# poor room acoustics



## toadster (May 17, 2014)

12x15' room, Bare walls, hard wood floor, 8' ceiling, probably not the best for sound quality right? Only one 3' window with curtain. Behind seating area no wall just opens to kitchen. Looking for Ideas to help reduce sound bouncing around.


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## Alan Brown (Jun 7, 2006)

Cover most or all of the floor with thick carpet and felt type pad. Strategically place absorptive acoustic panels, 2 inch thick or better on walls and ceiling. Do some on line research pertaining to small room acoustic fundamentals to learn where to place them.


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## ajinfla (May 10, 2009)

Hi Alan,

Is this a dedicated HT room being built from scratch, or an existing living/multi-purpose room to be used as HT, currently devoid of any furnishings, etc?
Here is a good place to start, ask questions if needed: http://www.madronadigital.com/Library/RoomReflections.html

cheers


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## toadster (May 17, 2014)

its an existing living room to be used for HT.


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## ajinfla (May 10, 2009)

Then, with the back "open", you have what should be a room perfectly capable of excellent perceptual acoustics to human ears...exactly as shown in that article I linked. 
No need for irrational fears of reflections made by marketers and accepted as "common knowledge", devoid of any psycho-acoustic/perceptual science.
I assume as a multipurpose room, things like "furniture" are ok?
Hopefully placing a nice thick rug on the wood floor between the front speakers and LP is also ok aesthetically?
Are there any pictures, especially of where/how you have the speakers positioned and current furnishings?

cheers


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## toadster (May 17, 2014)

thank you for the advice! 
I have another question, with the equipment I have which isn't much lol, I'm really lost when thinking of what kind of upgrade I could do to to get better overall sound quality, so I want to spend $500 to improve my system. I don't have thousands of $$ to blow, im not out to impress anyone but myself. So where would you start? I do realize that doing one thing can lead to having to do something else in order to accomplish the final result I'm seaking.


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## ajinfla (May 10, 2009)

Hi Alan,

"Improving" your system would come down to many things. Mainly, what areas do you feel needs improving? Are you satisfied with your current speakers/sound, when playing movies/music of your preference? Clarity of dialog, smoothness of bass, output, etc, etc, etc.?
And again, pictures are helpful, as simple, no cost things like positioning/arrangement make large differences.

cheers


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

There are a few places that are the usual "easy" or "standard" upgrade steps. It all depends what you have now, and what your personal preferences are, but here are a few key items...

- Subwoofer
- Receiver
- Speakers
- Room Treatment

If you don't have a sub, or if you have a tiny one, you might feel the most impact by starting there. If you are handy at all, you can build a great sub for $500. If not, there are still some good options that will sound better than most package-type subs, and you can even use both to help even out room response.

If you're using an old receiver or an all in one HTIB setup, you might benefit from a new receiver that will let you use the newer processing standards for Blu Ray, and I think there are a few in the $500 range with room correction software like Audyssey built in. Accessories4less is a popular source for great discounts on receivers.

If your receiver is OK, but you aren't getting the sound you want, it might be time to start upgrading your speakers. This can be done in steps, maybe you start with the centre channel to improve the dialogue and main sounds for movie watching. Then the front L/R speakers, and then eventually the surrounds. 

Room treatment (as initially mentioned) is a big area. Corner bass traps are almost always helpful, and a good place to start. If you feel like your room is too "bright" (lots of hard surfaces, echoes, harsh sounding) you can tone it down with absorbtive or diffuser panels placed strategically.


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