Getting the Best from Tannoy XT-8Fs and a Bad Room

[BlackAdder]

Current system

Synology DS-716+II à FLAC/DLNA à Yamaha Aventage RX-A3070 (Powering Surround/Atmos Speakers) à SVS SB-13 Ultra (Subwoofer) and Yamaha A-S801 (Pure Direct) (Powering Main Speakers) à Tannoy XT-8F

Problem

I am trying to figure out the best way to improve my sound (for music, not movies.) Love the Tannoy speakers, but sometimes my system sounds fantastic, and on other songs, not so fantastic, so clearly some frequencies get more love than others. Also, the Yamaha 3070 has been pretty unreliable in terms of wifi/streaming.

My room is problematic (glass cabinets and a stone fireplace to the right of the listening position, glass door behind it, open area to the left). We are renters and wife does not want me to put up acoustic panels or drapes, so while that is the likely weakest link, I am looking for other ways to attack the problem. Measurements via REW and UMIK below.

I am trying to figure out whether I should:

(1) try DIRAC and see if it is better than YPAO at remedying my room issues. (I would probably try it on my laptop, and then use MINIDSP SH or a NUC if it makes a huge difference.)

(2) replace the A-S801 (100 watt) with a more powerful amp (most likely a purifi-based unit) (200+ watt). The Tannoys are relatively sensitive (91dbs), but they apparently have impedance spikes at some frequencies down to 3 ohms, and while Tannoy says anything between 20-200 is recommended, I have heard they respond well to a more powerful amp. I wish the A-S801s had a pre-amp in, instead of line in, but presumably Pure Direct helps avoid too much loss of sound quality.

(3) small amount of room treatment (acoustic panels on stands in front of the glass cabinets and/or curtains over the glass window behind the couch. As mentioned, wife will not be well pleased, so I would only want to do it if the effect was likely to be dramatic.

(4) give up until we move to a place where I can invest in room treatments, and then decide.

Any thoughts or advice on what is likely to yield the most improvement would be very gratefully accepted. Thanks!

 

[BlackAdder]

Thanks very much for the helpful response. I'm familiar using EQ/Peace and the Harman Curve from using EQ on my PC headphones, and have used REW to take these measurements, but wasn't sure if I could fix the problems with just REW-generated tweaks, and had heard Dirac is easier and does more to resolve room related problems than just EQ can do. No idea if that is true, and given YPAO was not doing much, I was not optimistic. I guess I am hoping Dirac is the easy button, but as with anything tech-related, there is seldom an easy button.

 

[BlackAdder]

So I just ordered a Minidsp SHD with Dirac. Makes sense to try and sort out the room issues before investing more in an amp. The A-S801 is probably beefy enough that it is not the main thing limiting the system. I am still hoping to find someone who has fed these things with a good Class D / 200 watts who can weigh in on how much of a difference that made. If you have any other thoughts, let me know. And thank you!