Can I make this living room work?

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Charliemike

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Hi all, I bought a contemporary home with a great room/dining room with hardwood floors and cedar lined ceiling. On one side I have sliding glass doors and the other a big brick fireplace.

From what I remember, it seems like I would be asking for a lot of trouble with all the reflective surfaces I am dealing with.

Juat curious if anyone thinks this could work.

I have a downstairs room that is drywall and carpet that would be my alternative. But it’s not my first choice location.
 

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I should also add these are staging photos. We are going to orient the seating to face the far, tall wall.
 
Curtains on the glass and rugs on the floor would tame the room. Just don't plan on putting the speakers close to a wall.
 
Looks like a great floor plan for entertaining ! Can it work, sure but if the downstairs room is of decent size that's where I'd put my serious $$. Upstairs will require acoustic help and that will also depend on orientation, what speakers you plan to use, etc
 
I agree with Twitch, use the downstairs room.

Before I removed a couple walls, my setup was inline with the central beam at the top of the cathedral ceiling, so the view was of the wall with a sloped top. The bass had a lot of null.

Fast forward to today, no walls, one big room, and after moving the audio setup from area to area, the best is with the speakers setup in front of the wall at the bottom of the slope and the ceiling growing taller over me, like in an auditorium.
 
Thanks @twich54 for that advice. I think you're probably right. I was hoping to have it upstairs for music and AV but there's no point putting a square peg in a round hole.

@ttocs That's a great description and I think if I had the ability to orient the room that way I'd definitely take advantage of it.

Thanks to everyone that replied.
 
You have a beautiful space.

I'm facing the same challenges with floorboards and lots of glass surfaces. Most issues are resolved with furniture and a heavy rug.

I'd prioritize enjoying the space and the last thing I would be doing is blocking those beautiful views with curtains.

Sometimes, making a couple of compromises on sound quality is the better decision.
 
Hi all, I bought a contemporary home with a great room/dining room with hardwood floors and cedar lined ceiling. On one side I have sliding glass doors and the other a big brick fireplace.

From what I remember, it seems like I would be asking for a lot of trouble with all the reflective surfaces I am dealing with.

Juat curious if anyone thinks this could work.

I have a downstairs room that is drywall and carpet that would be my alternative. But it’s not my first choice location.
It may help if you could add a sketch to show the floorplan and where you intend to place your speakers - and which speakers you are considering.

I had ML 13As in a large and difficult room where the MLs were most unhappy so they have now been sold. Not due to the size of the room, but their placement so far forward from the back wall. There wss 12 ft behind one and 15 ft behind the other and the rear wall was floor-to-ceiling glass - at an angle too! Again the glass wasn't the problem but the fact that 50% of these speakers' energy is projected backwards and there's nothing there to help in taking advantage of this reflected energy.

A simple drawing something like this would help:
 

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It seems to me that they have already given you some useful suggestions, and I don't know what to add. I just wanted to compliment you on the beautiful location
 
It may help if you could add a sketch to show the floorplan and where you intend to place your speakers - and which speakers you are considering.

I had ML 13As in a large and difficult room where the MLs were most unhappy so they have now been sold. Not due to the size of the room, but their placement so far forward from the back wall. There wss 12 ft behind one and 15 ft behind the other and the rear wall was floor-to-ceiling glass - at an angle too! Again the glass wasn't the problem but the fact that 50% of these speakers' energy is projected backwards and there's nothing there to help in taking advantage of this reflected energy.

A simple drawing something like this would help:

Thank you I will definitely do that. I’m not living there yet but will get you dimensions in a drawing as soon as I can, including downstairs as the alternative room.
 
It seems to me that they have already given you some useful suggestions, and I don't know what to add. I just wanted to compliment you on the beautiful location

Thank you! We are excited to move in. Two weeks to go. Just had the pantry torn down to make the HVAC return smaller to open up the kitchen.
 

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