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Speakers and tile floors

Tin Bird

Tin Bird

Active Member
This may be a weird question, but my wife and I are thinking of replacing the floors in our home. We are considering using tile, but I am worried that having my speakers in a room w all tile will make them boomy, bright, and fatiguing due to the reflective nature of the tiles. My speakers are currently placed in a carpeted room. They are Wharfedale Denton speakers, so they are warm and full bodied...I am very happy w their sound as it stands now and I don't want to lose the magic. Is there anyone that can assuage my fears? Thanks!
 
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You're going to hear a difference...and chances are not for the better. But, everyone has different taste so you might find you actually like the additional "brightness" the acoustically reflective tile floor will contribute to the sonic character of your Dentons. There will be some physics at play that weren't before, and sonic reflections that come from the tile floor that weren't happeing with the carpet will have an adverse effect on several components of fidelity including sound stage and image resolution...but you can be getting that from the sidewalls and ceiling already and the addition of the floor as a reflective surface may not spoil something much more than it already is. But if you want to try to keep the playing field between the room with carpet and room with tile, I'd suggest a large rug/carpet (the thicker the better) covering as much area between the listening position and the speakers as you can accommodate.
 
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This is a great topic, and let me start by saying I often cringe when I see pics of these home audio installations with tile floors, smooth drywall on walls/ceilings, sliding glass doors, and almost no absorptive surfaces. Bookshelves, upholstered furniture, and other interior decor objects are very effective at providing sources of sound diffusion and/or absorption. Also, there are many other building materials for walls and ceilings that are not reflective gypsum board, so there are always opportunities for creating more absorptive surfaces that do not include the floor.

I am unfamiliar with W-Dale Dentons, but this is a case where a speaker model with a tweeter attenuation control would be most useful to have the potential to adjust to varying room conditions. All that said, I have a strong preference for rooms that are a bit "softer", acoustically, as opposed to the hard, reflective conditions that a tile floor would help to create.
 
Tin Bird said:
I do not like bright at all, so your thoughts pretty much confirm what I feared. No tile for me. Thanks guys!
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I've got tile floors in the house, and I love them. I've run my Ohm F's and Infinity RS 2.5's, and we've only got one throw rug on the floor which is really for the coffee table more than the speakers.

Yes, the highs are brighter. But the bass and mids are also more reflective. I don't find either of these too bright at all, and I'm running all controls on their flat settings. For what it's worth, the F's aren't a very bright speaker to begin with, so the reflectiveness of the tile floors might actually work in their favor.

If you've got a garage with concrete floors, or an unfinished basement, you might try setting up your speakers there and trying them out. I don't think they necessarily have to sound bad.

bs
 
Thanks. Great advice. Good ideas. Keep the thoughts coming please.... So far I am simply leaning towards replacing the carpet w new carpet. Old school for sure, but nice on my ears....
 
Tin Bird said:
Thanks. Great advice. Good ideas. Keep the thoughts coming please.... So far I am simply leaning towards replacing the carpet w new carpet. Old school for sure, but nice on my ears....
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If you replace the carpet with carpet try not to be home when they are replacing it. You'll be so disgusted with all the dirt you'll wish you had tile put down :deal:
 
Tile it and throw a nice rug on top.

I have old hard vinyl tiles in my office and did that. No issues at all.

Eric
 
My last house had tile floors in the living room, it wasn't a problem so long as I had a decent size rug in front of the speakers. As a matter of fact it was one of the best rooms I've had for listening, more though because of the size.


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Yep...just like the others are saying, a hard, reflective floor surface does not condemn you to crap-fi. The important thing is eliminate the reflections between the listenin position(s) and the speakers (with a rug). That alone will nullify pretty much all the adverse effects of going from carpet to tile. But there's something else that should be addressed...if you have a coffee table between the listening spot and the speakers all of this talk about tile floors becomes a moot point anyway because the hard, reflective surface of the coffee table is already creating the same acoustic scenario that going to bare tile will.
 
I think what is possibly just as important or more important are the other room treatments and the size of the room. So what is the ht., length, width, of the room? Are there curtains, wall hanging, padded sofas and chairs? I can assure you that if you put my room treatments in your room it would seem dead provided it's less that 34'x14'x8' no matter what your floor is.
 
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Lux Man said:
Have any of you genius's looked up what these speakers are? They are book-shelf speakers most likely on pedestals. Consequently the floor made have some effect but not as much as you might think. What's really important are the other room treatments and the size of the room. So what is the ht., length, width, of the room? Are there curtains, wall hanging, padded sofas and chairs? I can assure you that if you put my room treatments in your room it would seem dead provided it's less that 34'x14'x8' no matter what your floor is.

(Dang I must not have taken my happy pill today.)
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Well, that opening line was kind of unnecessary. I think you could have gotten your point across without insulting all of us who are just trying to help the guy.

"All audio, no attitude".

:thumbsdown:

bs
 
I just think that before I share my opinion it would be valuable to learn as much as I can, especially the pertinent facts.
 
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Why would bookshelves be less of a concern for sound reflection than floor standers? I'm honestly asking, not poking. I'm especially not a genius.

Ok, that last part was poking...

Dan
 
They wouldn't. Bookshelf, floor stander...doesn't matter...they still disperse sonic content to the floor...unless they're a line source design. Only a line source would have no dispersion in the vertical plane (which makes reflections off the floor or ceiling a non issue). And since the floor (or coffee table) is usually the closest boundary layer between the speaker/listener vector, it most certainly becomes a concern wrt early reflections.
 
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Oh - I am no genius either but I think it does matter where a speaker is located and what we perceive to hear with our ears.
 
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Hard wood floors, one rug, some velveteen curtains surround the picture windows and a couple pieces of furniture. Others have commented on how acoustically nice this room is, whereas no one thinks twice about my wall to wall carpet, low acoustical ceiling, microfiber furniture home theater room.
Tile it and give your wife carte blanche with the fabrics (rugs, curtains, artwork).

Believe it or not, it actually sounds different (better) with that pocket door open.

ListeningSpace.JPG
 
The OP asked if going from a carpeted room to tiled would make a sonic difference. The answer is hell yes.
Doesn't matter what speakers he has or what the room looks like, tile will make a difference.
Maybe the question should be how much.
 
Lux Man said:
Oh - I am no genius either but I think it does matter where a speaker is located and what we perceive to hear with our ears. My bigger point was virtually no questions were asked about the other things that would significantly and possibly more greatly impact the acoustics of the room.
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Still doesn't warrant insulting everybody who's trying to help.

bs
 
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