[Rob Babcock]

Hi, Bill.  I would like some product advice.  I want to make a listening room for stereo only out of a small spare room.  The problem?  It's almost square, about 11'6" X 11'3", with an 8' 3" ceiling.  At this point the floors are hardwood with no carpeting.  The room is good ol lathe & plaster.  As you can imagine this is a very live room.

I wonder what products you'd recommend for a room like this?  It will likely get carpet, or a whole room rug (leaning towards carpet).  

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[WilliamL]

Hi Bob,

Sounds like a fun project! Of course you have a few things working against you right off the bat--almost symmetrical wall dimensions, smallish room that makes it hard for bass to properly develop, plaster walls that lean towards brightness--but you can still do  a few things in there to get the sound you crave. Right off the bat, a RoomPack will help you out.

I empathize with you about the small room factor. In fact, before we moved over to Music Row in Nashville, we had a few demo rooms in our old office that were actually a hair more than 10'x10'!

One thing I will say; although I will simplify it a little:

Initially i would suggest that you start with an area rug and not a full carpet because you don't want to make things too dead right from the beginning. Besides, hardwood floors are usally a good thing and lend themselves to more musical sounding rooms than wall to wall carpet. If you have been in any of the great concert halls (In NYC metro area we are blessed with some great ones--NJPAC in Newark, NJ and Carnegie Hall being my faves) you will notice the presence of wood flooring on the stage, etc. In fact, one of the reasons people complain about the acoustics in Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall is because there is too much carpet under the audience from the first to 30th row. Contrast this with NJPAC: lots of wood in the same area!

Its much easier for me or one of our staff to elaborate and make specific recommendations for you if we get a room diagram and/or pictures. Information about equipment also helps us make a determination, as rooms react differently to dipoles, electrostats, etc.

If you get time you can email or fax one over--doesn't have to be anything fancy; we don't assign grades to them.  

Thanks and Best,
Bill Laurent
www.eighthnerve.com

[Rob Babcock]

Thanks, Bill.  I might be able to fax; I gave my fax phone to my folks but I can figure something out.

Small rooms are tough; carpet is kinda nice for comfort, especially in the SD winters!   I also want to tame first reflections from the floor.  I suppose a rug would work fine for this.

Like most guys, I have a tough time getting past the notion that a room this reverberant needs some serious absorption.  I know your approach is to deal in part with air pressure at room boundaries, but my mind screams "FOAM!"

The gear isn't finalized yet.  I've got two way floorstanders right now.  I've got a pair of Le Amp II's on order and am shopping for a preamp.  I like my Monitor Audio Bronze 3's (awesome for the price) but may get something nicer down the road.  Again, this is a second system, so I'm not gonna go nuts.  And as much as I'd like a pair of Maggies, I'm afraid 11' squared is just too damn small for dipoles!

Bass isn't that big an issue, really.  I only need good bass in one small spot:  my chair!  Even distribution of room modes isn't that big a deal with such a small required "sweet spot."  Even in a second system I'll still use a sub & parametric eq, most likely.

Since the room will be strictly for my use, if it takes a lot of treatments, well, appearance is secondary to sound.  No WAF type things to deal with.