How big is too big a room? Open Concept?

[Peter_Klim]

My ReQuests are in my 16x16' living room. Thinking about removing the wall behind my listing position that will expose another 22' to the end of the house where the future exposed kitchen will be.

Some things I do not like about this idea:

Fridge noise and any noise from kitchen activities like washing dishes and cooking.
Possible undesirable audio reflections.

I was thinking of having a number of absorption panels made that would be mobile (2x4' panels on wheels) that could easily be placed in position (where the wall will be removed) when doing critical listening. Or maybe curtains or a roll down wall?

For removing the fridge noise, it could be placed in the farthest corner and then placed in its own little "room"

I love the open concept look and lifestyle. The only thing I do not like is the possible disadvantages with critical audio enjoyment. What would the largest desirable room be for these speakers?

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

[Hocky]

My stuff is in a very large room like that, it works ok. But you can't have the speakers in the middle of the room, they will need to be 5 feet from a wall like normal.

 

[sleepysurf]

My family/listening room comprises the front half of our open concept floor plan, with a fully exposed kitchen to the rear. The total distance, front to back, is ~34 feet. My listening position (couch) is ~ 10 ft from my Summits, which are ~4 ft off the front wall. This setup, IMHO, works surprisingly well. The lack of a rear wall behind the listening position means no adverse rear reflections. Any reflections from the kitchen island/cabinets/appliances are probably insignificant. We recently remodeled the kitchen, and I made sure we got a quiet refrigerator (newest GE Café model). I rarely hear the fan/compressor (unless door is kept open, or icemaker is running). With this setup I get to enjoy music while cooking and entertaining, which is also a big plus. The main downside is some difficulty "energizing" so many cubic feet of space (with adjacent open living room and open hallways). I'm about to add a sub (possibly two) to help with overall dynamics, and to "minimize" some bass room modes I'm dealing with. One important caveat... ALWAYS use your range exhaust fan when cooking, so airborne smoke/oils don't get carried across the room and deposited on your panels!

 

[amey01]

I've lived with both over the years - whether it suits you will eminently depend on your living arrangements and lifestyle. If you have a big family with lots of activity I would avoid it like the plague, but if just you and your spouse then it is a lot more manageable. Fridge noise is the least of your worries (you can turn that off when listening) - it is the movement, activity, etc of other people that disturbs your listening.

As for the sound - it will sound different (of course), and Alan covered the basics above. I've got no reason to believe it will sound intrinsically any worse or better per se , but a large room will do some things better and some things not so well. Primarily (what I've noticed in my space) in an open room the reflections will be well delayed meaning that there is no chance your brain will intepret them as original and you'll get a lot more clarity and presence. The downside is the pressurisation of the LF.

 

[JonFo]

... The downside is the pressurisation of the LF.

I know you meant ".. the lack of pressurization", and I agree, it's probably the biggest drawback. But there is a fix, and that is multiple subs. Not only do you get the levels back, you can seriously benefit from much smoother bass performance as I demonstrated in this thread using 4 cheap ML subs in a secondary system.