[Early B.]

Many of us realize the need for room treatment, but our setup is in a family room or area where the wife won't appreciate acoustic panels on the walls. I've tried temporary measures such as hanging panels when I'm critically listening, then removing them when I'm done, but that's a huge hassle.

Just wanted to get some thoughts and ideas on what others in a similar situation have tried that works...  And if there's no reasonable option, what did you do to optimize your space without adding sound treatment such as furniture, rugs, curtains, etc.?

[John Casler]

What brand and model speakers?

[Tyson]

GIK does wall art panels like this -

[jonbee]

I've got a difficult room but for domestic reasons can't do much to treat it.
Recently I added a WIIM Pro plus to my otherwise excellent system for ~$200 and it transformed the sound by virtue of its built in room correction. I was not prepared for the improvement from such a modest device.
Might not work in your situation. I only use the correction, otherwise just passing the signal through, not using built in DAC. YMMV.

[Early B.]

What brand and model speakers?

DIY speakers -- a horn tweeter and 12" midwoofer sitting on top of GR Research dual servo subs. Room is 13x20x8.

[Early B.]

I've got a difficult room but for domestic reasons can't do much to treat it.
Recently I added a WIIM Pro plus to my otherwise excellent system for ~$200 and it transformed the sound by virtue of its built in room correction. I was not prepared for the improvement from such a modest device.
Might not work in your situation. I only use the correction, otherwise just passing the signal through, not using built in DAC. YMMV.

I hadn't considered the built-in room correction in my Eversolo T8. I'll check it out. 

[AllanS]

Do you know what you’re trying to treat / correct?

[Early B.]

Do you know what you’re trying to treat / correct?

I have no idea. I believe I need to reduce the brightness a bit because there's a slight echo in my room (wood walls and wood floor). Is the first step to get my room measured?? If so, I would likely need to find a professional or a highly experienced techno-audiophile to do it. I'm not going to spend the time to learn REW.   

[Early B.]

Below are pics of the room:

Front wall:


Rear Wall:


Left side wall:


Right side wall:

[Rocket_Ronny]

I would put big, tall, bushy, fake plants in the back corners and a throw rug on the floor to start.

What I want to know is your mid/high setup?

Rocket Ronny

[Early B.]

I would put big, tall, bushy, fake plants in the back corners

I can put a fake plant in the right corner (my wife would like that), but do you notice the door on the left side of the second image? Well, that door stays open, so I can't put anything in the left corner. I also can't hang anything on the back wall because the sliding door is always open.   

The left wall has a window at or near the first reflection point. Perhaps thick curtains will work better than the shades (?).

There's not much I can do with the front wall. Over the years, I've tried several methods to cover the TV in the middle of the speakers, but none of them improved the sound. For context, the speakers are about 4 feet from the front wall.

I hadn't really thought about it, but I can imagine the sound bouncing off those wooden walls could be a bit harsh. Except for the sofa and chair, there's nothing else in the room that's absorbing the sound. The throw rug probably isn't doing much.   

[Mike-48]

DSP is the most obvious answer. It can help tame highs and bass peaks, but of course can't work miracles. Though it can do enough of value that I've been using it for 20+ years.

Measuring is especially good for getting the bass EQ right, and repeated measurement helps. If you are a Windows user, the Dayton OmniMic system is a possibility. It's got a shallower learning curve than REW. Although the latest model is more expensive than the older one was, I expect it still will be cheaper than hiring a pro to do it.

[Mariusz Uszynski]

Hello there, Mr.Early B.Those wooden walls are beautiful and I just love the barn door (have 2 sets of barn doors at my house).I would take a good look at Vicoustic website, because they have a lot of decorative panels, there is a lot to choose from.Perhaps Mrs.B would like some of their panels.Good luck with your acoustic journey.


https://vicoustic.com/collections/hi-fi-and-home-cinema

[nlitworld]

Hey EarlyB, if you wanted to get a Umik1, I'll happily walk you through the REW basics to at least understand what needs to be treated. There's a little bit involved getting into the more nitty, gritty stuff but I'm happy to help.

-Lloyd

[AllanS]

I have no idea. I believe I need to reduce the brightness a bit because there's a slight echo in my room (wood walls and wood floor). Is the first step to get my room measured?? If so, I would likely need to find a professional or a highly experienced techno-audiophile to do it. I'm not going to spend the time to learn REW.   

I hate to be the Debbie Downer but there is no easy, reliable answer (sorry too little caffeine following too little sleep). The problem with throwing treatments at an undefined problem is being stuck with the solution.  Diffusion and/or absorption? How many/much of what size and shape? Return shipping makes 30 day returns impractical.
A fairly basic REW analysis will map your problem frequency responses and decay.  But, as I understand it, brightness/fatigue can be as much phase related as it is anything else.
For sure I’d start with the basic REW analysis help that nlitworld graciously offered.  It’s not too intimidating and there is good YouTube help.  But the T8 room correction is a fantastic place to start as is taking stuff you have to scatter/absorb.

