Extremely disgusting acoustics. I have to make a change.

[Bling Guy McSqueezy]

Hello everyone, my second post on the forum.
I think this will be a short and quick consultation that will put my head in order.
Again apologizing for my mediocre English.

My room is 12 square meters in size. Extremely disgusting acoustics.
Sounds very hollow and noisy with an echo no matter what I do.

I am currently listening to Logitech z906 5.1 speakers connected directly to my computer.
Behind me hang the two rear channels at an angle towards the ears, slightly above the head directed downwards.
In front of me is the middle speaker and of course the two channels - left and right.

The system sounds bad and the subwoofer vibrates the hollow metal legs of an IKEA table. 1/10.

I am considering putting this system in the living room in the same configuration to make it more pleasant to watch movies

I would love to have your advices - maybe I should buy a 2.0 pair of speakers or 2.1 system?
The cables are cumbersome, long...
I want something compact yet energetic and rhythmic as possible to listen to from an arm's distance from my ears.

Please drop me some recommendations up to a budget of 500 USD, I would greatly appreciate your help.
And please do not laugh this time about my inexperience and my level of language, it is not easy for me anyway and I am quite embarrassed to ask for help ...

My best to you and yours,
McSqueezy

 

[DVDdoug]

no matter what I do.

And... What did you do?

If there is no carpet or rug, add a rug to absorb some sound. You might try adding some (decorative) rugs or carpets on the walls too. These should be "large". The more hard surface you have, the more the sound reflects.

This kind of homemade treatment won't help with bass problems but it should help with the overall echo/reverb.

Specialized acoustic treatment would probably exceed your budget, and you'd need a lot to cover the enough of the reflective surfaces.

Before you spend a lot of money, there is free software to measure your room (and speakers) before and after acoustic treatment but you will need a calibrated measurement microphone (about $100 USD).

and the subwoofer vibrates the hollow metal legs of an IKEA table.

There's probably an easy solution but you'll have to figure it out yourself.. Maybe some kind of pads (or a rug) between the legs and the floor, or if it's rattling where the legs connect to the table, maybe some glue, etc...

 

[rdenney]

A rug on the wall will do some for low frequencies, but it will work miracles with glarey echo at higher frequencies. I have done this--when I lived in San Antonio, I had my Advent speakers on stands at one end of a room that was 18x12' with an 8' ceiling. The speakers were on the 12' wall at one end, about 2.5 feet out from the wall. Echo was horrendous with the far wall. I went to Sears (it was a long time ago) and bought a clearance area rug (not ugly, actually) that was 8x12', paying $75 for it. I nailed a 2x4 across the top edge of the wall opposite the speakers, and hung the rug from that. it covered floor to ceiling, wall to wall, 1.5 inches out from the wall (which actually helps with low frequency damping). The echo disappeared and the room became noticeably warmer in sound. That was long before good tools like REW, and I had to make do with a quick pink noise test and a borrowed RTA at the time. But an RTA doesn't find modes very well, and there should still have been some. The front wall had a big picture window with heavy draperies, and those damped a bit and dispersed more, with bookshelves across from them. I could listen in that room for hours...

Rick "still single in those days" Denney

 

[tvrgeek]

Small room. Are you in an apartment? If so, and you have enough bass to make tables vibrate, get rid of the sub. Respect the folks next door.
Nice thick rug is step one.

"Specialized" treatment is DIY based on Owens Corning 705 series fiberglass panels. Cover them with cotton bat to retain the fibers and any cloth of your choice. Cost of lunch will out-do thousands of dollars of "magic" professional panels. There is a lot of DIY on the WEB by real studio engineers.

Then consider speakers without a sub that are closer to full range. I just bought some Elac's for $230 that are way better than they should be and go low enough for most music. Lower than you need in an apartment.

I am fighting the imaging issues with near-field speakers. Seems anything under five feet the image separates into point sources. Very unpleasant to me.

 

[Bling Guy McSqueezy]

Regarding carpet - in Israel with our amount of dust and our heat this is the most not recommended thing that can be done.
I think a big problem is the fact that I do not have a curtain on the window, at all and that my new closet from IKEA is 90% empty of clothes, because the room underwent a comprehensive renovation a few days ago.

Thank you for the comments, I think it would be wise to attach pictures of the room in the post, you will surely have more ideas.

 

[tvrgeek]

Reality of the environment can be a bear!
A rug you can take outside and shake. Heavy curtains.

 

[Vini darko]

If you're in a mostly empty square room with no treatments or EQ I'm not suprised it sounds very bad.
The table may be helped by putting some foam under each leg.
Since material treatment is out due to heat. Possibly consider diffusion using wood panels instead.
Measuring the room and applying some EQ could help somewhat.

 

[Katji]

You have to do something, now. Like curtain, for a start. How can you not have curtains, with that sunlight? You think you in northern Europe? i have bright sun, the curtains never opened, all year, just about .5m, less, at one side, for air flow.
...At least the dry air makes vacuuming rugs/carpets easier. ...Get dharries...(cotton/fibre whatever rugs) ...otherwise put the speakers in line with the bed, something like that would be better than nothing.

 

[Bling Guy McSqueezy]

added some pics - feel free
my room acoustics sucks booty

 

[Bling Guy McSqueezy]

If you're in a mostly empty square room with no treatments or EQ I'm not suprised it sounds very bad.
The table may be helped by putting some foam under each leg.
Since material treatment is out due to heat. Possibly consider diffusion using wood panels instead.
Measuring the room and applying some EQ could help somewhat.

noted foam under speakers +1
what can you say about z906 in general? is it considered nice or shit?

