OK, so I might have missed the Axiom 35th celebration because I was STOOPID but it didn't mean an Axiom-free weekend.
Might have been some subconscious thing (in which case I had better pay more attention to subconscious things in the future) but I did get a chance to do a bit more experimentation with speaker placement and treatments.
Turns out the ex-sofa cushions leaning against the wall on the right (behind the tub of LPs) really do help -- maybe doing a bit of bass trapping as well as adding some absorbtion near the big side window you can't see. Discovered that totally by accident, just needed somewhere to lean the cushions after the sofa itself was sacrificed to the bonfire.
On the other hand the acoustic panel which used to hang on the right wall just this side of the window seems to work much better leaning up against the fireplace on the left. The room seemed a bit unbalanced before moving the panel -- too "dead" on the right -- but moving the panel seems to help.
The fireplace (technically a masonry heater) is covered with a mixture of river rocks and Arriscraft fake rock. In order to stop obsessing about it, I have convinced myself that it adds some much-needed diffusion to the room.
The white-ish chair in the middle of the picture is the last survivor of the old furniture and is sufficiently comfortable to keep around, but I'm thinking about replacing it with a swivel recliner (or at least some kind of swivel chair) so I can either face the speakers or face the sofa depending on whether I'm listening or being sociable.
The fiberglass panels leaning up against the front window, side window and opposite walls still seem to be required, so at some point I'm going to have to wrap them in wood/fabric or something to make them less ugly. Not sure what to do about the whole "leaning up against the middle of the window" thing though, other than maybe covering the window completely with cellular shades and hoping that works. I guess someone probably makes vertical blinds where the individual strips are made of OC703, but I haven't found them yet.
Next steps are:
- put together a couple of simple speaker stands for the M60s, stealing nickbuol's design as a start
- figure out why my room always looks like everyone else's "construction" pics rather than their "after" pics
And yes, I just noticed there are 3D glasses on the stuffed dog. My sister was here for few days. The question is why I didn't notice them when I was working and listening in the room but immediately noticed them after I posted the photo.
