I've gotten the upgrade itch recently and have spouse approval to add a pair of subs and upgrade these bookshelf speakers. I've also ventured into room correction so I decided to document the process. This is the room and my wife exercises very strict control over the aesthetics.
Those are 15 year old B&W 600 S3s driven off a Rotel A12. I think I've decided on a pair of Rythmic L12s subs since I have almost no flexibility in where they can go and plan to order the first when they are back in stock here shortly. The first will go to the right of the credenza behind that leather Eames lounge chair. The second will most likely go to the left of the credenza but there isn't room with that other chair so that one is a bit more controversial and still under some debate. She is open to it because she thinks that corner is too crowded with the chair but I sense a new handbag/shoe/lamp purchase in our future if I manage to win this one. Anyway, I plan to add some sort of DSP device when the sub(s) get setup but I'm interested in tuning them for the entire sofa area if possible although I tend to sit on the left so that one will get biased if needed.
I ran some REW sweeps for all three sofa seats (L+R, L, R) with just these B&Ws this week. All 9 sweeps are below with psychoacoustic smoothing turned on and an average of all 9 sweeps is shown afterwards. The similarity between the 3 seats was surprisingly similar but I know that is likely to change when the sub(s) get added.
Whoa! What's going on at 3500 Hz? Interestingly enough, we recently auditioned a pair of Sonos Ones (wife's request) and that dip was really obvious in A/B listening tests. The Sonos Ones went back because they sounded like doodoo but with True Play DSP enabled on the Sonos, this dip on the B&Ws was glaringly hollow sounding by comparison. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what was off at the time but now it’s obvious.
The bass on these B&Ws however doesn't begin to roll-off until 40hz though which seems impressive to me for these little guys. They are rear-ported however so that window is probably acting like a gigantic bass booster/reflector.
Anyway, we have a new studio building under construction right now so when that is finished, the plan is to relocate the B&Ws to that space and replace them with a pair of Revel Performa3 M105s or 106s most likely. I'm dragging my feet on those hoping to see some more speaker tests at that price point first but that's the plan for now. Anyway, I figured I would document this process over the next few months, should be fun.
Those are 15 year old B&W 600 S3s driven off a Rotel A12. I think I've decided on a pair of Rythmic L12s subs since I have almost no flexibility in where they can go and plan to order the first when they are back in stock here shortly. The first will go to the right of the credenza behind that leather Eames lounge chair. The second will most likely go to the left of the credenza but there isn't room with that other chair so that one is a bit more controversial and still under some debate. She is open to it because she thinks that corner is too crowded with the chair but I sense a new handbag/shoe/lamp purchase in our future if I manage to win this one. Anyway, I plan to add some sort of DSP device when the sub(s) get setup but I'm interested in tuning them for the entire sofa area if possible although I tend to sit on the left so that one will get biased if needed.
I ran some REW sweeps for all three sofa seats (L+R, L, R) with just these B&Ws this week. All 9 sweeps are below with psychoacoustic smoothing turned on and an average of all 9 sweeps is shown afterwards. The similarity between the 3 seats was surprisingly similar but I know that is likely to change when the sub(s) get added.
Whoa! What's going on at 3500 Hz? Interestingly enough, we recently auditioned a pair of Sonos Ones (wife's request) and that dip was really obvious in A/B listening tests. The Sonos Ones went back because they sounded like doodoo but with True Play DSP enabled on the Sonos, this dip on the B&Ws was glaringly hollow sounding by comparison. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what was off at the time but now it’s obvious.
The bass on these B&Ws however doesn't begin to roll-off until 40hz though which seems impressive to me for these little guys. They are rear-ported however so that window is probably acting like a gigantic bass booster/reflector.
Anyway, we have a new studio building under construction right now so when that is finished, the plan is to relocate the B&Ws to that space and replace them with a pair of Revel Performa3 M105s or 106s most likely. I'm dragging my feet on those hoping to see some more speaker tests at that price point first but that's the plan for now. Anyway, I figured I would document this process over the next few months, should be fun.
Last edited: