Advice on Upgrading my Speakers and Room (Own Focal Aria 926)

[OldRaggedDog]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum but I've been reading it for couple days straight.

I am planning on upgrading my audio setup but I am not sure it's worth it since, like with many of the folks here, my room is my limitation.

My situation is following.

I own:

Exposure 3010s2 Integrated Amp
Exposure 2010s2d DAC
Focal Aria 926 Speakers

I am currently happy with everything but I feel like my speakers could be upgraded (I want the bass to go lower a bit and, judging by info on this forum, there are greater options as far as clarity and detail and flat response are concerned).

I've been considering Revel F208, partially because they pop up on the "best speakers" lists on this forum and because they offer all the bass I may need.

Some info about my room:

* my room is about 32 m2,
* the listening area in the said room is around 10 m2
* the distance between the speakers is about 2.5-2.6 m and I can't push it any further (because of the right wall)
* the listening distance from the speakers is also roughly 2.5 m
* the right speaker is dangerously close the concrete wall as you can see from the photo
* the rear wall is MDF panels decorated with those green planks you can see on the photo.

The biggest problem is I've recently finished renovation so moving things around too much isn't an option - there's a lot of in-built furniture and staff.

I would love to have any advice as to

* whether Revel F208 may be an overkill for my room
* what steps can I take to improve their performance considering the placement and the room
* what steps can I take to improve my CURRENT setup

plus anything you may want to mention, any information is welcome since I am not a professional "scientific" listener as one may put it
I've attached a bunch of photos of my room, a link to the 3D model of my room.

3D model:

Living2

Living2

kuula.co

 

[Jim Taylor]

I have no answer to your question because of the placement and acoustics, but I would just like to say ... welcome to ASR!

Jim

 

[OldRaggedDog]

I have no answer to your question because of the placement and acoustics, but I would just like to say ... welcome to ASR!

Jim

Thank! It's nice to be here

 

[Joffy1780]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum but I've been reading it for couple days straight.

I am planning on upgrading my audio setup but I am not sure it's worth it since, like with many of the folks here, my room is my limitation.

My situation is following.

I own:

Exposure 3010s2 Integrated Amp
Exposure 2010s2d DAC
Focal Aria 926 Speakers

I am currently happy with everything but I feel like my speakers could be upgraded (I want the bass to go lower a bit and, judging by info on this forum, there are greater options as far as clarity and detail and flat response are concerned).

I've been considering Revel F208, partially because they pop up on the "best speakers" lists on this forum and because they offer all the bass I may need.

Some info about my room:

* my room is about 32 m2,
* the listening area in the said room is around 10 m2
* the distance between the speakers is about 2.5-2.6 m and I can't push it any further (because of the right wall)
* the listening distance from the speakers is also roughly 2.5 m
* the right speaker is dangerously close the concrete wall as you can see from the photo
* the rear wall is MDF panels decorated with those green planks you can see on the photo.

The biggest problem is I've recently finished renovation so moving things around too much isn't an option - there's a lot of in-built furniture and staff.

I would love to have any advice as to

* whether Revel F208 may be an overkill for my room
* what steps can I take to improve their performance considering the placement and the room
* what steps can I take to improve my CURRENT setup

plus anything you may want to mention, any information is welcome since I am not a professional "scientific" listener as one may put it
I've attached a bunch of photos of my room, a link to the 3D model of my room.

3D model:

Living2

Living2

kuula.co

Welcome to ASR!!
Have you taken any measurements of the frequency response in your room? That is where I would start, if I were you.

Also, would you consider adding a subwoofer to fill out the bass?

 

[OldRaggedDog]

Welcome to ASR!!
Have you taken any measurements of the frequency response in your room? That is where I would start, if I were you.

Also, would you consider adding a subwoofer to fill out the bass?

Nope, I haven't tried measuring frequency response. What should I start with? Is there any guide for that?

Regarding subwoofer, unfortunately, there isn't anywhere I could squeeze it in - there's a TV stand between the speakers and a subwoofer wouldn't fit in. If I wanted to place it to the right it would obstruct the right speaker and there's a door to the left so it will obstruct that too.

 

[Joffy1780]

Nope, I haven't tried measuring frequency response. What should I start with? Is there any guide for that?

Sure, Amir has produced a guide, here.

Regarding subwoofer, unfortunately, there isn't anywhere I could squeeze it in - there's a TV stand between the speakers and a subwoofer wouldn't fit in. If I wanted to place it to the right it would obstruct the right speaker and there's a door to the left so it will obstruct that too.