[Early B.]

I hate to be the Debbie Downer but there is no easy, reliable answer (sorry too little caffeine following too little sleep). The problem with throwing treatments at an undefined problem is being stuck with the solution.  Diffusion and/or absorption? How many/much of what size and shape? Return shipping makes 30 day returns impractical.
A fairly basic REW analysis will map your problem frequency responses and decay.  But, as I understand it, brightness/fatigue can be as much phase related as it is anything else.
For sure I’d start with the basic REW analysis help that nlitworld graciously offered.  It’s not too intimidating and there is good YouTube help.  But the T8 room correction is a fantastic place to start as is taking stuff you have to scatter/absorb.

What's the benefit of measuring the room if acoustic treatments aren't an option? Let's say the measurements show a dip at 60 Hz. OK, what am I to do with that information? I'm willing to try my T8 for room correction, but before I do, I want to address sound quality issues with furniture and other items. For instance, Rocket_Ronny suggested artificial plants in the back corners, so I ordered one for the right rear corner to start, and may buy another one for the other corner/side wall if my wife likes it. I don't mind spending a little money to make the room look nicer, even if it doesn't improve the sound. 

The point of this thread is taming the room without using room treatments. The OB bass sounds fantastic in my room, so no major issues there. Based on my ears alone, I need to reduce brightness. I have a slight echo in my room; I can hear it when I talk or clap my hands. What can I do about that? I know thick curtains work well, but I don't think a bigger, thicker throw rug will matter.   

[Rusty Jefferson]

Are you open to moving the system around some? The biggest issue I see is your positioning. The circular horns with their wide dispersion in both vertical and horizontal axis are probably creating early reflections from the sidewalls, ceiling, and floor almost simultaneously as they appear to be about the same distance from those 3 surfaces. 

As an experiment, I would try lowering the mid/horns on stands/boxes and pushing them outward close to the sidewalls, and then toeing them in quite a lot, perhaps 20 degrees or more. I would also pull the sofa forward, closer to the speakers, 7'-8' max unless that puts you in a null/mode. You want more direct sound from the speakers and less room reflected sound with confusing time arrivals. Putting a small carpet in front of each speaker will reduce the floor bounce. The aggressive toeing in will reduce the sidewall reflections and lowering will increase the reflected time arrival from the ceiling. You want to disrupt these reflected/similar time arrivals and simultaneously get more direct sound. This positioning will also increase your image size and aid transparency.

I appreciate doing all that could be a pain in the ass but you gotta work with what you have. If the bass in room is good as you say, room correction will likely do little to help you with midrange/HF fatigue or glare. 

[oskar]

I have a Wiim. After a few months of contentment I ran the room correction for the 1st time.
The result? Gobsmacked! Everything changed for the better.
I ran it a few times and saved the profiles as they were slightly different.
Then I went in and tweaked the curves to my ear.
Now I apply different profiles based on the recording.
I'm a believer.

[Early B.]

Are you open to moving the system around some? The biggest issue I see is your positioning. The circular horns with their wide dispersion in both vertical and horizontal axis are probably creating early reflections from the sidewalls, ceiling, and floor almost simultaneously as they appear to be about the same distance from those 3 surfaces. 

As an experiment, I would try lowering the mid/horns on stands/boxes and pushing them outward close to the sidewalls, and then toeing them in quite a lot, perhaps 20 degrees or more. I would also pull the sofa forward, closer to the speakers, 7'-8' max unless that puts you in a null/mode. You want more direct sound from the speakers and less room reflected sound with confusing time arrivals. Putting a small carpet in front of each speaker will reduce the floor bounce. The aggressive toeing in will reduce the sidewall reflections and lowering will increase the reflected time arrival from the ceiling. You want to disrupt these reflected/similar time arrivals and simultaneously get more direct sound. This positioning will also increase your image size and aid transparency.

I appreciate doing all that could be a pain in the ass but you gotta work with what you have. If the bass in room is good as you say, room correction will likely do little to help you with midrange/HF fatigue or glare. 

Sure, I can experiment more with positioning, toe-in, and moving the sofa forward. I see what you're saying. I have a pair of speaker stands I can rebuild cheaply to lower the midrange/horns. Since the horns are separate from the midwoofer cabinet, I can also experiment with aggressive toe-in of the horns independent of the mids. No problem. I'll report back...

Oh, I also had a hunch that room correction wouldn't be very helpful for high frequencies as you indicated, especially if the room echoes. I gotta fix that first.       

[mick wolfe]

Just a guess, but maybe a large area rug. I only see a small round rug in the photos.