Does size matters?

wolfgang

wolfgang

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We seem to discuss a lot about the gears but probably the most expensive and important part is not often discussed. I am referring to the listening room. If you have a chance to choose another room again for your listening room, what would be the ideal listening room dimension? I believe most may go for a wider room to allow the loudspeakers to be place further from the boundaries and further into the room. Would the carpet floor be better then wooden laminate and what about wall material? Further more what about the ceiling height? It seems there is very few articles mentioned about the effects of ceiling height.

My living room dimension measurement is 16x12x9 feet (LWH). Would a high ceiling like Michealab photo of the 7V's demo room in Heathrow be desirable purely from acoustic point of view?
 
I would stick to golden ratio, 1 x 0,6 x 1,6

A little larger than I have now with current speakers, meters 5 x 3 x 8, even larger with bigger speakers... :MILD:
 
Acoustics is maybe the most important part of a music reproduction environment.
The size and form of the room is very important for every gear but I believe you cannot tell 'a priori' which will be the ideal room for a particular system.
I, for example, do not really think I have the ideal room, at least it doesn't correspond to the theory. I must say that the sound here is absolutely great (not only I think that) and I really don't see (hear) any acoustical problems.
Nevertheless I will very probably soon order a specialized company, who is directly connected to the swiss universities department of acoustic research, to verify my room and to give me suggestions to improve the acoustics here.

I am not in the mood to play around like an amateur in this field. I also prefer spending my time into listening to music rather than playing around with different materials like a baby and then be convinced, that I am an acoustic specialist. :rolleyes:
Of course the time will come when I test the suggestions this company will give me and of course I will try to look into the theory.

To answer more specificaly your question, I would imagine that a room of the size of 15m x 7m x 2.50 would be good for my system but only if it has good acoustical qualities. :rolleyes: (don't ask me what that means)
 
Originally posted by titian
I must say that the sound here is absolutely great ...
Click to expand...
Only until you hear something better...It's like visiting (f'instance) an optician: you think your eyesight is perfect, then the lens goes in....
 
oh yes Devil, I had in mind to write that, but forgot.
Well pointed out since I had that experience several times the last 12 months.
 
Lowrider, I was not sure what is the Golden Ratio, but found this article in B&W website which seems li ke a good introduction to the basic subject. link

Titian your room seems biggggg for UK standard house. The standard living room up north (which is the biggest room) is only 4x3m to 6x4m only. Maybe I need to start saving in order to look further up the price range.

Tenson, The forum seems very useful. Thanks.
 
The Golden Ratio is a very ancient formula for creating an ideal acoustic space. Basically the room width should be the height multiplied by 1.62, and the length should be the height x 2.62.

There is substance to this theory. the dimensions ensure an equal distribution of room modes throughout the audible range. Room modes don't have to be that bad, the real issue is double or triple modes. These occur when any two or three dimensions are divisable by each other. The cancellation of certain frequencies in the bass area often leads to a very anaemic sound along with probably one or two massive bass peaks. With triples ( say the room is 14'x14'x7') the nodes created by cancellations can be as large as -30 to -40db. In other words, no piece of kit will get around it.

So, starting with a good room, one that avoids double and triple modes, is a good starting point, meaning that you have the potential for great sound. There is however alot more to acheiving this than plonking your setup down and listening, and the final results will be greatly influenced by the absorbtion characteristics of all surfaces and furnishings, along with careful speaker placement and listening position . All of these are things you can tweak however, the room's dimensions might be harder. Try to find a room who's dimensions are not divisable by each other.

Just looked at the link, not a bad primer.

Speaker positioning is of course important. Take Titian's room. Given the dimensions, he should be getting something close to a double node at 24hz, and the same at 48hz etc. it's not quite a true double, as no two dimensions are the same, but the nodes across the width and length are close to each other.

Now the 48hz node will result in a cancellation at intervals of 1.875 m along the length of the room, so you will get a mode (orpeak) at 0.9375m out from the wall, and at 1.875m intervals. Given that you don't want to position the speaker's voice coil in either a mode or node, you should position them half way between the two. Do this for the lenght, width, and then the height if possible, and you should in theory avoid the worst of the room's effects.
 
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The 4 sided plan room [eg cuboid] is always a compromise since it has parallel faces.
You need an irregular pentagon plan room with mirror left/right symmetry. About 2m height diffusors and absorbers on the sloping roof and floor, and bobs ur uncle.
 
Originally posted by Graham C
The 4 sided plan room [eg cuboid] is always a compromise since it has parallel faces.
You need an irregular pentagon plan room with mirror left/right symmetry. About 2m height diffusors and absorbers on the sloping roof and floor, and bobs ur uncle.
Click to expand...

I suspect that Dr Who is your uncle with that space
 
Originally posted by The Devil
Only until you hear something better...It's like visiting (f'instance) an optician: you think your eyesight is perfect, then the lens goes in....
Click to expand...

Or much like hearing your system before and after mana? :mana:
 

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