I was thinking under the bookshelf on the right, between right speaker and sofa, but looks can be deceiving.

 

[kyuu]

You'll probably get better advice here than my decidedly non-expert one, but I will say that the F208 would not be too much for your room. You will get a lot of bass reinforcement with them placed close to the wall like you have your existing towers, and will likely have room modes to deal with. In both cases, you'll want some kind of room EQ solution such as Dirac to help with that, or you can do your own measurements and attempt to tackle them yourself with a parametric EQ. EQ could also improve your current setup regardless of if you change the speakers.

You will need to purchase something that includes Dirac or an adjustable EQ for that, however. It looks like your current sources are a PS4 and a turntable?

 

[OldRaggedDog]

You'll probably get better advice here than my decidedly non-expert one, but I will say that the F208 would not be too much for your room. You will get a lot of bass reinforcement with them placed close to the wall like you have your existing towers, and will likely have room modes to deal with. In both cases, you'll want some kind of room EQ solution such as Dirac to help with that, or you can do your own measurements and attempt to tackle them yourself with a parametric EQ. EQ could also improve your current setup regardless of if you change the speakers.

You will need to purchase something that includes Dirac or an adjustable EQ for that, however. It looks like your current sources are a PS4 and a turntable?

Nope, PS4 is just there, not involved into my audio listening at all. I use Apple TV with Apple Music, Apple TV connected to my Exposure DAC directly, but this "chain" doesn't allow for EQuing and correction unfortunately.

 

[Selkirks]

Years ago I was using Revel F208's with Exposure 3010S2 mono amps. The space was approximately 14 x 18, no attention to room acoustics at the time and a glass coffee table likely causing havoc. The f208's did not cause any major issues in room. I was using a Revel Performa 3 B110 subwoofer as well. Worst case scenario you could EQ. Knowing what I know now I'd first invest in room and EQ to get a flatter response before upgrading the gear. Room pic below.

 

[OldRaggedDog]

Years ago I was using Revel F208's with Exposure 3010S2 mono amps. The space was approximately 14 x 18, no attention to room acoustics at the time and a glass coffee table likely causing havoc. The f208's did not cause any major issues in room. I was using a Revel Performa 3 B110 subwoofer as well. Worst case scenario you could EQ. Knowing what I know now I'd first invest in room and EQ to get a flatter response before upgrading the gear. Room pic below.

View attachment 387562

What was the distance between the speakers? Looks approximately like mine (which is around 2.5 meters (or 8.5 feet). My concern is that the distance between the speakers may also be suboptimal for speakers of this size.

 

[JustJones]

How much room under the TV shelf? Hard to tell from the pictures.

Kef KC62?

 

[caught gesture]

Have you tried moving the speakers closer to you and toeing them in more or less? Ideally you’d be best taking some measurements, but even if you can persuade yourself that it does sound better by just changing the speaker position, then that’s a win in my book!

There is space for a sub behind the sofa as well as underneath your desk.

 

[Selkirks]

What was the distance between the speakers? Looks approximately like mine (which is around 2.5 meters (or 8.5 feet). My concern is that the distance between the speakers may also be suboptimal for speakers of this size.

I can't recall but I start at 6-7 feet apart when bring in new speakers. They were only spaced this far so I could access the back of my gear. The f208's also have a low frequency compensation switch in the rear.

 

[OldRaggedDog]

Have you tried moving the speakers closer to you and toeing them in more or less? Ideally you’d be best taking some measurements, but even if you can persuade yourself that it does sound better by just changing the speaker position, then that’s a win in my book!

There is space for a sub behind the sofa as well as underneath your desk.

So far I have moved the speakers as far from the wall as the cable allows (my cables are cemented into the wall, which might have been a dumb decision on my part), I am considering "extending" the cable and moving them even closer.

As to the sofa, I could indeed squeeze a sub between the wall and the sofa, in which case the sub would face in the direction opposite of me, listener, and would play right into the speaker on the right, which intuitively seems like a bad idea.

 

[Joffy1780]

So far I have moved the speakers as far from the wall as the cable allows (my cables are cemented into the wall, which might have been a dumb decision on my part), I am considering "extending" the cable and moving them even closer.

As to the sofa, I could indeed squeeze a sub between the wall and the sofa, in which case the sub would face in the direction opposite of me, listener, and would play right into the speaker on the right, which intuitively seems like a bad idea.

