The GREATEST Audiophile Upgrade, Period!

[@cheapaudioman]

I love popping things

[@jeffjefferson7384]

Once you pop, you can't stop (measuring the echo delay)

[@rikardekvall3433]

As the virgin said the first time 🤣

[@filmses]

You guys are funny 😂😂😂🥰

[@yuckysamson]

I love pooping things.

[@seanb3303]

Randy can you please unblock me from your channel I promise i will be gooder

[@wiebl5266]

A great video... Wow! I know that acoustic treatment and spatial arrangement makes a whole world of difference. But with your demo, it is impactful! Thank YOU.

[@hoth2112]

I'm in the process of making acoustic absorption panels for my apartment, and having watched a lot of videos from Jesco at Acoustics Insider, I knew I was going to need more than a couple thin, foam panels slapped on the walls to make any worthwhile difference, so I've got 12 of these 5.5" suckers to finish building. And I'm excited to hear the difference it makes, and move them around the room until I get the best sounds possible. I'll start looking at diffusion once I get a feel for how things sound and what I feel may be lacking with absorption alone. I'm excited to see how your new space continues to evolve going forward! Keep up the great work Ron! 👏👏

[@mikewiley3057]

maybe your best one yet! the room defines the sound is something most of us learn late in our journeys. I'd love to see your REW measurements before and after treatment

[@martinmullen71]

Once again thank you for your no bullshit videos, explained very clearly for a person that’s just getting back into hi-fi, and your fantastic examples ! Of a untreated and a treated room, it’s much appreciated.

[@Antibackgroundnoise]

Aww mate that a very enjoyable video, not only did you explain the power of acoustic treatment but you were thoughtful enough to give us a demonstration. 👍

[@bryanjones9952]

I like the fact that you take the time to give us real listening examples in your videos. Your time to set this up is appreciated!

[@Newrecordday2013]

Hey thanks!

[@jeffjefferson7384]

Your point on some diffusers being able to make a room 'sound' larger is fascinating and also followed by Anthony Grimani. He did an amazing lecture series on Audioholics last year I think everyone should check out.

[@C--A]

I've been watching Anthony Grimani videos for years. Long before he became a guest on Audioholics.

[@egis7908]

THANK YOU, Ron. This video confirms my reasons for delaying spending over 5K on replacement speakers until I properly measure and treat the room. I have terrific equipment (Hegel H390, Bluesound streamer, Monitor Audio Gold speakers, CD, etc.,). Speaker SQ is only so-so from 3k speakers backed by the Hegel amp. Your advice offered in this video is so very much appreciated.

[@laurelhardy4064]

As Ron said, don't bother with these normal panels if you want to treat the low frequencies in your room, after 40 years of trying many different things for treating the low frequencies, I ended up with the simple Schiit Loki eq, it transformed the sound of my system, and don't think just because the Loki costs $150 you can't use it with your high-end system, there's no ONE correct setup, every recording is different thus the need for different equalization, thanks for the video Ron.

[@hughcrozier6956]

ive had a decent (second hand) stereo setup for a couple of years, and no EQ at all since moving from integrated to single ended valve monoblocks and a vintage pre, and dya know what, i hardly ever miss it. every recording is different, and they all sound different and they generally sound good, aaaaand apart from sometimes where the highs getting a bit peaky and wishing i could roll the treble off a little, i don't find there are problems, in most recordings, that i think i could do a good job of fixing with EQ. my speakers are admittedly a bit silly for my room, most people don't have massive 15" JBL monitors in their lounge but they pair really well with ~5W of tubes, and hey i like bass music, and with these there's a goodly amount at normal listening volumes. sometimes it's nice to turn it up and the bass did get overbearing in some tracks, so i've been on my own journey of managing bass and basically, it seems to be about mass loading. there are better and worse ways of doing it, patterns that are more likely to reduce bass, but essentially there are about 30 terracotta tubes and 8 concrete tiles along with 8 bits of polystyrene and some gym mat rubber, all in my lounge, hidden in certain specific ways, and it not only sounds better in the lounge (at all volumes, it really helps the wave stop, and you have an actual end to bass notes) but i can turn it up and stand in the kitchen and not think 'jesus, that bass is just a bit silly through this wall' so yeah, skip the standard panels designed for reflective surfaces, but i think there's piles that can be done that isn't EQ when it comes to bass

[@rainman3269]

Ron ... The channel goes from strength to strength ... Always look forward to another video ... 😎 🎸

[@ScottsLifeOffGrid]

Interesting discussion and great examples. I noted the companies you mentioned, the question "are acoustic treatments necessary and meaningful?" was creatively answered. I can see where this video could easily turn into a 5 part series.

[@robh9079]

great vid. styrofoam panels can be painted using a 'styro' spray paint that is foam safe. anything else may result in a pile of gloop on the floor.

