My apologies for a long first post, but this forum helped me decide to go with Eighth Nerve. Likewise, while most of this information might be rudimentary, I wanted to post a "review" for other 'phile's who might be in the same posting I was in.
The room is about 13' 9" wide, by 28' long with plasterboard on 2X4 studs, secured to the cement foundation. It has a drop ceiling of heavy grade tiles with fiberglass bats between the floor above and the ceiling. The difficult part is that the ceiling, due to a heating duct, reduces the ceiling height from 7' 1" to 6' 6" in roughly the center of the room. Not ideal…
After we moved, in I started to evaluate the room and the sound. I had enough space to move the speakers away from the room boundaries and I had a strong sound stage and an even bass response. Unfortunately, there was significant echo/smearing of the lower treble and upper midrange. To a lesser some degree, this also extended to the lower midrange/midbass range as well, but it certainly wasn't as bad as the upper mids and highs. Vocals were getting lost in the music and the performers were melting into one, very talented, performer that sang, played the bass, sax, piano, etc…. Overall, the tonal balance was good, but listener enjoyment was lower than hoped.
I e-mailed a diagram of the room to Eighth Nerve to get the ball rolling and I was amazed to have a response from Bill the next day. He had e-mailed back saying that he was reviewing my room and would have a recommendation shortly. Over the next few days and into the weekend, Bill and I talked over what was needed and on Tuesday of the following week I placed my order.
We had decided on a room pack, with an extra seam pack, and an extra seam and corner for a "rogue" corner near the stairs to the basement. Fast forward through all of the anxious anticipation to Thursday night… I received a medium sized box containing what I hoped would be the "solution" to my room problems. That night I decided to see if this was really all it was cracked up to be. Following the directions, I rushed through the installation in about 30-45 minutes and sat down for a listen. The echo was better and the midrange was also better but not quite where I had hoped it would be. After listening for a while I decided to call it a night.
After spending a day at the office with the room in the back of my head, I decided I should start over with the room. I had used the formulas and theories to place the speakers, but I thought I should employ the same approach to the room treatment. Being a stereo nut defies logic, but the logic I hold true forces me to believe that if I sweat the small stuff the impact on the sound will be amazing… Right?
Anyway… With tape measure in hand and a spreadsheet/calculator, nearby I set out to rework the room. To foreshadow the results, the one thing I can stress about the setup of the Eighth Nerve Response treatments is to take your time. I started by placing one seam behind my equipment rack and followed by adding two more seams in the corners behind my speakers. From there I used the old "lamp and mirror" technique to find the first reflection point of the speakers. The next two seams were placed there. By this point I had five seams on the wall and I stopped to check my progress. I walked around the room, clapping and listening for echo and the length of time it took for the sound to decay. With the seams alone I was closing in on a live end and a dead end to my room. Likewise, the music was starting to come into focus. There was still a little consonent hardness on vocals and more complex pieces were still blending a little, but I was making progress.
The corners went on and things really started to come together. The soundstage grew by leaps and bounds and I could start to hear the room boundaries fall away. I added a seam and corner to the back left corner and a seam on the center of the rear wall. After doing so, things snapped into place. The music was, get this, musical and I started to forget about listening to the problems and I started to listen to the music again. Simply, my foot was starting to tap.
However, I still had two seams and the two echoes to go and it was time to tackle the most important part of this project, the listening position. I walked around the listening chair and clapped my hands and snapped my fingers hoping not to hear any ring or echo… Unfortunately, while reduced, it was still there. I added a seam on either side of the listening position in line with my ears and the echoes went between the first reflection point and the seam at the ear line. I repeated the process and I was amazed to hear that there was little to no echo left.
I had been using Ray Brown's album Super Bass 2 to test my progress. For the first time, I could detect the gentle arc of the three players and I could discern the details of their playing. Fingers/bows on the strings being plucked or draw felt more "real" than ever before. In effect, the upgrade had made the music and performances more palpable… More real…
(I know… I know… Audiophile jargon and BS alert, but it's true and as a result it's hard not to use them.)
What amazed me came later that evening when I listened to "If I were blue" off of Patricia Barber's album Verse. Half way into the track I was started to realize that the soundstage and reverberation information I was hearing wasn't my room, but was the studio in which the track was recorded. I could make out the room boundaries as the guitar, piano and vocals faded into the soundstage.
Additionally, what I also found amazing was how the room now handled dynamics. Before the treatment, as the music swelled and became louder, I would ride the volume to compensate. As the sound grew louder, the more muddled and harsh it became. After adding the treatments, the dynamics are akin to "turning a light on and off" or being able to "stop on a dime". For example, the room is now capable of keeping up with dynamic pieces like track #3, Bellini: "La sonnambula", from Renee Fleming's Bel Canto. In the middle of the piece, a chorus is added, and the dynamic rush of the recording is stunning. Before, all I could hear was a mess of orchestra and performers.
What I can say about the Eighth nerve products is that they are akin to upgrading a piece of equipment. The Eighth nerve products changed my listening room from torture chamber to a musical refuge. I can forget about equipment, upgrades, tweaking, etc and just enjoy listening.
Lastly, I wanted to touch on the things I learned during my installation process. This might not work for everyone, but I wanted to pass it along.
1. Don't rush! Take your time and search for consistent and if possible symmetrical placement of the treatments.
2. Make sure the treatments are pulled taught so that they "hug" the wall.
3. Check your progress! Walk around the room checking for ringing or echo. I was able to tweak my placement by learning what the different pieces did. Seams helped break up standing waves on parallel surfaces, reflected sound and refined bass response. Corners improved soundstage and vocal detail. Echoes refined and dialed in the sound.
Thanks to Bill and all those at Eighth Nerve for helping me through the process and for developing an economical solution for troubled rooms.
