[guf]

Below is my current set up. I placed the corner bass traps, and GIK 244 panels on the front wall just to use them. The imaging and depth is great but a little too pinpointed to a spot slightly left of center.  I wonder if the the obvious barrier, the fireplace wall,  or the open archway to the right is directing the soundstage to that area. What could be some better options to open up the soundstage a little?  I discussed diffusion in a previous post.

The front of the speakers are 5 and a half feet from the front wall. 7-8 feet apart and about 8 feet to the listening position. The room is 13 by 19.

[jimdgoulding]

If one wall is open and the other is not you are likely getting reinforcement from the side with the wall.  Might put a barrier wall on stands and place it in the open passageway and see what happens .  Best wishes.

[jriggy]

What he said ^   I would start with the simple test of putting the vertical 244 to the right of the right speaker (on a stand or propped some how at 'first reflection' point).  Maybe play with positioning that would match the left side.
Also, maybe diffusion would be better between the speaks and/or on the angled fireplace wall...
I just moved some diffusors behind and to the outside of some borrowed/on demo speakers, facing inward toward each other/toward center and the soundstage opened up noticeably... I am not a pro at this at though.

[Housteau]

My thoughts were running in a bit of a different direction.  I see the right speaker not having any first reflection points to it's side with that open space, but the left side does.  My thoughts would be to try and match that void on the right by placing absorption to the left of the left speaker. 

[Austin08]

My thoughts were running in a bit of a different direction.  I see the right speaker not having any first reflection points to it's side with that open space, but the left side does.  My thoughts would be to try and match that void on the right by placing absorption to the left of the left speaker.

This is what I did to my system. My system sound more balance from left to right.

[guf]

thanks you guys.

I have 2 GIK 242s on stands and place one at the first reflection point under the archway but it does not completely fill the open space so it is still an unbalanced room.  And the other is against windows covered with curtains. Maybe I can try both over there.

Update.




Ok. Maybe its just a good electricity day or the above advice made a HUGE difference. Before everything sounded like it was coming from the spot between the 2 bass traps on the wall to now it sound like its coming from the whole equipment rack.  What is more of what i was looking for. I'm so surprised that simple suggestion makes such a huge difference.  It must be the electricity 

[jk@home]

Have you experimented with toe-in? One thing you can try is toeing in the speakers so that they cross over a foot or so in front of your face. That would reduce the output to the side areas (these are monopoles, correct?).

I do this with my KEF monitors and prefer it. Works best if you can spread the speakers apart as far as possible. Maybe try just pulling the right hand side over a bit. Placing absorbers in the hallway everytime you want to listen looks like it would be inconvenient.

Then there is an old time favorite...a balance control. 

[Housteau]

Then there is an old time favorite...a balance control. 

This is a good electronic solution, but that also makes me wonder if there is an electrical issue causing the slight imbalance?  I have tube monoblocks on my multi-amped system that I suspect may either have a bad tube, or connection causing me a similar issue.

[firedog]

My thoughts were running in a bit of a different direction.  I see the right speaker not having any first reflection points to it's side with that open space, but the left side does.  My thoughts would be to try and match that void on the right by placing absorption to the left of the left speaker.

That's also what I did in a similar setup, and it works well

[jk@home]

This is a good electronic solution, but that also makes me wonder if there is an electrical issue causing the slight imbalance?  I have tube monoblocks on my multi-amped system that I suspect may either have a bad tube, or connection causing me a similar issue.

That's a great point. Maybe he could switch the speakers and/or channels around to see if the balance moves to the other side.

[guf]

My thoughts were running in a bit of a different direction.  I see the right speaker not having any first reflection points to it's side with that open space, but the left side does.  My thoughts would be to try and match that void on the right by placing absorption to the left of the left speaker.

The way i was running it for years was to have a single 242 panel at each reflection point, left and right ride. Left side behind the 242 had a wall of windows and curtains  right side was the open archway.  The single right panel obviously didn't fill the space. The lesser of 2 evils is to place both panels on the right side arch way and block the sound. Ideally I'd have another two for the left side but this way seems much more balanced than before.

[Glenn Kuras]

Glad to see you have it solved. It is the unbalanced of having the opening and the non symmetric walls behind the speakers.

Glenn
GIK Acoustics

[BobM]

I have a similar setup, where I have a wall on the right but open space to the left of my listening space. Placing a GIK panel to the left of my speaker, where the first reflection point would be if there was a wall there, helped a lot, centered the image and balanced the presentation.

[jimdgoulding]

This is a shot of a member's system in his 13'x18' room.  From my experience in a similar size room, I bet this system throws a fantastic stage but you may not think so just looking at it and the reason is that this placement has a good relationship with adjacent walls in a rectangular room: 
http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=66308

[Hipper]

You also asked about a wider soundstage.

Instead of having absorbers at both first reflection points why not remove the panel from the left side and place some reflective material in the space on the right.

Floyd Toole in his book 'Sound Reproduction' says most people prefer side wall reflections. I do!

[srlaudio]

I would try large diffusers on stands in the opening as well as the matching left wall.  This would be in order with Toole's findings as well as our own.

[DaveC113]

I'd try toed-in more and a little further apart, if possible. The speaker becomes directional around ~2k or so, you'll probably want to make sure it pointing right at you or toed so the L&R cross right in front of you. The toe in will make the difference in sidewall reflections slightly less of a deal.

You might also want to see if you can make the space behind the speakers more symmetric as well.

Those dc10s are great sounding speakers, good choice!