David,
I can understand why you might be frustrated, but honestly, if you were looking at this picture as an impartial bystander wouldn't it cause you concern?
There is an untreated window on the front wall. There is a TV in a front corner. Hard floors with a rug essentially doing nothing acoustically beneficial. The speakers are way too close to the front wall. The cabinet to the right is not helping either.
Now I understand if you have constraints from a loved one regarding the room décor, but didn't you know that before spending over $7000 on a top quality speaker? This is like buying a 911T and configuring it to never use above 3rd gear.
I would read over Annand's assessment again. Headphones are going to give you more musical enjoyment than that rig in that untreated room can.
Please forgive me if it seems like I am comin up on ya but I guess in a way I am jealous. I am not including you in this because you are trying your best in a difficult situation and even using measurements to help you, but I am sure you have seen those pictures of mega-buck systems set up without a thought to getting the best out of them. Don't their dealers help these people? Just frustrates me a bit.
Might there be another room in the house that could work for you? Have you tried setting up along the long wall?
Anyway I hope you find a solution that allows those Focals to sing!
Hello,
Agree that the room layout is beyond worrisome but it isn't going to be modified during this century, except for a few centimeters here and there. To be clear, I did not pay the "stoopid" retail price for these speakers and I still have my previous PMCs they're replacing. Plus, in order to sell these things Focal dealers generally discount up to 30% at dealers, so that silly MSRP is pure science fiction. I was able to make trade deal with a private individual that I couldn't refuse...so I went for it notably because I like the look of these speakers and I know they can work, either by room treatment, or by EQ/DSP or by using the foam plugs. In fact, I'm listening now without plugs and frankly it sounds like a damned good speaker. I am not and never will be a headphones guy. How do you play with and constantly tweak a pair of headphones? Plus, my wife and grown kids, buddies, friends and neighbors all appreciate music...
Half the problem is with me...self-declared "golden ears" and extremely critical listener. I hear everything and know precisely what I am hearing, whether from a music reproduction system or out in the street, at work, etc. It's a real curse. So, I'm probably pushing too hard on the envelope of diminishing returns with exaggerated expectations. Nobody said extreme music lovers and audiophiles were a perfectly sane set of mortals. No offense intended to anyone of course, I know that I suffer from a form of neurosis humorously referred to as audiophilia nervosa.
That said, improvements can be made to this room as it is and I'm just about to pull the trigger. Will certainly update when it happens. Thanks for your comments. Brgds.