Large room with dififcult acoustics

[Sia64]

Hej everyone,

I'm in the process of setting up sound in my newly built house and could really use some advice. I'm planning to use some of my B&O active speakers—8 two-way speakers (each running mono, 240W and hits around 110 dB SPL at 1 meter) and 2 powerful subwoofers (800W+). Just to be clear—this setup is all about music, not movies or surround sound.

The idea is to have two listening modes:

1. A focused zone (2.1 setup), which should be fairly manageable.
2. A more ambitious whole-room music setup—this one's the real challenge.

Now, the room itself is... complicated. Only one wall is straight (at the back), while the other three are full-height glass. The space is a bit of a trapezoid, around 20 meters diagonally and between 4 to 9 meters wide. To make things more interesting, there are four columns spaced fairly symmetrically throughout the room. I'm planning to mount two speakers on each column, angled in different directions.

Of course, I’ll be adding carpets, sofas, curtains, and maybe some acoustic panels on the ceiling—but that’s about all I know when it comes to room treatment.

Since I can't control the room shape or surfaces much, I’m planning to use a DSP setup with one channel per speaker so I can control them individually. I'm considering the miniDSP Flex HT, which comes with Dirac Live, hoping that with precise positioning, volume control, EQ, and crossovers, I can shape a decent soundstage.

So here’s where I’d love your thoughts:

1. Do you have any other ideas for improving acoustics in a large, glass-heavy room like this?
2. Do you think the miniDSP Flex HT is a good choice for this kind of setup, or is there something better I should consider?

Appreciate any tips!

Cheers,
Sia

 

[staticV3]

Hi @Sia64! Welcome to ASR.

Do you have any other ideas for improving acoustics in a large, glass-heavy room like this?

Use Dirac ART and narrow directivity speakers to minimize reflections from the glass walls.

 

[Keith_W]

Welcome to ASR! It would help us visualize the space if you could provide a sketch?

The MiniDSP (or any kind of DSP) can not correct for fundamental problems with speaker placement. So far example, if your left speaker is too close to a wall while the right speaker isn't, reflections from the left will arrive much earlier than from the right. This will skew the soundstage and make the left sound "congested" and the right sound "open". So when placing speakers, symmetry is all important.

DSP really comes into its own with subwoofers and bass.

Curtains are a good idea for areas with a lot of glass.

 

[Sia64]

Thank you staticV3 and Keith_W for the suggestions. Pleasesee the atached schematic:

 

[staticV3]

Wild! I'm second-guessing my suggestions now.
That's one unorthodox listening space

 

[Sia64]

I Know, but this is the type of room you get when the size and heights are regulated to adpat to the slope of a hill!

 

[Keith_W]

What a stupid design! Create an oddly shaped living room and then make it unusable by placing columns in the middle of it!

I would probably do something like this. I can't think of anything better.

 

[Sokel]

If I can guess right, I can only imagine the view (hope it involves sea too) .
I do have a thing about fall houses and nice view.

I would try a ceiling solution if I was you instead of putting speakers at the columns.

 

[Philbo King]

Re: the glass wall
I have a 140"x72" window on the side wall of my studio whose reflections created a lot of standing waves (peaks & nulls) in my studio. I was able to 'fix' it by hanging three 2'x4'x2" panels on the wall opposite the window. It worked very well.

Whether this would work for you depends on room layout and interior design asthetics (WAF).

 

[dualazmak]

Welcome to wonderful ASP world!

My post here written yesterday would be somewhat of your reference and interest, I assume and hope.

 

[kyuu]

I dunno, maybe my impression of the space is way off base but it seems like you could almost treat the area inside the columns as a room-in-a-room and do something like this maybe?

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

I would probably do something like this. I can't think of anything better.

Good idea. My thought was the other direction towards the corner, and treat that narrowing corner. Other options would require pointing the speakers between the columns, and I don't think that's a good way to go.

For general sound I would go with column mounts in pairs, left, right and maybe at the windows to provide a general "ambient" option through reflected sound. So point them out from the center. Then I would want the ability to zone them, turn on one to three pairs, depending. The space inside the columns is best left alone, since I don't see any way to get ok sound there and everywhere else as well.

I would suggest testing various ideas with two speakers. Point them in various directions, listen in various places each time. That will at least give you an idea of better and worse placement options. Then you can think about refined placement, treatment, and eq.

You face a very interesting challenge, that's for sure.

 

[Sia64]

Thanks a lot, everyone, for your great comments, insights, and suggestions! I’ll take some time to dig into them properly and try out what I can.

And yes, Sokel—those windows face the Mediterranean, and the house is perched on a pretty steep hill (an 8-meter drop over a 10-meter run!). The layout is really a compromise between what was physically possible and what the local building regulations allow in terms of height. So yeah, that’s why the room and columns ended up looking the way they do—or “stupid,” as Keith put it.

The concept of a listening zone within the columns is definitely interesting, though I imagine making that work won’t be easy.

One thing I am set on is installing ceiling absorption panels (thanks Sokel, Philbo King and Dualazmak). If anyone knows of some that actually look decent and won’t kill the vibe of the room, I’d really appreciate the tips!

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

One thing I am set on is installing ceiling absorption panels (thanks Sokel, Philbo King and Dualazmak). If anyone knows of some that actually look decent and won’t kill the vibe of the room, I’d really appreciate the tips!

There are many options, but in general you could cover any of them in thin fabric, which gives you many options decorating wise.

Keep in mind that very small differences in set up might have large differences in results. For one example, the columns. Speaker toe, changed very slightly, might change the effects of two columns from reflecting more sound towards each other or away from each other. The center line of the columns is an important reference point for that reason. That, combined with my experience with some non-standard rooms, is what leads me to suggest some experimentation. If nothing else, that will identify some very BAD spots for speakers.