Hi,
I would like some advice from people that have hardwood floor in their listening area.
I've had my M80s for about 2 months now and really got used to their sound. My living room is 20ft x 11 ft with 2 bay windows. The speakers are about 7ft from each other slightly angled towards the listening position, about 7ft from the main listening position and 7" from the wall. As for furniture, I only have the couches and entertainment center, nothing on the walls and blinds on the windows. Up to 2 weeks ago I had carpet and I was extremely pleased with the way the M80s sounded.
2 weeks ago I putted hardwood in the living room (maple if it makes any difference) and that's when the problem started. I knew that once I would put the hardwood, that the acoustic of the room would change but I didn't expect that much. In short, the M80s which sounded amazing to me before, now sound awefull. All the highs and mids now sound mixed together, nothing seems clear and distinct, the bass resonates throughout the whole room and is boomy. Basically, from what I read and from what I hear, I have the worst acoustical room that I could possibly have. I don't have a rug yet but I tried to put some bed sheets on the floor in front of the speakers, it helped a little bit but nothing amazing, the bass only starts sounding half decent when I throw pillows in front of the speakers. I reran Audyssey but it didn't help much. The only decent result that I got was once I started covering pretty much the whole floor with bed sheets and pillows.
I know that I will have to put a rug. Will the high pile rugs be more efficient than the low pile ones? Does it have to extended beyond the width of the speakers, meaning at least 8ft or it doesn't make a difference and 6ft is OK? Does it make a difference having also 2 small rugs underneath the speakers? The speakers are on their rubber feet, I heard that some people had good results putting them on spikes with metal plates underneath, would that help? I have blinds but would maybe consider adding curtains if it REALLY helps, would it?
Basically, I am looking from any input and advice from people that were in the same situation and what did they do to help getting back the sound of these great speakers. For the first 2 months, I was listening to music constantly when back from work. Now, I am so disappointed that I barely turn on my system anymore. Please help!!! I spent all this money on the hardwood and would feel bad covering it all now
Will I ever be able to get the sound at least close to when I had carpet or should I just accept the fact that that will never happen?
Bruno
