At one time, I had both my VMPS RM40s and my Salk HT3s right next to a fireplace. That is, the right speaker was within a few feet and lined up with the opening of the fireplace. I had a huge bass hump at about 60Hz, which I attributed to AC leakage into the measurement. However, both speakers were boomy and the Salks were basically unlistenable because they had so much bass.
Now, I've reversed the room, such that the Salks (no longer have the VMPS -- the wife thought they were too big) are many feet away from the fireplace, probably 15+ feet. I haven't done any measurements, but the boominess with the Salks is completely gone.
I have changed preamps (using a Dodd now; was using a Proceed AVP) and speaker wire (was using Bolder Cable; now using a low capacitance Belden cable, cryogenically treated; most of the Belden is in the wall, but out of the wall uses the same Belden wire with screw on bananas on each end). The rest of the system is the same.
Could the fireplace have such a large effect? Or is it simply that I reversed the room?