[@lloydfirchau6100]

I'm so glad you mentioned this issue about the bass traps and bass frequencies - the bass frequencies that bass traps are effective at are typically much higher in the audio spectrum, usually frequencies below 100hz are barely touched by bass traps. They're called "bass traps" - but not "sub-bass traps". I've found my bass traps are super effective in the 100hz - 300hz range (approx.), and below about 100hz they become less effective; below 80hz their effect is pretty much nil.

[@richh650]

Excellent intelligent video Randy! This should be a must watch for everyone in this hobby!

[@assafrutenberg]

Thank you for treating the audience like adults. Your videos are both informative and entertaining without condescension. Such a nice change.

[@rofgabor]

a little condescension is funny and a must in the audiophile community. we are all pricks

[@seanb3303]

Agree on painting or sealing the foam diffusers. They will still absorb mids but will reflect treble energy.

[@milkman100001]

ive just started to line my listening room with acoustic panels ,bass traps and scatter panels. what a massive difference.ive spent just over a grand at moment and its upgraded the sound by 30 -40% panels are the best thing to upgrade your sound. you are correct. people always go for the other things first.ive just learned ive been doing it wrong.

[@jon4715]

I would go so far as to say, depending on the room of course, that hifi without any room treatment is completely pointless. Thankfully, furniture, artwork, rugs, and curtains, can greatly correct this.

[@blue6point62]

Great video! I like the look on friends faces when I tell them the room can make a bigger difference than the brand of speaker. Cheap speakers can sound amazing in a good room and most commonly great speakers can sound terrible in a poor acoustics room.

[@dsnyder0cnn]

One of your best videos. Well done!

[@Redstickler1000]

No surprises I guess for most people watching, but what a great demonstration that really hits home. My room is untreated (mainly because I'm temporarily renting in Switzerland (for the last 12 years 🙂) so did not want to make holes in walls etc. My room is not exactly a disaster but I`ve always thought about how much better it would sound with treatment. I am moving back to UK in 2024 and will definitely treat my next room. Thanks again.

[@Elnufo]

Make some impulse responses for us music producers from that room before putting treatment in, that reverb sounds amazing!

[@fieldcar]

Just use the bag noise from the intro. That's all the impulses are anyway. They usually just use snap blocks or a marathon gun to generate the impulse.

[@20CycleMonger]

Good reverb for guitar is bad for music REPRODUCTION. You don't want the same room reverb added to every record ! (((🎶🎶🎶🤪🎶🎶🎶)))

[@riccitone]

Can’t tell you just how timely this is, as I’m trying to dial in my little space atm. These are all the considerations I’ve found here and there. But you’ve managed to clear up so much of the confusion, misconceptions and double standards right here in this one very helpful vid. I can now move forward with confidence! 🙏🏼

[@JohnScheppler]

Great video, and hearing the change of the sound in the room is impressive even if you're not done yet. Ron, you may want to think about planting ferns 🪴?

[@falconquest2068]

Or other green plants that may make the listening experience more enjoyable! 😁

[@bobsmoot8454]

Wise advice on room treatment, especially differentiated between lower frequencies vs higher notes. Obviously speaking in the untreated space was crap but the guitar took on a spaciousness, thanks to delay and reverb, that enhanced the sound IMHO, you still had the initial attack clearly presented with the reflections coming back into the mic to add the the vibrancy of the sound, it helped it wasn’t a complex song being played thus allowing an almost a NY sound at the Macey. I have to admit, you are straits the real essence of music enjoyment, thanks

[@DodgyBrothersEngineering]

That is a slippery slope to stand on. While a single acoustic guitar can arguably sound better, once you throw a few more instruments in there, and the sounds start to smear each other, I bet it wouldn't be as pleasant.

[@charleslawson1671]

I have 16 of those GIK diffuser/absorbers that you show in your video on my front and back walls. 16x25 room with speakers on the long wall. 9 foot ceiling. Soundfield is huge with bass impact felt in your chest when on the recording. No subs. The GIKs do a great job compared to without.

[@adamfrost9048]

Great demonstration, thanks!

[@ridingdreamer]

Nice video. Treating my room in a small scale was one of the best things I did. That being said, some people over do it. You also need to keep some liveliness of the room.

