Article: A New Listening Room Part Two: Acoustics, Speakers, DSP

[Temporal_Dissident]

Great piece, @The Computer Audiophile. I am about 6mos in with my new system (Roon>dCS>Parasound>Wilson Yvette). I love it, but it is *deeply* compromised by my room.
 

I know many of you referance “wife acceptance factor” or some such when it comes to listening rooms and system design, but in my case it is extreme.
 

We do not have a dedicated listening room, so the system lives in our main living room. Nothing about the architecture or construction of our old house would be considered acoustically advantageous. My wonderful wife is an architect and designer who is perfectly content listening to music on her iPhone’s speaker (🤮). She has furnished/decorated the room beautifully, but again, with zero consideration for acoustics. After all of that, I was able to come in and drop my dream system into this hostile environment. 
 

The system sounds,....(insert adjective). Of course this depends. If, like most people I know, you love the sound of Spotify through SONOS, our system sounds freaking incredible. On the other hand, if you set this system up in an ideal acoustic environment, I think it could sound twice as good. I know that, I hear that, and it bugs me. What to do? 
 

I love this article and, on Chris’ advice, am happy to now be working with @mitchco. But I know I am still dealing with some severe, non-negotiable constraints. 
 

Maybe, just maybe, I can sneak some acoustic treatments into the room. But for now, DSP is my best hope as it is a truly “invisible hand” that does not impact room aesthetics. 
 

Thoughts, suggestions, jokes, or thrown tomatoes welcome....

 

 

[Temporal_Dissident]

20 minutes ago, austinpop said:

Is it too much to ask for a clear path from speakers to ears (without furniture in the way), or is that one of the non-negotiables? 
 

If so, you may be looking at mental health treatment before room treatments!  

Yes, yes,...the damn sofas. I know.  I could always sit on the sofa and wear headphones? Would that help?😞

[Temporal_Dissident]

23 hours ago, austinpop said:

 

Sorry, I was being facetious! I feel your pain.

 

I actually have invested in some very high-tech “furniture sliders.” 1-inch square pieces of plastic. Once I get my miniDSP UMIK-1 and @mitchco teaches me to take measurements it will be fun to measure with couches in “social human” vs. “introverted audiophile” positions.