# Help with HT/Living layout & treatment needed!



## A/V (Feb 5, 2014)

Hey guys,
I am currently setting up my first home theatre in the living area, as we don't have any spare rooms to turn into a dedicated room. So as such, along comes the problems. 

I have attached a photo of our room layout. Now immediately you will notice that it is FAR from optimal.









Unfortunately we are stuck with the furniture layout, including the main viewing position being on the back wall *prepares to be flamed*...

What kind of adjustments and or acoustic treatment might you recommend for my 'have-to-make-do-with-what-you've-got' home theater?

Specs:
Room: 2.7Hx4.7Lx3.75W (meters)
timber floor with large rug in middle
leather reclining lounges
Receiver: Sony STR-DN1040
Speakers:
Main - Q Acoustics 2050i
Center - Q 2000Ci
Surrounds - Q 2010i
Sub - SVS PB-2000

I will shortly be installing a projector above the listening position hung from the ceiling, and installing a ceiling-mounted pull-down screen in front of the TV.

Thanks guys.


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## ajinfla (May 10, 2009)

Hi A/V

I "see" 2 possible areas of concern. An asymmetric room and speakers with no off axis control.
But the relevant question is, what aural problems are _you_ hearing?
Is it specific to music, or with all program material (speech, movies, etc.)?

cheers


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## A/V (Feb 5, 2014)

ajinfla said:


> Hi A/V
> 
> I "see" 2 possible areas of concern. An asymmetric room and speakers with no off axis control.
> But the relevant question is, what aural problems are _you_ hearing?
> ...


Off axis control?
The main issues I am hearing is quite thick bass without much definition. A little 'boomy' to my ears. I would like to tighten this up with some acoustic treatment if possible. First reflections don't seem to be much of a problem. The dialogue is strong and intelligible. Effects steering is also adequate. But the whole system just seems like it needs some 'taming' in order to find that extra definition.


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

That's because you have your seat up against a wall. Treatments can help but with the seat against a wall, you'll never get it perfect. At a minimum, pull it out far enough to treat behind your head. Too bad we can't move things.


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## A/V (Feb 5, 2014)

bpape said:


> That's because you have your seat up against a wall. Treatments can help but with the seat against a wall, you'll never get it perfect. At a minimum, pull it out far enough to treat behind your head. Too bad we can't move things.


Yeah it is the most annoying thing about the room and layout. My listening position when I'm home alone is a camp chair in front of the lounge to get off that back wall!


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## ajinfla (May 10, 2009)

A/V said:


> Off axis control?


Yes, the thing AV consumers consider the greatest kept secret.
Seems perceptually, you're ok there though.



A/V said:


> Yeah it is the most annoying thing about the room and layout. My listening position when I'm home alone is a camp chair in front of the lounge to get off that back wall!


As Brian noted, you are sitting in a pressure maxima in the room. If your only "problem" is this thickness/boom in the bass sitting on the rear wall, then a little EQ will help. Does your Sony AVR allow manual EQ? Is it important for the bass to be even at all seats, or just the rear?

cheers


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## A/V (Feb 5, 2014)

ajinfla said:


> Yes, the thing AV consumers consider the greatest kept secret.
> Seems perceptually, you're ok there though.
> 
> 
> ...


Yes it does have some eq adjustment but not great. Just bass and treble for each set of speakers. No eq on the sub though. Can EQ'ing really reduce that boominess effect much?

Just the rear seats is all I am worried about.


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## ajinfla (May 10, 2009)

A/V said:


> Yes it does have some eq adjustment but not great. Just bass and treble for each set of speakers. No eq on the sub though. Can EQ'ing really reduce that boominess effect much?
> 
> Just the rear seats is all I am worried about.


Ok, good thing on the rear seats only, so yes, absolutely EQ can solve the boom there. EQ is effective only for a very limited area, but you don't have to worry about that for rear seats only. Solve it there, problem solved.
However....
5 seconds of Google search on your Sony HTR and its "Room EQ" capability (what they call "DCAC"), yielded some bad news:








Ok, problem No 1, as mentioned previously, your seat is in a "bass boost" area, so that will cause boom.
But it also appears that if you run the Sony "DCAC" (which you might have?), the problem may have been compounded (!!). The graph above shows the "pre" EQ curve (purple) and the "post" EQ (black) for someone testing the STR-DN1040, which has boosted the LF significantly, exactly the opposite of what you need!
With both my Yamaha and old Pioneer HTRs, its possible for the user to manually adjust the EQ, so you can cut the LF boom you are having.
Either consult your user manual or contact Sony to see if this is possible with yours.

cheers


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## A/V (Feb 5, 2014)

ajinfla said:


> Ok, good thing on the rear seats only, so yes, absolutely EQ can solve the boom there. EQ is effective only for a very limited area, but you don't have to worry about that for rear seats only. Solve it there, problem solved.
> However....
> 5 seconds of Google search on your Sony HTR and its "Room EQ" capability (what they call "DCAC"), yielded some bad news:
> 
> ...


Wow thats some great info there. Thank you so much for finding that. I do have bass and treble adjustments for each speaker but nothing like a full EQ. I will have a playand see how we go. Thanks again!


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## A/V (Feb 5, 2014)

Ok I've made the bass adjustments. Still getting woofy and muddiness. But I guess there's nothing I can do about it apart from moving the couch forward. If I lean forward a few feet off the wall, the clarity increases dramatically.

What kind of treatment could I do behind our heads on the wall to improve the clarity a bit do you think?


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

I kind of figured the 'bass' adjustment would be too broad and too high in center frequency to really fix it but it was worth a try. You can use something that is a limited range absorber that will deal with lower midrange and down by doing a thicker absorber with a damped membrane. That will leave the mids and up untouched and not impact the limited surround field surround field you have (another problem with sitting so close to the wall behind you).


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