Speaker Size vs Room Size

Nightfall

16' wide x 14' deep x 8' high

This is the dimensions of the room I listen in, not real small and not huge. My question is what size SDA's would be appropriate? I see it stated "That's too much speaker for your room size" etc. but I can't find any specifics about what size room each model is appropriate for.

I'm also curious if my RTA-12B's are too big or too small for my room.

Nightfall

DSkip wrote: »

3.1tl. Doesn't there happen to be a pair local to you right now on eBay?

Looks like someone bought those. I won't be in the market for a bit, I'd just like to know what I should be on the lookout for when the time comes.

Here's the problem. I get peaky sounding upper midrange at louder volumes. At first I thought it was my Aventage running out of steam but now they can draw 350 watts/75 amps and I'm still getting peaky midrange at louder volumes, even though dynamics have improved. It sounds fantastic and balanced at low to moderate volumes. What would be the cause of this? Not enough/too much speaker for my room size? That was my guess and the reason for this thread.

Nightfall

No room treatments. Also note that I am not setup in the middle of the room. Left speaker is 3' away from side wall and right speaker is 5' away from side wall. Right speaker also has a wire dog kennel between it and the wall.

First reflection points aren't going to be able to be done unless I just lean panels up against the points while listening and remove them when done. I grabbed a tall mirror and these are the first reflection points:

Left side first reflection point is half of the door to outside and half wall:



Right side first reflection point is the edge of the dog kennel and on into the wall/wall heater:



Also some further away shots, for reference

Left side:



Right side:



So... obviously not a perfect room for audio but few of us do. Any advice would be very appreciated.

Edit: My room is seriously not this yellow. I have no idea why my cell camera takes such yellow looking pictures in here.

westmassguy

My Living Room/Home Theater/2 channel is 20 X 16. My 2As can fill it effortlessly to deafening levels, as did my CRS+s.
2Bs, 1Cs, CRS+s, SRS 2s, would all fill that room very nicely. The 3.1s would be the largest I would consider putting in there, but I would also worry about room interaction especially in the Bass region.
My Living Room has a large Chinese Rug, upholstered furniture, and cloth window treatment, so room reflections have never been a problem.
BTW, that's some serious toe-in on those 12s, unless it's just the way they were photographed.

MrBuhl

westmassguy wrote: »

BTW, that's some serious toe-in on those 12s, unless it's just the way they were photographed.

+1 on that toe-in, I was thinking the same thing. Looks like a lot of hard reflective surfaces in the room with the wainscoting and hard (wood) floors too. Would definitely benefit from some absorbing I'd think even if it was off axis.

Nightfall

Each speaker is pointed just outside the center point of the triangle. I tried less as well as no toe in and the less I tried from this point the less "vocals from direct center" I got as well as less imaging. No toe-in was the worst with a kind of "smeared" sound, couldn't really pin point where an image was coming from as well. I will try experimenting again this Monday or Tuesday though.

Perhaps I should get a larger area rug? Change these cheap window blinds with fabric?

I was checking these out too:

http://denver.craigslist.org/msg/5175264173.html

westmassguy

Sounds like a good deal on the acoustic panels.

jeremymarcinko

What is the source?

cnh

Looks like a LOT of wood surfaces in that room. Walls? Like Beadboard? My home office had walls like that. I lined it with 6' bookshelves, foam panels and an area rug. Sounds fine in there now!

Nightfall

jeremymarcinko wrote: »

What is the source?

Digital most of the time. FLAC on a USB stick plugged into the Aventage which uses a Burr Brown DAC.

cnh wrote: »

Looks like a LOT of wood surfaces in that room. Walls? Like Beadboard? My home office had walls like that. I lined it with 6' bookshelves, foam panels and an area rug. Sounds fine in there now!

That seems to be the general consensus. I was going to get a new IC and a couple PC's next but I think I'll make room treatment the priority. If the ones on Craigslist are still for sale next week I should be able to do it pretty cheap, 5 panels for $100. A larger area rug, that will probably be about $100 or so too.

dkfreebird

Can the room treatments change what size of room that is acceptable for certain series of sda's? I've been curious also about what size room is needed for different sda speakers.

PSOVLSK

And it's not just the size of the room, but also what all is in it. I had 1C's in my bedroom at one time and it was a mess. Room was about 15x18, but I had a queen sized bed, chest of drawers, dresser, two nightstands and an armoire. Not good.

Nightfall

PSOVLSK wrote: »

And it's not just the size of the room, but also what all is in it. I had 1C's in my bedroom at one time and it was a mess. Room was about 15x18, but I had a queen sized bed, chest of drawers, dresser, two nightstands and an armoire. Not good.

Luckily aside from the equipment itself all that's in the room that's significant is a wire dog kennel, which is mostly air, and a couch.

Joey_V

Room is key man... get the first reflections treated.

I went with GIK acoustics, decent price.

You will find that if you treat the room, it plays "bigger than it actually is".

leftwinger57

If those 12s fit then 2Bs would be a good SDA choice. Your room is really sparse and if your not going the hanging room treatment route then an area rug or 2 should work. My room is !8'x15' and my fronts are compromised by my front door and a closet and I still got my 2Bs to fit. My speakers shoot right into a poofy couch and fore mentioned area rugs and I get no reflective sound at all or at least I don't perceive any.