Echo and sibilance only on one side - can you help me out?

[Satyadhara]

Hi everyone,

Overall, I'm quite happy with the sound in my room, but there is one issue that I don't quite understand, so maybe you can enlighten me?
My speakers are set up symmetrically, with a distance of 83cm from the side walls, 97cm from the front wall, and 2.10m apart (all measured from the center of the drivers). They are toed in to the listening position by 29 degrees, and I like this setup very much. I have a clear phantom centre, great separation, breadth, and depth. BUT:

- When I listen to voices, especially female voices in movies/series, the "S"-sounds can become sibilant, but only from the left side of the stereo image
- When I listen to music with much echo/reverb, for example a symphony or something recorded in a church, the echo/reverb is also stronger from the left speaker than from the right

I have attached some pictures of my living room as it looks right now. At first, I thought that the record shelf on the left wall would cause this issue due to early reflections, but moving it to the back of the room didn't really make a difference... I should also add that the phantom centre is not affected - it's right in the middle and stays there, as it should be.

Any ideas what is needed to solve this problem? Maybe just some absorbers on the left wall?
Many thanks in advance and greetings from Germany!

 

[fieldcar]

I saw this suggested and then I noticed no replies. Did you ever get this resolved?

I would play with absorber panels at the first reflection point. You should be able to use folded blankets or pillows if you don't have anything. Also, I would aim the tweeters a couple feet behind your head.

I hope this helps.

 

[Satyadhara]

Thanks for your reply! In the meantime, I've actually ordered absorbers - in fact, they arrived today So I'll see if that makes a difference. The tweeters are already aiming at a point behind my head. And I will also have to admit to myself that my hearing is not the same on both ears - right ear seems to hear less high frequencies, so that might well contribute to the issue. Anyway, I appreciate your help!

 

[fieldcar]

Thanks for your reply! In the meantime, I've actually ordered absorbers - in fact, they arrived today So I'll see if that makes a difference. The tweeters are already aiming at a point behind my head. And I will also have to admit to myself that my hearing is not the same on both ears - right ear seems to hear less high frequencies, so that might well contribute to the issue. Anyway, I appreciate your help!

Sounds good. It may be worthwhile to put the absorber at your window too. If it improves, you may be able to find something more decorative that accomplishes the scattering/absorption.

As for your ears, I've read a bit on here that having your ears professionally cleaned works wonders. Otherwise a submerging your ears in a hot bath always works for me as crazy as that sounds.

Glad to throw in my 2 cents. Have a good one!

 

[raindance]

You are probably getting a reflection off the window from the right channel that then bounces off the left wall. This could be adding to the signal from the left speaker from your ear's perspective. So treat the first reflection point (do you know how to find it?) on the left wall first at ear level.

 

[Hipper]

Is it possible that the sound from the left speaker is reflecting off the equipment beside it?

I found that I could hear reflections off my gear on the front wall so moved it to the side wall. It means longer speaker cables though.

 

[Satyadhara]

Thanks for the suggestion. Might be, yes - but as the TV is also on the rack/lowboard, moving everything to the side wall would also involve getting rid of the whole thing. Maybe at some point!

Another thing: I just did a series of measurements in REW with and without the bass traps I got, and as far as I can see the differences are not that substantial... so I have to decide whether to keep them or send them back. I will post the screenshots in another thread in this subforum and would be really happy to hear your thoughts! Many thanks

 

[raindance]

Bass traps won't influence freq response much unless they're huge. They may decrease decay times a bit, but most of what is sold as bass traps that has any wife acceptance value is only large enough to target the upper bass region which is rarely where the room modes exist.

Measuring the frequency response, one speaker at a time, will shed more light on the situation than any amount of fiddling.

 

[sarumbear]

Hi everyone,

Overall, I'm quite happy with the sound in my room, but there is one issue that I don't quite understand, so maybe you can enlighten me?

Have you tried listening one side at a time? Do those effects stay the same, at the same location?