 

[Bling Guy McSqueezy]

You have to do something, now. Like curtain, for a start. How can you not have curtains, with that sunlight? You think you in northern Europe? i have bright sun, the curtains never opened, all year, just about .5m, less, at one side, for air flow.
...At least the dry air makes vacuuming rugs/carpets easier. ...Get dharries...(cotton/fibre whatever rugs) ...otherwise put the speakers in line with the bed, something like that would be better than nothing.

mos def bro... curtains, tomorrow... its bout time )

 

[Bling Guy McSqueezy]

The question is whether to leave the current system at all and try to improve the acoustics in the room, or purchase better quality equipment with fewer channels, say a system 2.0 that goes down to a lower bass or 2.1 with a smaller subwoofer + minimal investment in acoustic insulation for the room?

Like, I'll have to do something about the room acoustics anyway - right?

 

[LTig]

Very difficult room. If room treatment is not possible right now I would start with a 2.0 configuration first (reduce sub level to minimum, disconnect the surround speakers). The L+R speakers need a stand so that the tweeters are at ear height and reflections at the desktop are reduced (sounds boomy). In the near field the room should have less influence. When this improved sound engage the sub and see if it makes things better or worse.

 

[Bling Guy McSqueezy]

Very difficult room. If room treatment is not possible right now I would start with a 2.0 configuration first (reduce sub level to minimum, disconnect the surround speakers). The L+R speakers need a stand so that the tweeters are at ear height and reflections at the desktop are reduced (sounds boomy). In the near field the room should have less influence. When this improved sound engage the sub and see if it makes things better or worse.

it is a difficult room huh? yeah... i will probably spend fortune to make it somehow listenable room. LTig would you recommend replacing the z906 and buy something else? how is it in term of sound quality, as powered speakers? thank you sir!

 

[rdenney]

The question is whether to leave the current system at all and try to improve the acoustics in the room, or purchase better quality equipment with fewer channels, say a system 2.0 that goes down to a lower bass or 2.1 with a smaller subwoofer + minimal investment in acoustic insulation for the room?

Like, I'll have to do something about the room acoustics anyway - right?

Yes. If, for no other reason, to keep it from looking like a prison cell.

Rick "don't people hang pictures on the wall and bring in house plant or two any more?" Denney

 

[Bling Guy McSqueezy]

Yes. If, for no other reason, to keep it from looking like a prison cell.

Rick "don't people hang pictures on the wall and bring in house plant or two any more?" Denney

You're huge bro! you made me smile.
I have to take care of it, just the room was just renovated even the clothes have not yet gone into the closet.
This matter also has significance in my opinion, because the closet is large and almost completely empty and there is a mess of noises inside. Maybe you can send me links to groups or discord channels of diy audio solutions that you are a member of that I can continue to learn about our hobby?

 

[LTig]

it is a difficult room huh? yeah... i will probably spend fortune to make it somehow listenable room. LTig would you recommend replacing the z906 and buy something else? how is it in term of sound quality, as powered speakers? thank you sir!

I don' know your speakers but with this room chances are low that better speakers would improve sound quality. What definitely helps is to add book shelves partially filled with books or other stuff, especially at the wall behind your listening position.

 

[Bling Guy McSqueezy]

Yes. If, for no other reason, to keep it from looking like a prison cell.

Rick "don't people hang pictures on the wall and bring in house plant or two any more?" Denney

I need to change my name to Prison Mike I guess... lmao

 

[Hugo9000]

The best results I've had in small, square (or nearly square) rooms were always with diagonal placement, offset by a few degrees. It may be difficult with your large desk, if it has to be snug in the corner like that. Also, as others have suggested, get your speakers off the desk surface, closer to ear level.

What about moving to the corner where the surround speakers are? Then the opposite corner will have that wardrobe breaking up the rear reflections a bit, which may help.

Curtains, books, thick rug, wall hangings, etc. for some absorption and to diffuse the reflections a bit would be good as well.

You could look at the Kali LP-6 speakers, they are inexpensive and have pretty good measurements. Thomann in Germany apparently ships to Israel, it looks like they would be in your budget with shipping. But first, try a few of the tips in this thread with the speakers you have, to see if you get any useful improvements before investing in new speakers at this stage.

Best of luck and happy listening!


Here is a link for some Kali measurements for reference:

Kali Audio LP-6v2 (Second Wave) 2-Way Studio Monitor Review

Kali Audio LP-6v2 2-Way Studio Monitor Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

 

[Bling Guy McSqueezy]

The best results I've had in small, square (or nearly square) rooms were always with diagonal placement, offset by a few degrees. It may be difficult with your large desk, if it has to be snug in the corner like that. Also, as others have suggested, get your speakers off the desk surface, closer to ear level.

What about moving to the corner where the surround speakers are? Then the opposite corner will have that wardrobe breaking up the rear reflections a bit, which may help.

Curtains, books, thick rug, wall hangings, etc. for some absorption and to diffuse the reflections a bit would be good as well.

You could look at the Kali LP-6 speakers, they are inexpensive and have pretty good measurements. Thomann in Germany apparently ships to Israel, it looks like they would be in your budget with shipping. But first, try a few of the tips in this thread with the speakers you have, to see if you get any useful improvements before investing in new speakers at this stage.

Best of luck and happy listening!


Here is a link for some Kali measurements for reference:

Kali Audio LP-6v2 (Second Wave) 2-Way Studio Monitor Review

Kali Audio LP-6v2 2-Way Studio Monitor Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

BEST PEOPLE = BEST COMMUNITY