|
Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ. |
|
|
|
Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ. |
|
In Reply to: Room Acoustics newbie, hoping for some help from the pros! :) posted by wolfordc@msu.edu on May 4, 2009 at 17:21:51:
First, you say you can't get the voices and the drums centred. They're not always centred so there may not be anything wrong. The simplest test is simply to play either a mono recording or, if your amplifier has a mono switch use that so both left and right speakers are getting exactly the same signal. Sound in mono should definitely appear to come from the centre so if that's off, then something is slightly off somewhere. Since you've got some old gear, it's possible that it's simply that there's a difference in the levels of the left and right channels somewhere. You can always compensate for that with a balance control and a mono signal is the best thing to use with that.
Small differences in left/right symmetry and/or sitting slightly closer to one speaker than the other can also cause a shift in the centre image. Room symmetry includes not only shape, and your difference between the right and left corners is an issue there, but different wall constructions on the left and right sides, different furnishings and objects on the left and right sides, and so on. Because you're basically living in one room you're going to have a fair bit of that and there's little you can do about that. Using absorption at the side wall first reflection points may help a bit but you're still going to have a number of left/right differences simply because you're fitting everything into one room and you're not going to have 2 of everything so you can place one of each identically on each side.
Do the best you can ensuring that the left and right sides are reasonably identical acoustically, so you're got reflective surfaces opposite each other and absorbing surfaces opposite each other as much as possible, position the speakers symetrically as accurately as you can—use a tape measure and line them up as exactly as possible—and make the distance from the listening chair to each speaker as identical as possible. Then use a mono signal and centre that with your balance control if it isn't centred.
The suggestion about Everest's "Master Handbook" is a good one, and another good book is the new Floyd Toole book "Sound Reproduction". They will certainly give you more ideas but the simple fact is that effective acoustic panels and bass traps take up space and you don't have much of that. Using thinner treatments is not a good idea because they tend to absorb over too narrow a band, mainly high frequency, and that causes problems by dulling the sound. Ideally treatments should be broad band but broad band treatments are always thicker and take up more space and you may not have the space to use them effectively which is why I'd start with the suggestions in my previous paragraph which don't rely on treatments. If you get around to replacing the Fisher, another option would be to replace it with a HT receiver with room correction functions like the Audyssey features in some Denon and Onkyo receivers. It won't do a perfect job but it should certainly get you some better results than you're currently getting without the need for acoustic treatments if you don't have the space to do a reasonable job of them.
David Aiken
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- RE: Room Acoustics newbie, hoping for some help from the pros! :) - David Aiken 23:23:52 05/04/09 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
