To carpet or not to

Hi Guys,
Am slowing doing up my room since my last thread Major thing that I'm
thinking of is to carpet the whole room. Problem is I'm worried that it might
make the room sound too dry. Would love to hear your thoughts. I'm thinking
of carpet tiles.

Thanks

I don't believe carpeting will make the sound dry. It should cut down on some reflections.

The addition of carpet to a room you're familiar with will most certainly change the sound; and it needs to be considered within the context of the overall room acoustics.

That said - all things being equal, carpet will usually always win over hard floors. Especially if you carpet the area between the speakers and your listening position, which will reduce early reflections.

Only carpet the room if your system sounds bright.

Carpets, curtains, sofa’s, cushions, bed covers make the sound of the system dull

or opposite of bright. This area is subjective. In too dull a room treble does not have sparkle.

Too much absorption material and bass becomes one note.

Just my two cents hope I did not offend anyone.

I agree that it depends on the starting point of the room acoustics overall. I, personally, do not like brightness so I prefer to err, if at all, on the side of slightly dead rather than slightly bright or reflective. I also believe to some extent in the "live end/dead end" approach.

I use ML speakers, so I like a moderately reflective front wall (behind the speakers) with the opposing rear wall (behind the listenig position) absortive. Similarly, I like a carpeted floor (with natural jute padding, rather than synthetic padding, below the carpet) and little to no acoustic treatment on the ceiling.

If you have to make a decision about the carpet in the absence of any other acoustic information I know I would want the carpet. In my experience the chance of you wanting an acoustically reflective floor is very low.

Hi Guys

Thanks for the advice. Aside from some reflection & a slight echo at 2 corners Im getting very nice balance sound. So far have added a rug in front of the speakers & also 6 pcs of Cathedral Acoustic panels. Looks like if I want to carpet the whole floor I would have to look for thin type right . Don't want the bass to turn into 1 note.

Thks Guys

Btw speaking of diffussors, what's your view on them ? I listen to a friends system which had the wall behind the speakers line with them . He's using the ML Summit frankly I don't like the sound. It just doesn't sound right. Ooh speakers are about 5 ft from the rear wall

Thks again

jaffrie said:

Hi Guys

Thanks for the advice. Aside from some reflection & a slight echo at 2 corners Im getting very nice balance sound. So far have added a rug in front of the speakers & also 6 pcs of Cathedral Acoustic panels. Looks like if I want to carpet the whole floor I would have to look for thin type right . Don't want the bass to turn into 1 note.

Thks Guys

Click to expand...

Bass turning to one note depends on going past a threshold using absorption panels.

Add absorption material whether it is carpet or absorption material or diffusers incrementally.

Stop adding absorption material to room when the bass starts to turn into one note and the overall sound starts becoming dull due to excessive absorption.

Just my experience with CLS and using three large size home devised absorption panels that the low frequency dynamics improve and noise floor is

absorbed by the absorption material resulting in cleaner and quieter sound. Just my subjective two cent opinion.

jaffrie said:

Hi Guys

Thanks for the advice....Don't want the bass to turn into 1 note.

Thks Guys

Click to expand...

While adding carpet will certainly have an effect upon higher frequencies, it shouldn't affect LF to any noticeable degree.

"One note bass" is a term typically used to describe the results of one or more significant modal peaks in low frequency response (and consequent ringing) which muddy LF and mask detail well into midrange frequencies. Carpet won't affect this one way or the other.

Choosing between a) carpet vs b) hard flooring with a rug between the speakers and listening position depends on many factors, there is no 1 right answer. If you are on a suspended floor, adding a hard flooring on top will help keep the sound in the room and will help with low frequency clarity, accuracy and emphasis. Adding carpet (foregoing a solid flooring) will not help with low frequencies but will help reduce high frequency reflections only. Larger rooms which can accommodate diffusion over absorption tend to allow the rug option, smaller rooms not so much. What are your room dimensions and system layout?

Also, adding bass traps should never exacerbate 1 note bass but may highlight mid-bass issues in your room that may have been "hidden" due to excessive low frequency issues now reduced with the traps. This will vary as with any treatment contingent on absorption thickness and placement.

Hi Guys,

Thanks again for your input. Right now my system does sound pretty good just want to be cautious & not upset the balance.
My room measures 6.8m length by 7.3m wide ceiling 2.85m height. There's a recess in the room where my desk is & this measure
1.5m wide by 3.2m length. Yes this recess does catches bass notes which I will have to tame.

Many thanks again Guys