There wouldn't be an issue locating the sub near a particular speaker, or the sub facing the opposite direction to you.
In fact, if the sub is in a different location to the mains it should allow you to better deal with room modes.

 

[Beave]

Your speaker placement is far from ideal, with one speaker right in the corner and the other not. The response of the right speaker is not going to match the response of the left speaker, no matter what speakers you put there.

So, before you buy any new speakers, I would strongly recommend measuring the response of what you have now and buying and implementing some sort of parametric EQ to deal with the inevitable room effects on the speakers you have.

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

I like your room as a room, and I do love built ins, but you do face challenges. I think you are best off trying to get things in order with the equipment you have first, then thinking about new speakers.

You will be getting lots of side first reflections from the right and not many from the left. Ideally you have balance of direct sound and first reflections on each side. That's the main issue.

I can see options that I might try. Simple: add a panel outside the Left speaker, to get MORE first reflections and try to balance the sound from both speakers. I think this might work if you can move the seating back, so the back of the couch is lined up with the green on its right side. But I am not sure if you can make that work and leave space to get to the seating comfortably.

Treating the right side to kill more reflections would be tough.

Complicated: corner placement, which would not look as good architecturally and leaves you with needing to figure out how to place the screen in the corner. Corner placements can work, but a lot depends on the entire room and making sure it works for all the things you use it for. Corner placements eat up more space, that's for sure. The fixed cables would make this hard.

Things to do electronically: Different levels on the speakers might help a bit, good old "balance" settings if you have them. Or you could measure, and EQ the two speakers separately, which would help. This would be my first go to, btw.

Getting a calibrated mike and downloading REW will be a HUGE help. Even a phone SPL meter, play white noise from YouTube through each speaker individually, look for left and right levels differences... that will tell you something of what you face. If nothing else you would know that the right side is +Xdb higher.

I am a big fan of the tools in wiim streamer now. 10 band eq, separate L/R eq, room correction if you have an Iphone, and a good streaming interface. This might be an inexpensive way to get some tools, particularly if you don't have a streamer now.

 

[OldRaggedDog]

I like your room as a room, and I do love built ins, but you do face challenges. I think you are best off trying to get things in order with the equipment you have first, then thinking about new speakers.

You will be getting lots of side first reflections from the right and not many from the left. Ideally you have balance of direct sound and first reflections on each side. That's the main issue.

I can see options that I might try. Simple: add a panel outside the Left speaker, to get MORE first reflections and try to balance the sound from both speakers. I think this might work if you can move the seating back, so the back of the couch is lined up with the green on its right side. But I am not sure if you can make that work and leave space to get to the seating comfortably.

Treating the right side to kill more reflections would be tough.

Complicated: corner placement, which would not look as good architecturally and leaves you with needing to figure out how to place the screen in the corner. Corner placements can work, but a lot depends on the entire room and making sure it works for all the things you use it for. Corner placements eat up more space, that's for sure. The fixed cables would make this hard.

Things to do electronically: Different levels on the speakers might help a bit, good old "balance" settings if you have them. Or you could measure, and EQ the two speakers separately, which would help. This would be my first go to, btw.

Getting a calibrated mike and downloading REW will be a HUGE help. Even a phone SPL meter, play white noise from YouTube through each speaker individually, look for left and right levels differences... that will tell you something of what you face. If nothing else you would know that the right side is +Xdb higher.

I am a big fan of the tools in wiim streamer now. 10 band eq, separate L/R eq, room correction if you have an Iphone, and a good streaming interface. This might be an inexpensive way to get some tools, particularly if you don't have a streamer now.

Looks like EQ room correction is the way to go, but how do I integrate it into my chain so that I don't have to replace my current DAC? Ideally I'd need something to EQ each speaker separately since both of them are influenced differently by the room.

 

[Purité Audio]

Roon and JRiver playback software both include peq, dacs such as RME, streamers Wiim and Eversolo, separate processors MiniDSP for example and some contemporary loudspeakers kii and Dutch&Dutch.
Keith

 

[OldRaggedDog]

Roon and JRiver playback software both include peq, dacs such as RME, streamers Wiim and Eversolo, separate processors MiniDSP for example and some contemporary loudspeakers kii and Dutch&Dutch.
Keith

Is it possible to use MiniDSP to EQ sound of each speaker separately? Since I have an asymmetrical layout, I imagine the right speaker will need more tuning that the left one and doing correction for both speakers simultaneously is unlikely to achieve the desired goal.