[audiotom]

I own HT3's and V3s at home

My friend recently picked up the HT2 TL

the HT2 has a lot of similarities in sound with my V3's (similar tweeter)
They image well, disappear in the room, great tonal balance, etc
sound like the great speakers that they are

My friend was experiencing two problems -
1 bass resonace (wood floor - some low freq boost)
2 low level lack of dynamic range

arc LS17 pre, arc 1.5 tube amp?, cambridge audio higher end cd player


the speakers were only 19 inches from the wall - and I felt the base resonance may have caused by being too close and reinforcing the air moving out the transmission line.

I told him to take one and move forward in 2" increments
the wife factor is evident as they invade a little more into the room

chances are that will lower the bass volume. he also may want to treat the wood floor and plaster wall immediately behind the tl.

2) the low level issue - where the music is not as dynamic
He has heard my vinyl setup which has low level dynamics in spades and I told him more modern compressed cds will not sound as good at low volumes. also that his louder bass may contribute as when he moves the speaker out - the volume will lower and he can turn it up a little more and hear some more element of dynamics. Maybe a solid state or hybrid amp would provide more kick in lower volumes. In addition I told him the equipment was still breaking in - to give it time and leave in on and playing when away

I'd be interested in your suggestions
the dealer will allow him to upgrade in a reasonable time frame

my own personal experience with salks and the rear wall
My V3s are only  14 inches from the wall but they don't have the tl, just small back ports and don't exhibit the louder lower freq. My salks are 3  feet out and sound great.

[fluke242]

I have the non-TL version, HT2s, and follow Cardas:

http://www.cardas.com/pdf/roomsetup.pdf

My room is 12 feet wide by 24 feet long, so the speakers are over 5 feet from back wall and over 3 feet from the sidewalls.  I sit nearfield, like diagrams C & D in the link above.

Ensure room acoustics are used to combat reverb and bass issues. 

For reverb at least, ATS has an online calculator: http://www.atsacoustics.com/page--Free-Online-Room-Acoustics-Analysis--ora.html

John

[Nuance]

I think the floor is certainly playing a role in what you hear (or don't hear), but we need more info.  How far apart are the speakers?  How far away are you sitting?  What are the room dimensions? 

Perhaps the tube gear is causing the dynamics issue?  Tube gear can give you a nice warm midrange, but I've never like them, especially not for dynamics.  YMMV, of course. 

Hopefully its just a room acoustics thing and your friend won't need to get different electronics. 

[audiotom]

room is set up perfect other than distance from back wall
25 by 20 I would estimate

sounds great at louder volumes

may be resolving power of cd player at low volume

[OgOgilby]

Our room is 17' wide x 22' deep with a carpeted floor and 8' ceiling. The sofa and chairs are 14' from the front wall and can't be moved much. We have our HT2 TL's 4.5 feet from the side walls which (according to the Cardas roomsetup.pdf) should be correct. That means the speakers are 8 feet apart and the sofa is around 8 feet from the speakers. The speaker distance from the wall to the front of the speakers is about 4 feet, which is about as far out as we can go. According to Cardas they should be 9 feet from the front wall, which isn't going to happen! I'd love to add a few acoustic panels but I am not sure where they should go in the room we have, or if they would help that much.

I would think getting the "correct" speaker distance from the front wall is the hardest part for most people when setting up a non-dedicated room for audio.

[Nuance]

Cardas works pretty well, but its not practical for those without dedicated rooms.  I wish I could do it, but it's not gonna happen. 

[rydenfan]

Perhaps the tube gear is causing the dynamics issue?  Tube gear can give you a nice warm midrange, but I've never like them, especially not for dynamics.  YMMV, of course.   

[Nuance]

haha, sorry bro. I guess I should clarify, though: I've never liked tube gear that completely alters the sound.  Some tubes (such as Audio Research's stuff) still sound almost like SS, which is great IMO.  But completely altering the sound by adding distortion is not for me.  I want the sound to be as true to the source/live performance as possible.  I haven't heard many tube offerings that do this.