What's wrong with this picture?

[pete1729]

I'm shifting equipment around as I'm getting ready for this summer's projects. This particular arrangement had some weird response characteristics.

 

[ChristopherP]

Crossing the streams. Hmm. Was the force enhanced? love the dual, marantz set.

 

[egellings]

Are those Klipsch speakers?

 

[Hoytis]

Define "weird".

 

[pete1729]

Are those Klipsch speakers?

They're Speakerlab clones

 

[pete1729]

Define "weird".

Not so much weird, actually sort of predictable. A noticeable hump around 500 hz.

 

[Hoytis]

Personally, I wouldn't have the TT out front of the speakers or on something susceptible to vibrations like a cooler. Was that the setup previously, before moving equipment?

 

[tourmax]

move the turntable up onto the basement ledge (behind the speakers) temporarily and see if it changes. or move it up on top of the receiver, just for testing purposes.

Or even just drop it down to the hard floor and see what happens....

 

[revox-b77]

Don't bump the tonearm while getting your beer.

 

[vas]

Position 1 = Need suitable legs/spikes under the speakers
Position 2 = Not a suitable turntable stand and ... the position too

 

[Enophile]

Room's too big.

 

[yustr]

The glare from the window will mess up the low frequency response.

 

[sound hound]

Speakers are too big for the area, IMO. How about at least moving them out from the corners to see if bass evens out a bit? How long are you going to need to have the speakers in this room?

 

[dankik]

That room has no sound dampening material at all (carpet or throw rug, drapes, furniture) to control reflections and standing waves. I don't know what the 4th wall looks like, but if it's like the others the room is a big echo chamber (ceiling included). Depending on the frequency and positioning of the speakers the sound from the speakers will create nodes where certain frequencies will add or subtract to either amplify or reduce those frequencies. Having the speakers in the corner will amplify the bass frequencies as a corner has two walls to reflect on (unless the speakers are designed to be placed in a corner like some Klipsch's). No matter how you position those speakers you will have the same issues. You need to add a throw rug, some cloth curtains and a cushy sofa or lounge chair to break up the reflections.

 

[pete1729]

The amp and TT were set up there to test some other speakers. I was running the SpeakerLab KHorns with another amp that seemed like it had a weak channel. So just to make sure that it was the amp that had a weak channel, I ran the Fisher and the Dual into the big speakers.

The real culprit here is the cooler. It's an acoustic spring. I put my hand on it and it was humming along with the music.

I have it set up differently now.

 

[pete1729]

One of the surprising things, to me at least, is how good the Dual /M95ed combo sounds. The TT in the second picture is an SL1200 with an Empire 2002. Even feeding back, the Dual/Shure was a little more satisfying.

 

[Buck Rogers]

"This is the way"

Always place front end gear off to the side and leave the space between the speakers open to let the music breathe. Like this...

PS: I don't believe in the whole "Speakers too big for the room" This system is simply unreal in it's breath & depth of image.

 

[pete1729]

That room has no sound dampening material at all (carpet or throw rug, drapes, furniture) to control reflections and standing waves. I don't know what the 4th wall looks like, but if it's like the others the room is a big echo chamber (ceiling included). Depending on the frequency and positioning of the speakers the sound from the speakers will create nodes where certain frequencies will add or subtract to either amplify or reduce those frequencies. Having the speakers in the corner will amplify the bass frequencies as a corner has two walls to reflect on (unless the speakers are designed to be placed in a corner like some Klipsch's). No matter how you position those speakers you will have the same issues. You need to add a throw rug, some cloth curtains and a cushy sofa or lounge chair to break up the reflections.

These are Klipsch clones, made by SpeakerLab with effectively the same components, so they are intended to acoustically couple with the walls. They actually do a pretty nice job and sound good when the turntable is not sitting between them.

The floor is way too live, you're right about that. The room is pretty well furnished, though.

 

[pete1729]

Speakers too big for the room

I had a pair of XRT-20's and an MC-2205 is a 9x12 room.

 

[pete1729]

One of my points in posting this was that I was reminded of the fact that good equipment can sound bad in the wrong environment.