Does it make sense to get a nice setup for my room?

[Multicore]

Yes. Yes it does.

Does it make sense? No. Save yourself from this illness! Take up a sensible hobby instead!

Hobby? It's just some equipment. Like the shelves are useful for storage, speakers are useful for audio.

 

[Ropeburn]

I'd also suggest a thick rug between you and speakers. Don't forget decent height speaker stands or some form of isolation (sorbothane sheets?) between speakers and the bookcase if they have to perch there.

Alternatively and for free: books. Thick stacks of paper don't have the worst dampening characteristics, and the height is freely adjustable.

 

[HomerIncognito]

Looking at this bookcase, I would get wall mounts that can swivel 90 degrees and I would mount the right speaker to the side wall just in front of the green plant/a foot above the light switch and would mount the right speaker at the same height in front of those books.

That's an interesting idea, I'll look what kind of mounts are available and think about it.

 

[Ropeburn]

Honestly there's nothing wrong with the setup as you've pictured it, except that you either want to elevate the speakers so the tweeters are roughly at ear height or at least angle them so that the tweeter roughly points at ear height at your usual listening position. Front- vs. rear-ported won't actually make much difference. At the frequencies at which a port operates the sound is omnidirectional. The only difference a rear port will make is that you need to make sure the port isn't directly against a boundary, but it only actually needs a couple of inches of clearance to operate properly. Front ports, on the other hand, are more likely to have noticeable port noise but are still likely to be perfectly fine. The DBR-62 is an excellent speaker so just go with that.

Front vs. rear ported actually makes a crucial difference. A port is logically and physically another sound source just like another driver. Meaning its position in the room as a subbass source determines its behaviour. Example:

Back ported 30cm/1' deep speaker, 30cm from the wall. Sometimes that's too close already resulting in too much bass reinforcement aka boominess.

The same speaker with identical placement, but front ported, means the port is now 60cm/2' from the wall, which makes a big difference and can very well be good enough or ideal.

Rule of thumb: the closer to the wall, the more a front port is the better option. From there it obviously depends on the exact model and its behaviour in the particular room.

 

[kyuu]

Front vs. rear ported actually makes a crucial difference. A port is logically and physically another sound source just like another driver. Meaning its position in the room as a subbass source determines its behaviour. Example:

Back ported 30cm/1' deep speaker, 30cm from the wall. Sometimes that's too close already resulting in too much bass reinforcement aka boominess.

The same speaker with identical placement, but front ported, means the port is now 60cm/2' from the wall, which makes a big difference and can very well be good enough or ideal.

Rule of thumb: the closer to the wall, the more a front port is the better option. From there it obviously depends on the exact model and its behaviour in the particular room.

Hm, not sure I agree. Best way to address too much bass is with EQ/room correction rather than moving it away from the boundary. I wouldn't recommend someone move their subwoofer away from the wall to address boominess, chop those peaks off with EQ. Being closer to the boundary is also better for SBIR.

Also, does the acoustic center of a port actually correspond with where it exits the speaker?

 

[Ropeburn]

Hm, not sure I agree. Best way to address too much bass is with EQ/room correction rather than moving it away from the boundary. I wouldn't recommend someone move their subwoofer away from the wall to address boominess, chop those peaks off with EQ. Being closer to the boundary is also better for SBIR.

Also, does the acoustic center of a port actually correspond with where it exits the speaker?

You can indeed correct a lot woth EQ and room tools, but why not make it easier? There's a limit of what it can do. The less correction you need in the first place, the better it works. Of course your point is valid in the sense of placement options usually being limited.

 

[HomerIncognito]

All good options

For that space I would also consider options available in White - Polk Audio's ES line of loudspeakers is available in a vinyl wrap that resembles white-washed wood

'Polk Signature Elite ES20 Review (Bookshelf Speaker)'

May 10, 2022

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Polk Signature Elite ES20 bookshelf speaker. I purchased it from Amazon for US $349 a pair including shipping.

I really like the look and finish of this series from Polk. Despite budget pricing, it looks nice and purposeful as you can tell from the unique rear port plate:

Measurements that you are about to see were performed using the Klippel Near-field Scanner (NFS). This is a robotic measurement system that analyzes the speaker all around and is able (using advanced mathematics and dual scan) to...

• amirm
• Replies: 213
• Forum: Speaker Reviews, Measurements and Discussion

• 

'Polk ES60 Tower Speaker Review'

Feb 8, 2024

This is a review, listening tests, equalization and detailed measurements of the Polk ES60 tower speaker. It was purchased new and kindly donated to the forum by a member. ES60 costs US $511 on Amazon and has 4.5 start average review (1925 ratings):

The ES60 is in entirely different class than other budget towers with good bit more weight and fit and finish. It uses the down firing port that Polk has in other speakers in the series.

