MotorToad
Well-known member
I'm trying to make improvements to what might be the worst acoustic room I've ever been in. My friend who is adopting my older equipment (mid-fi at best to most here but some fine stuff IMO) just bought a house and the listening room is HUGE, asymmetrical, vaulted ceilings, with hardwood floors and no curtains. The kitchen, living room, and dining room are all one, big chasm of echoes (and insufficient ventilation). The beginner HT system sits on the back wall on the left side of the room, with the ceiling low to the left and rising to the peak well right of the right speaker. The odds of moving it are zero, and there's really no other place for it. [The "architect" involved should be beaten! Or worse, he should be given one day listening to Summits and then a lifetime of Bose 301s just so he knows what's missing.] Anyway, sitting 8-10 feet from the TV you can't understand the dialog, it's all muddy (somehow achieved with no bass present at that location). Sitting further back, say in the middle of the pool table, it sounds better, but it's just not comfortable. Walking around the room it's obvious there are huge bass nodes; the fireplace thumps like a rapper's Escalade and right behind the sofa it sounds like the Vienna Boys' Choir.
To go along with this, small sharp sounds carry like mad. Put a fork in the sink at night and everyone gets woken up. Making coffee is an alarm clock. Also, his wife has the worst WAF factor I've ever seen, she absolutely will not tolerate anything that might spoil her new Dream House. I've googled and googled looking for sound absorbing materials but everything comes up either in the UK or is "professional" treatment that doesn't fit in a home.
Something like this:
would be awesome but it's in the UK.
Is there anything out there that looks modern, artsy, tasteful, and is reasonably priced? I think if I brought a bass trap to their house I'd leave in it. And no one likes getting bounced by a 95 lb girl. :-|
Thanks in advance!
To go along with this, small sharp sounds carry like mad. Put a fork in the sink at night and everyone gets woken up. Making coffee is an alarm clock. Also, his wife has the worst WAF factor I've ever seen, she absolutely will not tolerate anything that might spoil her new Dream House. I've googled and googled looking for sound absorbing materials but everything comes up either in the UK or is "professional" treatment that doesn't fit in a home.
Something like this:
would be awesome but it's in the UK.
Is there anything out there that looks modern, artsy, tasteful, and is reasonably priced? I think if I brought a bass trap to their house I'd leave in it. And no one likes getting bounced by a 95 lb girl. :-|
Thanks in advance!