I have spent a lot of time and effort in treating my room (5m x 3.9m) with an awkward bay window. A lot of effort but on that was oh so worthwhile. I have treated first and second reflection points with absorbers from GIK acoustics and have GIK absorber/refractor panels behind my listening position and on the front wall behind the speakers. But the biggest difference was when I installed PSI AVAA C20 bass traps (2 in the front corners , 2 in the rear corners and one in the bay window) ……wow,wow,wow…clean, clear deep powerful bass, incredible soundstage width, height and depth and a sound so incredibly smooth and detailed it is incredible and the music is so much more communicative.
Whilst it wasn’t cheap to do this, I spent £12k for the AVAAs and GIK panels it is the biggest performance upgrade that I have ever made to my system. I would say that if you haven’t addressed in room acoustics then you are not really hearing your system as it could be!
Well it’s your money and I’m sure you are happy with the results but I’m not going anywhere near that. Bamboo slat blinds over all my windows is a far as I have gone (£85 from B&Q). For mega money I think I’d rather defect to Linn (but I won’t) and let the Room optimisation software sort it out.
Tried all the electronic room optimisation options from Linn, Dirac Live, Macintosh all do the same thing. Robs the music of all emotion and does nothing to address in room decay issues.
The room correction for my home cinema works well for me. I was simply choking on the £12k. That’s what my main system is probably worth atm. Enjoy your system. Don’t worry about what people like me think.
Intrigued by the AVAAs. Did you purchase them all at once or add until things sounded right. Did you find certain positions worked better than others?
Can they work placed behind/to the side of furniture?
They offer a 30 day return if not happy. I saw an immediate improvement with a significant reduction in room modes resulting in better bass. The mid and treble also opened up. This was with them placed in the corners on the front wall. I tried in various places and had some success with each but on balance the position in the corners of the front wall worked best. But having whetted my appetite I had to try a third in the bay window area. This, together with the two in the corners made a huge difference in my room. Better bass control and extension, improved soundstaging and detail. And the bass suddenly had texture and detail. Bass in my system was always deep but now I realised just how smeard the sound at the low end was. It was quite shocking.
When funds became available I had to try a pair in the corners behind my listening position. Once again I heard significant improvements, just not as dramatic as the first time around.
I guess a lot depends on your room, mine is difficult, so 5 works well. But in a lot of rooms I think that 2 would suffice.
I have tried them in friends rooms and the improvements are always very apparent. And the beauty of them is that they operate in the analogue domain (no DSP here!) and require no calibration, just place them where you have most bass bass build up. PSI themselves state that the corners behind the speakers are the place to start.
Thanks Teskey.
I have two Tritraps in the front corners and two monster bass traps which I position on the window sill behind me for listening. The worst area in my room for bass build up is behind the listening position to my left. I wonder if one in this area would be beneficial or replacing the Tritraps in the front corners. It would be a long term project as I have spent a lot this year on upgrades so two units going forward would be my limit I think.
Absolutely not true in my case. Linn’s space optimisation just removes a slight bass room artefact in my system. In doing so, and rather surprising to me, as it only affects frequencies below 80hz, it adds transparency to my ATC’s wonderful midrange. Far from robbing the music of emotion, it adds realism and increases involvement. I’m just listening to a new disc of Christmas-themed choral music with shivers running down my back.
I guess we all seek different things in our music listening. Or perhaps it’s the type of music I listen to.