I measured the ES60 on Klippel NFS without the grill with acoustic center of the tweeter. Temperatures in the measurement "chamber" was on the...

• amirm
• Replies: 118
• Forum: Speaker Reviews, Measurements and Discussion

• 

I really like the ES20s aesthetically and I think I'd enjoy the sound signature too. And I can get an open box white pair for 237€ (with the full 2 year warranty). The bad thing is that it's 35.5cm deep, which is deeper than my bottom shelf (35cm). So the ES20s would be basically touching the books.

I can get (supposedly) unused black DBR62s for 320€. A bit harder to drive, but only 27.5cm deep, so they would have at least some breathing space.

I've also realized that I have two Ikea stools that I can use to test if the stands would be worth the trade-off in aesthetics and practicality.

Kind of rambling, but if anyone has any input, especially regarding placing those two speakers in potentially quite boomy places, please share your thoughts.

 

[Power Pop 23]

I really like the ES20s aesthetically and I think I'd enjoy the sound signature too. And I can get an open box white pair for 237€ (with the full 2 year warranty). The bad thing is that it's 35.5cm deep, which is deeper than my bottom shelf (35cm). So the ES20s would be basically touching the books.

I can get (supposedly) unused black DBR62s for 320€. A bit harder to drive, but only 27.5cm deep, so they would have at least some breathing space.

I've also realized that I have two Ikea stools that I can use to test if the stands would be worth the trade-off in aesthetics and practicality.

Kind of rambling, but if anyone has any input, especially regarding placing those two speakers in potentially quite boomy places, please share your thoughts.

I have used a WiiM Amp to drive ELAC DBR62's and Polk Audio ES60 tower loudspeakers. In each case, using the WiiM's room correction feature reduced the boominess using those loudspeakers in my listening space.

 

[Fahzz]

Stand substitute: Stack some of those books and put the speakers on the stack?

 

[Power Pop 23]

I really like the ES20s aesthetically and I think I'd enjoy the sound signature too. And I can get an open box white pair for 237€ (with the full 2 year warranty). The bad thing is that it's 35.5cm deep, which is deeper than my bottom shelf (35cm). So the ES20s would be basically touching the books.


Kind of rambling, but if anyone has any input, especially regarding placing those two speakers in potentially quite boomy places, please share your thoughts.

The depth of a Polk ES20 can be reduced by removing the 'Power Port' attached to the back of the enclosure. Amir measured notable bass output in his review of a stock ES20 and Polk has advertised their Power Port technology adds 3dB of output.

Perhaps you can sample an ES20 without the Power Port attached to hear how it sounds in your listening space.

 

[HomerIncognito]

My ES20s were delivered today. They actually don't overhang the bottom shelf (when not angled correctly), which is great. They fit the space nicely I think. I should receive my Wiim Amp Ultra later this week, in the meantime I'll prep the cables and books on which the speakers will stand on, at least initially. Will report again when I get the amp.

 

[HomerIncognito]

So the amp showed up today and I've been listening non-stop for over four hours. So far I'm running everything flat - no EQ, no room correction, in order to get a baseline for how they sound.

These are fun speakers. Lots of bass that doesn't seem distorted even with my placement. I guess reorganizing books with my gf helped. Though it's still a bit too much sometimes, so I'll definitely try room correction. I can't pinpoint the 600hz resonance from the reviews yet, maybe I'll be able to tell the difference after correcting it in parametric EQ. What I hear though is that these are bright, but not fatiguing or sibilant.

As far as the Wiim Amp Ultra goes, it's amazing. Easy to setup and use, looks great and doesn't take much space. It does get warm though, so I'll surely buy a set of feet for it. The display is too small to see from the couch, but it's still useful as it allows controlling some features without the app.

Overall I'm super happy. I'll edit this comment or post a new one once I get to play with EQ+DSP a bit.

And thanks everyone for your support and thoughts.

 

[Cableguy67]

The depth of a Polk ES20 can be reduced by removing the 'Power Port' attached to the back of the enclosure. Amir measured notable bass output in his review of a stock ES20 and Polk has advertised their Power Port technology adds 3dB of output.

Perhaps you can sample an ES20 without the Power Port attached to hear how it sounds in your listening space.

Can you point me the post from Amir? Thanks

 

[Power Pop 23]

Can you point me the post from Amir? Thanks

Welcome to ASR !

Polk Signature Elite ES20 Review (Bookshelf Speaker)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Polk Signature Elite ES20 bookshelf speaker. I purchased it from Amazon for US $349 a pair including shipping. I really like the look and finish of this series from Polk. Despite budget pricing, it looks nice and purposeful as you can tell...

www.audiosciencereview.com

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