Opinions on SRS 1.2

puunda

BobMcG wrote:

Congrates on the SDAs.

Boomy sound?

What are the dimensions of your listening room and what is the wall construction like? IE: wood stick, brick, solid, hollow, strong, weak etc.
This will make a big difference in the sound especially with speakers this size. Don't laugh, they could be too big and overwhelming for the room size and construction.

I have a room in my house that hates my SDAs (boomy) and another that works wonderfully with them.

I agree, the room/speaker interaction is the most important part of the system. My room's not a very good one, which is what I'll work on next. The actual room itlself is quite big, it's probably 15 ft x 18 ft. However, that's with kitchen and dinning. Kitchen and dinning take up 1/2 of that, so it's more like 15 x 12 which is usable for the hifi. So it's got a big room to fill, however placement is restricted. Hardwood floors, hollow dry (plaster) walls, no curtains (yet).

I'd like to keep the hardwood floors, os will be getting some big heavy curtains/drapes to see if that makes a difference. Will add some plants if I have to.

Tour2ma

I'd wait for the Mac before redecorating. The control it will add may alleviate much of the boominess.

Seems your room is very bright/ live, but not reading much that says "boomy". Is your room on an upper floor, or is it on a slab?

puunda

Tour2ma wrote:

I'd wait for the Mac before redecorating. The control it will add may alleviate much of the boominess.

Seems your room is very bright/ live, but not reading much that says "boomy". Is your room on an upper floor, or is it on a slab?

Not on upper floor, it's a single level home. Not on slab either. It's sitting on piles about 1 ft above the ground.

Tour2ma

The floor may be your issue. Are your feet telling you that it is vibrating?

puunda

Tour2ma wrote:

The floor may be your issue. Are your feet telling you that it is vibrating?

Yes it vibrates a lot. I know that carpet makes a huge difference. However I do like the hardwood floors. So I will have to find how to dampen the room other ways.

SCompRacer

Have you got the smooth feet installed in the base of the speaker or are they just sitting on the floor?

puunda

SCompRacer wrote:

Have you got the smooth feet installed in the base of the speaker or are they just sitting on the floor?

Yes the speakers has the smooth feet on them.

Tour2ma

I don't think it's a question of the feet, but it was a good question...

puunda wrote:

Yes it vibrates a lot. I know that carpet makes a huge difference.

Obviously your floor is acting as a sounding board. Can't think of a simple solution... carpet is not going to impact deep bass.

Stiffening the floor is the only thing that comes to mind. If your floor squeeks as you walk across it, then there are some areas where the sub-floor can be nailed down. Beyond that more supports may be needed.

But like I said earlier, wait for the return of the Mac before driving to the lumberyard...

puunda

Tour2ma wrote:

I don't think it's a question of the feet, but it was a good question...Obviously your floor is acting as a sounding board. Can't think of a simple solution... carpet is not going to impact deep bass.

Stiffening the floor is the only thing that comes to mind. If your floor squeeks as you walk across it, then there are some areas where the sub-floor can be nailed down. Beyond that more supports may be needed.

But like I said earlier, wait for the return of the Mac before driving to the lumberyard...

I've called the technician today (there are not McIntosh dealers here). And he's 'sick' of the thing. There's a strange fault where the 'limit' light comes on on 1 channel. He said he's changed everything there is relating to the light, and it still comes on. The amp itself is working fine i.e. it's not actually hitting it's limits, jus the light always comes on. Have asked McIntosh, all they could suggest is replacing the components he's already replaced. Asked on the McIntosh forum at AudioKarma.org - nothing either. Have posted to all the newsgroups, still nothing. I may have to take it back and live with the light coming on. The problem with that is, that if the WAS a problem, I'd never know about it! It's very sad. I will do another post to the newsgroups and hope I get something. Either way, I will probably get the amp back before xmas, with light fixed or not.

As far as the floor goes, it's about an inch thick nailed to joists. I had always though the room had bad acoustics because nothing was absorbing the sound, so I was going to get a lot of heavy curtains/blinds, and hang some rugs on the wall, and perhaps one between the speakers and where I sit. I have never thought it was because the floor was vibrating. If that's the case though, we're talking big money, and a lot of time! "She's a hard road getting the perfect system" I guess. Will get the Mc back and will see what happens.

Thanks

Tour2ma

Weird news about the Mac...

I bought a pair of Carver Amazings on ebay. I auditioned them at pick up in Florida, and was crestfallen... muddy/ boomy bass to say the least. Then I noticed how much vibration I was feeling from the floor of this 2nd floor HT room over the 3-car garage and took hope...

Many miles later on the slab in my 1st floor den, the bass was very well behaved...

With deep bass there's very little you can do. Rugs, curtains, etc. absorb mids and highs, but deep bass... not so much.