[Super Hans]

Hi, so this is the only place I can halfway properly setup a stereo. I've been testing the speakers in another far worse room, hence the cables in front at the moment.
After reading some of the Acoustic stickies and listening to the speakers in this enclosed space, I'm fairly certain this setup is not the best.
I'm stuck with it and would like any feedback on getting a less boxed in sound. The lower mids and bass sound somewhat boxed in. I don't think the hollow entertainment center the TV is on helps, but it is staying. 
I'm wondering about dampening material in general and specifically inside the entertainment center. The sound seems to resonate in there a lot. When playing music you can feel the walls vibrate quite a bit.
I'm also wondering about dampening material on the walls behind and/or beside the speakers. Those are some nice and thin sheet rock walls with nothing behind them. They vibrate also, probably resonating the sound. I can easily put some dampening material on the front and back of those walls if you guys think that would help. I'm thinking this is a trial and error process of playing with the different options so I'm looking for a place to start.
I have plugged the ports on the speakers (BS22s). It way too much bass for me unplugged.
Thanks

[S Clark]

Try pulling the speakers out. Put the left one in front of the wall divider, and the right one straight out.  Pick up a couple of roles of fiberglass to stack in the back corners.  Put a comforter/quilt over the TV.   If this helps, you can look at making traps that are more attractive.  Move your speakers out for critical listening, and back when not in use. 
A couple more pictures from other angles might help us as well.  Good luck.  Getting the room right is time consuming, but has the potential for great reward. 

[drummermitchell]

I'd also pull them out so they are out of the recess,I'd think that would act like a horn of sorts.
As Clark suggests,get a couple of R-38 insulation bags(leave the plastic on)put them in those corners and see what happens.
If your thrilled,which I think you might be then you could put some nice bass panel traps in the corners,
Tricorners,wall/floor corners,and those ceiling corners.
Looks like a fun experiment as it's such a small area.
If I had that small area I'd have fun putting in bass traps just to hear the difference.
Did my 12x19x7.5 room and I'm very happy I did.
Try the insulation bags in the corners first as you can take them back as they are unopened .

[ACHiPo]

Try pulling the speakers out. Put the left one in front of the wall divider, and the right one straight out.  Pick up a couple of roles of fiberglass to stack in the back corners.  Put a comforter/quilt over the TV.   If this helps, you can look at making traps that are more attractive.  Move your speakers out for critical listening, and back when not in use. 
A couple more pictures from other angles might help us as well.  Good luck.  Getting the room right is time consuming, but has the potential for great reward.

+1 on pulling the speakers out for listening (screw the speakers to the stands if they aren't already and it will be easier, or at least less likely for a fumble).  I'm guessing that will get you 80% - 90% of the way there.  Acoustic absorption on the wall on the right and the divider on the left should make them basically disappear for mid and high frequencies.  If you can get the speakers 3-4' in front of the TV (it looks like you can?), you shouldn't have much impact on imaging from it.

[charmerci]

I used to have the 22's also. The further they are pulled out, the better the bass sounds. Also, if you play them at loud levels, I highly recommend bracing them. Get 4 (2 for each) 3/8" dowels, cut to length and glue them inside across the sidewalls to reduce vibrations. The midrange will sound so much better!

[dB Cooper]

Doubt the entertainment center itself is the issue. Acoustically treating the "box" formed by the recess will help even if you follow the wise advice to move the speakers forward. Another low-cost, low-eyesore way of doing this would be indoor/outdoor carpeting (a suggestion I saw here somewhere). Line the "box" with it and hang a few quilts and SQ should improve dramatically, especially with the speakers a little further out. Stiffening the walls from behind will help too.

Another solution is headphones of course (in semi-jest).

This situation further proves the truism that, with speakers, you're not just listening to the speakers, you're listening to the room. A glance through the Pictures here will reveal many setups where beaucoup bucks were spent on gear and tweaks, and almost nothing on the room acoustics. This situation isn't optimum, but isn't insurmountable either. I for one would like to know how it works out!

[gregfisk]

I agree with what everyone said, pull the speakers out when listening so they are not in the recess and put treatments on those walls.

[Letitroll98]

In addition note that you can pull the speakers out for listening sessions and back for lifestyle considerations.

[FireGuy]

Another confirmation here to move the speakers out of the recess area.  In additional to that I would move the other gear out slightly, and in the back add some fake plants, wall treatments and LED (mood) lighting to make that area just pop. 

[Super Hans]

Thanks for the replies.
Naturally I hadn't even thought of pulling the speakers out farther.
I will probably add some absorption material here and there and see what happens after I move them out a bit.

Thanks much, very helpful.

[walkern]

I had a similar situation years ago with a bedroom system, and I found that hanging a large rug (Navajo woven style) behind the TV helped a lot.  I also found that pulling the speakers away from the back wall so their fronts were right at the spot where the 'enclosed space' started, spreading them out as far as possible even thought that put them very close to the sides of the enclosed area, and then angling them in toward the listening position helped with the imaging.  If you've still got bass issues, there are bass traps that can be set up in the corners.  I found that plugging the ports on my compact speakers and putting a subwoofer in behind them (weirdly it sounded best with the driver facing away from the listening position... so it was bouncing it's bass immediately off the back wall) with the sub's crossover set to a very low frequency (I think around 45 hz worked pretty well, since the enclosed area created some extra boost around 60 hz).

I never quite got as much depth in the sound field no matter what I did, but otherwise the system ended up sounding pretty good.

Best of luck.

[max190]

Thanks for the replies.
Naturally I hadn't even thought of pulling the speakers out farther.
I will probably add some absorption material here and there and see what happens after I move them out a bit.

Thanks much, very helpful.

Super, I agree with all the recomendations here.
You also may want to adjust your LP at the same time. For instance if you sit real close to the back wall, move your LP forward a few feet, or if that is not possible then you may want to also add some absorption/diffusion to that wall.

Good luck,
Steve