Quote:

Quote:

I'd upgrade your room acoustics so you can hear exactly how each piece of equipment really sounds


What does that mean? Is the reason I can't hear how my economical receiver is affecting my signal because I don't have any room treatments? Even with ideal acoustic treatments in each, room A will sound different than room B.

I'm on the side of those recommending a speaker upgrade first. While the room is very important, your speakers are what will make or break your whole system. Just look at MarkSJohnson. He's got the world crappiest room but he still loves his Axioms.



..........And he just might love them more if the resonances in his room (modes), early reflections peaks and nulls (via standing waves) and other sonic issues (that an untreated room can yield) were under control.

Here is the point:

When you purchase a sound system, you want to hear the full potential of such and reap the benefits of all the components that went into creating this sonic work of art, right?
Then why not spend a little more to ensure you are hearing the pure sound from this sound source and not your vibrating room along with it? If you are sitting in your listening position, and you have reflections from walls, ceilings and other objects arriving at different times and the pure sound of your new Axiom or other system is fighting these reflections to bring the clarity and nuances of said system to your ears, what is the point in an other component upgrade when you never got to REALLY know what your last piece of gear (speaker, amp, etc) was doing? I agree that some sound systems can sound better than others no matter what, (AXIOM!) but why not maximize your listening experience by attending to some basic room issues that most rooms suffer from and KNOW that you allowing your new sound system to perform at its peak?

Read more here: Room Modes and Treatment

Low frequencies resonances: Bass modes that build up in corners and at other boundaries that can destroy your stereo imaging and produce muddy overtones.

Early reflections: Sound travels from the sound source to your ear, right? Not in an untreated room! MANY reflections can arrive at your ears at different times, and in some cases, your brain must go through very complicated processes to tell YOU that you aren’t hearing all of those reflections. This is called the Haas Effect and can lead to ear fatigue and general smearing of your sound.

Standing Waves : When two boundaries are coupled by resonances between them (two walls facing each other, and vibrating in unison to create a curved wave) you get peaks and nulls that can be as much as 30db in difference! When you use bass traps (etc), you can decouple that standing wave and create a more uniform sound field overall.

Now, I will tell you that you can make VERY nice looking treatments on your own, and even get your spouse involved in picking a fabric that SHE likes. I built a tutorial on how to do this with components from any hardware store and would be glad to share it here.

Finally, I have NEVER-ever had someone come to me after their room was treated with some minimal absorption units (such as GIK acoustic panels mentioned in this thread) and tell that it wasn’t worth it. Never. I have however had zillions of folks contact me after treating their rooms and ask the same question time and time again: Why didn’t I do this to begin with?”

I hope this information helps (a little).

See also this thread about room resonances:
Room Modes and Treatment


Cheers,

Joel DuBay www.readyacoustics.com