazy
What do you think .. which direction should I follow ?
Thank you
You say that you get 'decent bass where you sit'. That's all that matters - where you sit. If it sounds bad in corners, at the ceiling or floor, anywhere else, it doesn't matter.
Generally your options to improve the sound are positioning, room treatment, DSP/EQ, and subs, or any one or combination of these. If you can have a dedicated room you can do what you like but of course in a family room your are limited.
Positioning. You might consider good positioning, of speakers and listening position, on a temporary basis, storing in more practical locations at other times.
Proper room treatment is usually big (especially to deal with the lowest frequencies) and ugly. You could buy smaller decorated panels to help control the higher bass.
I've never used subs but two or even four placed around the room should do good work. They need careful positioning and setting up.
DSP/EQ. I use an equaliser (a Behringer DEQ2496) and for me it finishes things off after careful positioning and lots of room treatment. I had a large wide null at 50Hz and tried everything to find what and where in the room it was but failed. As a last resort I used the Behringer and it filled it in. To this day I don't know why! I suggest you try and fill in any large null by adding a few dB to see what it does. Most people say that narrow nulls aren't usually an issue.
DSP/EQ is great at reducing peaks. Getting the peaks reduced will go a long way to enable you to play the music louder without annoying neighbours. Another thing that will reduce the volume your need to listen at is sitting closer to the speakers.
One thing room treatment does that I'm not sure DSP/EQ can do is reduce decay times. Reducing decay times gives tighter clearer sounds. Reducing reflections off walls, side front and rear, can also improve the crispness of the sound but some claim doing this reduces 'envelopment'.
Other factors can also affect the sound. Just moving your head slightly, backwards or forwards, or tipping your head downwards so you look to the floor, can give you more or less percussion for example. So does putting your hands behind your ears, or bending your ears forward!