[@obscurazone]

The most underrated comment on this entire thread. I couldn't agree more, and personally really hate complete flat dead sounding spaces - I find them so unnerving and I actually want sound to travel in a space as it would naturally, reflecting the space (pun intended). Ok I don't want tons of echo and booming bass, but I personally live in a single room apartment that is absolutely cavernous (with mezzanine levels) so I don't want my music to sound like I am sat in a shoebox either. A better way to describe it; if I went and saw a live choral performance in a church, a huge part of that experience is feeling and hearing the environment. If I took a recording and intentionally captured the room acoustics of that Church in the recording, it would be very strange to then play it on my system at home if my space was treated in such a way that is sucking the energy out of the air! I want the recording to breathe into the space and sparkle, as close to that original church experience as possible. Of course, unless you only ever listen to one genre, getting the "perfect" room setup is going to be very hard for all music, which is why your comment is important. Do NOT go over the top with treatment! You will kill sound. (end note - one for the purists ha!... EQ is also not your enemy. Use it!)

[@AVRoomService]

Great video Ron!

[@heifetz14]

you laid down a sick groove on that axe. nice video.thanks

[@EgonB325]

When I first moved into the new appartment, my trusted hifi set sounded terrible: reverb, echo. Then I moved the furniture and unpacked my stuff. It sounded great!!

[@darrellross8609]

I am SO Lucky, Blessed, My 7.1 is in our family room. Most of your speaker and seating [suggestions ?] are in play. It's pretty kick @ss.

[@mjstealey9100]

Guitar in the untreated room is so reminiscent of church guitar! Sunday acoustics on a Saturday... I'll take it!

[@engulfaudioable]

We purchased ours at engulfaudio and what a difference!! It should be the first thing you do. We used the clap method

[@dell177]

Your room is often the most important element on good sound.

[@sean_heisler]

Great video, Ron. Can't wait to see how your room ends up with all the treatment you have planned. The timing of this, I have been planning DIY polycylindrical diffuser panels all week long and am headed to Home Depot today to get everything. Can't wait to hear what they do!

[@Newrecordday2013]

Send me your plans, I’m curious what you are cooking up as I am still contemplating diffusers.

[@sean_heisler]

@@Newrecordday2013 Will do, Ron. As you are well aware, treatments are not cheap and so I'm going DIY again (I have several absorption panels I built). Quadratic diffusers are probably the king but they are very time consuming to make and expensive to buy. So, I'm going polydiffuser (or polycylindrical diffuser, technically) which are very easy and cheap to make. I'll send you my plans and some pics of the build. listening impressions as well as my room and setup!

[@marchunter9679]

Would love to see what you’re doing also.

[@chrishenderson420]

Can't wait to see the finished product! Can confirm it is the most important upgrade of all. A great room can make bad speakers sound good, and vice versa a bad room can make great speakers sound terrible.

[@MrTabacon]

Fun bonus for those with small listening rooms... generally they take less treatment to have a larger impact.

[@greganderson1681]

Just watched this again. Really good rundown on the various types and benefits of these things. I’m a DIY guy and I’m gathering intel on what I need to do and make. I liked Mr Robinson’s elegant and elaborate treatment and might do something like that in the living room. But I’m gonna go bat sh!t mad scientist crazy in the main listening room and keep going until things are pure zen near-perfect. I’m sure I’ll watch this again, cuz 3rd time’s the charm. Thanks!

[@carlbrown3634]

Great video Ron! Thanks for sharing!

[@martybousum1010]

I use cork squares. They work great. Especially for bass boom. Inexpensive also.

[@timothycooley2455]

ok,lead us on the next step to improve our rooms sound,thanks!!!

[@histubeness]

This was quite informative, but, for perspective, you also should have given the dimensions of the room, and a full pan-around view of it.

[@Ken-wp2fr]

Although I don’t agree with all the acoustic treatment choices you have made, I really appreciate you sharing this journey with us

[@Newrecordday2013]

Thanks

[@wtcwtc9861]

Great info Ron.Thanks!

[@tallpaull9367]

Yes! and make sure to run dedicated 10awg wire circuits to your amps and gear.

[@Newrecordday2013]

I’ll be running a dedicated meter to the room, I got this!

[@tallpaull9367]

@@Newrecordday2013 Try to get copper feed lines from transformer to panel if you can too. Copper bus bar panel too.

[@tallpaull9367]

@@Newrecordday2013 More tips/ideas: -Hospital Grade or better receptacles -All dedicated (120V) circuits connected to same same phase in panel -Balance the power in panel so both phases are carrying a similar load best you can -Copper bus bar electrical panel -Copper feed line from transformer -Neutral connected as close to feed Neutral as possible in panel -Clean all AC connections with Deoxit -McMaster-Carr silver paste on AC connections -check resistance on House Grounding rods (aim for below 5 ohm) -Thermo-Weld grounding wire to rods for best ground and long term reliability

[@tallpaull9367]

I just watched Acoustic Fields (youtube channel) video on carbon absorbers, thought it would interest you.

[@Big-J-8579]

The nice thing for me is that I have a great sounding listening space already. The only negative is the AC/Heating noise from the furnace/AC unit. I can live with that when it is on.

