I have got these new speakers which are massive compared to my old bookshelves speakers and I feel like there are a lot of vibrations generating a muddy effect on the sound which I didn’t have before. I wouldn’t say it’s a problem of the speakers themselves (KLH 5) which seems great to me but there seems to be something wrong with the acoustic of the room especially with low frequencies. It’s better when I pull them away from the wall but still not good enough. The acoustic of the room seemed great to me when I had those entry level Monitor Audio Bronze BZ2 speaker. Now the new speaker sound more open, transparent, clear on the midrange, feel more real but “echoing”. Room is in a barn, 70sqm with high ceiling (5 meters) made of wooden planks
Would you have some advice relatively easy to set up? We are not huge fan of acoustic panel / carpets aesthetics. I was thinking maybe a granite slab to stop the vibrations to go in the hardwood flooring.
I have taken a trial of the unity Atom and I can’t tell if there is a difference with my old Marrantz PM6005. It could be because I am not experienced to make difference between amps or because amps aren’t making huge difference or because of the echoing in the room
If your room is a big, empty echo chamber and you don’t want to soften the walls or floor, it will continue to be a be a big echo chamber. Placing your speakers can minimise reinforced reflections, but it can’t stop the reflections. There are plenty of videos and advice on room treatment, but that will only work if you want to treat the room.
Billywindsock is making a very good point at least regarding mid to high frequencies. Little can be done about bass boom anyway, apart from playing with speaker and listening position (and possibly measuring the room with REW to help with this). Nevertheless, many members have had luck with IsoAcoustics Gaia feet improving transmission into vibrating floors
Assuming the ceiling at 5m is the smallest dimension, you’re unlikely to need specific bass traps (5m corresponds to a resonant frequency of 34Hz and the speakers are -10dB @ 32Hz), so the bass shouldn’t be a specific problem; although you need the speaker even further away form the wall than you show them in the photograph. The main thing you need to do is reduce the overall reverberation time. It very much sounds as though general reverb is muddying the signal by keeping sound going so that notes seem to overlap each other, and the brain then struggles to sort out the individual notes. This makes your room treatment much easer than for most.
First put a load of soft furnishings in the room such as a sofa and several chairs and position several rugs on the floor (these will also help a little if the floor is too resonant) to damp down the resonant sound. See if that makes an improvement. Even if this is a small improvement (it sounds like a BIG room), then you’re on the right track.
Next scale this up… Do things like hanging pictures on the walls with foam behind the frames (N.B. no glass in front!), try filling the bases of the sofa / chairs with foam, basically stuffing acoustic absorbing material in in many different places, even underneath / behind bookshelves can help!
Finally look at the walls as though they are mirrors and see where the reflections of the speakers would appear the be; these are called the 1st reflection points. here put something that will either scatter or absorb mid and high frequencies, like a picture with a soft surface and foam behind or a bookcase with a lot of odd sized books (neatly even sized book don’t work this way).
Alternatively there are commercial solution, but the cost is unreasonably high given the cost of your equipment.
Don’t despair, this can be fixed - and good though the PM2006 is (and they can be surprisingly good in the right system), the Atom really IS a LOT better.
If ‘muddy’ sound is the issue, the first place I’d look at is perhaps those stands. They are quite low and leaving the bass units quite close to the floor. That could easily cause muddiness. The stands themselves, I’d assume from looking at them, are also possibly quite ‘springy’ given there are no legs at the front? Could also contribute perhaps, though not likely the biggest issue.
A rug on the wooden floor in front of the speakers probably wouldn’t hurt either.
The unit behind the spreakers could be an issue also. I used to have some shelving with books in and the dynamics were sucked out of my speakers, making the sound dull and muddy. I took them out and put in a diffuser - immediate sound improvement.
I suppose you have tried the different positions with the acoustic balance switch at the back from the loudspeakers? I use the high position with my KLH’s but I have a pretty neutral room. I don’t have any issues and are very happy with the great sound!
