OK, I've lived with my room in its new Mini-Trapped splendor, and also followed Julian's advice (thanks Julian, one down, several to go; Sonex will come down soon) to put a temp curtain/drapes over the video screen in the middle of my front wall (15.25 feet wide). The semi-reflective well-pleated curtain (bedsheets, currently, hanging from kludgily developed coathangers) really help with taming down the center image (too much beaming before) and seem to help the depth of the soundstage somewhat.
Then ...
Hi Ted,
The curtain is a great move, especially for those with screens of RPTVs. The beauty of the right type of curtain is that it is aesthetically pleasing, adds to the "theater type ambiance, and can be parted when using the theater.
Also, if it is a full frontal wall curtain, (suggested) other acoustic treatment can be used behind it (such as acoustic foam) to add to the effect if needed.
And mounting an acoustic treatment off the wall (like a curtain) is slightly more effective than "on wall" mounting.
LENRDs and Bass Traps such as those offered by Ethan Winer will help.
If I remember correctly you sit well away from the speakers, and this with side firing w/long side walls is probably what is giving your lower bass a good ride.
Also if your speakers are "closer" to the front walls and corners this will push the low bass a bit too.
The other "Main Variable" here is the listening position. There is little doubt that some of your bass frequencies are negatively impacted by varios nodes in some positions.
You might have been lucky enough to have hit the perfect (non-treated) spot, but for those who aren't that lucky, it can be found by simply getting a small chair and moving it an inch or two at a time, while playing familiar bass rich material, or you can play bass bands and use a sound pressure meter.
If you use a Sound Pressure Meter make sure and hold it at head height, since bass is affected by "all" room surfaces, and what you have at the floor or ceiling, may not be what you have at listening height.
To get an idea of just how much of a difference an inch or two forward or backward will make, just check out the video "NON-MODAL PEAKS AND NULLS IN SMALL ROOMS" here:
http://www.realtraps.com/videos.htmThe two most effective room treatments for bass, are LENRD corner foam for the higher bass that slams back out at you from the room intersections (corners) and tri-intersections (tri-corners), and Bass Traps, like the ones Ethan offers for the lower Hz bass.
The whole idea behind bass treatments, is to allow the first wave bass to reach you, and then to trap, absorb, or in any way possible, reduce the reflected energy, that bounces back into the room and "fights" with the first wave direct bass, in a way that reduces its accuracy.
If you run a kitchen sink full of water and wait till the surface is smooth, then put your finger in the water (in the front left corner -like a speaker would be placed) and watch the wave it creates and how it travels along the walls of the sink and "slams" into the corners and bounces back out again, you have a 2-D (two dimensional) idea of how complex this is.
In the real world, these waves are traveling in "every" direction until they encounter room surfaces and are either directed, or reflected, by room surfaces, or encounter other room energy and cancel or combine their energy.
The side firing woofs of the RM30 and the RM/x cause some of the bass frequencies to have different "paths" or angular incidence which helps this problem to some degree, but will not eliminate it.
Bass is a funny and complex animal
and acoustics in general is a whole ZOO
