Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Hearing Things Is that one'a them Audiophile couches ?

OK, so I've had a pair of M60v4's and a pair of Sierra 1's in my living room for the last few months, switching somewhat randomly back and forth.

It was really hard to choose which one I preferred, or even to describe how they sounded different, particularly since I was comparing bookshelf speakers on stands (which I usually prefer) to floorstanders.

The Axioms sounded more "open", plus bigger soundstage in at least 2 dimensions (although some of that might have been size of driver array) while the Sierras sounded "tighter" and more controlled on busy passages with a lot of instruments happening at once. Tough call.

My brother-in-law was redecorating his living room and the "big ol comfortable couch" was no longer welcome. So we hauled it up to my living room and hauled my ratty old couch/loveseat out to the firepit. I took the big foam cushions off the old furniture and leaned them up against the living room wall while I figured out what to do with them.

So I fire up the sound system (Axioms were hooked up), sit back on the new couch and...

Holy $!!!

Thought I was listening to the Sierras, and had to walk around behind the speakers to confirm which ones had cables coming out the back. I regret to admit that my first thought was "maybe there is something to this break-in thing after all" but then I realized that I had inadvertently changed the room acoustics by adding a big pile of damping and probably a bit of bass trapping.

Imaging seems to have lost something, so more work required, but the improvement in "tightness" of the sound is frankly amazing. The room might be a bit overdamped now but the "blurring together" I had been hearing on busy passages and attributing to the M60s (I figured maybe a bit of cabinet resonance) was gone. I didn't think a room change could make that kind of difference.

I'm not going to think about it for a while because I could lose another week experimenting and I have too much real work to do. But it's good.

EDIT - it occurs to me that one of the reasons I have always leaned towards bookshelf speakers on stands for music is that "tighter" sound they seem to have. I always assumed that was a function of smaller & hence more rigid enclosures, plus the fact that putting heavy damping goop on the inside of a small cabinet was a lot more practical than doing it on a floorstander.

Wondering if some of the difference has been the bigger speakers energizing the room differently so room echo/reverb was having more effect ? It doesn't seem likely at first glance but either the speakers *did* undergo a dramatic change in sound or changing the furniture and leaving a lot of foam cushions lying around really changed the sound in a way that I thought was only a function of speaker not room.

I will not start experimenting with room acoustics at 3am...
I will not start experimenting with room acoustics at 3am...
I will not start experimenting with room acoustics at 3am...
I will not start experimenting with room acoustics at 3am...
I will not start experimenting with room acoustics at 3am...
I will not start experimenting with room acoustics at 3am...