[@Silver_Surfer_1]

Make a room sound larger is a great idea, but you need to expand on that. I have a basement room that I am finishing 12 X 26 ft. I have full plans on sound treatment as I plan to build a pair of LS 6 speakers in the future. I'm bidding my time to learn what I need to get it right....

[@pauldias234]

Another excellent vid!

[@DrMasonStorm]

Your guitar playing is excellent!

[@Newrecordday2013]

Hey thanks!

[@baruchdor]

great and inportant info! good job men!!!

[@johngreek]

Great as always! .. room treatment is the first important thing of All

[@enricolisk1357]

Very well explained. Thanks a lot.

[@TheMikaeler]

When I have nothing to add regarding what you say, then you, sir, are spot on. I hope people really listen and learn!!! Also, an audiophiles super high-end, super expensive equipment will sound much worse in an un-treated room than "standard/normal" sound equipment in a treated room. But do audiophile and some common people understand this simple logic? NO!!!

[@davidcross890]

I understand You are constructing your new listening room...no doubt it will be 👍 Great. Kudos. If any serious audio person has a listening room that has even remotely the levels of frequency/time chaotic reverberation that I heard in your video they may want to go to their doc to consider seriously upping their meds.

[@cdunphy457]

excellent vid thanks for the effort and you be blessed

[@idray986]

I really hope KEF is sending you a pair of Blade Metas for your first formal review in this room🤞🤞🤞🤞

[@daverombouts2116]

Thanks man, yes gitar sounded cool.

[@juhapeltola8232]

Finally someone who understand that you need really thick panels to achieve a kind of full range absorbtion. At least 4inch and above. I don't think that even 4 inch wool panels reach midbass region

[@jaismohamad1497]

I use thick curtains and carpet. The room sounds dead. No echo or anything. When the music is on its just the music.

[@joshuabrain9751]

Been battling with Speakers too large for my room for a while now. Treatments are not an option where I currently am so instead of buying a new DAC, I’ve dramatically downsized my speakers. Have ordered the Monitor Audio Platinum 100 3G and the 2G stands. Should have them by January can’t wait.

[@ericharrelson32]

Nice demo', Ron.

[@thewaygokid3135]

Yup. Sounds like my pole barn. I have work to do

[@DodgyBrothersEngineering]

I wish you had made this video when my elderly mother was still alive. She had a hereditary bone disorder in her ears that meant the bones in her ears had to be replaced by stainless steel wire at an early age (40's). This limited the frequency in what she could hear quite dramatically. She wasn't really deaf as such, just very limited in what she could hear. Her modern open plan house had a nasty echo with the tile floors and reflective surfaces. I tried to explain to her that it wasn't me that was mumbling it was the room that made it hard for her to hear. I took her into another room where there was carpet and showed her how much better she could hear in that room. This video is a great and dramatic example of the before and after difference, and I bet this would have illustrated my point far better.

[@lifeevent88]

Much respect to you and your Mother x

[@felinthorn4977]

I can acheive the same if not better results by decorating the room with carpet, overstuffed furniture, bookcases, media storage, wall art etc. The WAF is off the charts especially if you involve them in style/color etc. Accoustic panels are only ever needed in an unfurnished space. Save your money and do something that has visual appeal, comfort & practicality!

[@nikolaypetrov2554]

Maan, those guitar riffs sounded very good in the untreated space.

[@6StringPassion.]

On a related subject, having been in an anechoic chamber it felt as if something was covering my ears. Kinda creepy. My brain couldn't process the total absence of ambient sound.

[@rikardekvall3433]

Great video on a super important topic. By the way, your diffuser on your face, are growing. Have you tuned it yet?😉😀

[@genkifd]

cant wait till your listen space is finished. I just dont understand how some people just dont think room treatment is necessary / important

[@imosolar]

Great KZbin channel

[@andreasenstrom7911]

Would room treatment matter less when listening close to the speakers/nearfield?

[@DearSX]

Great video!

[@mudibluz2006]

hmmm so are you telling me i should not use room treatment if i want the dynamic sound and nice reverb like in the guitar/ packing air bubble?

[@rikardekvall3433]

Ron. Listening you popping the package material. A lot of echo and reverb. And still this with spray foamed walls! Are the foam hard? How did it sound before the spray foam? I-95 at rush hour?

[@Newrecordday2013]

It’s closed cell foam and pretty stiff. It sounded a million times more echoey before the foam - it was almost disturbing being in there.

[@JonPrintzian]

That’s beard is all the acoustic treatment a room needs 🙃

[@toecutterjenkins]

When i have open baffle speakers hooked up to my HT television. I can hear the room of the content im watching if the actors are in a hall or a basement its sounds different. It's very obvious with youtubers that dont have treatment to a point where it's hard to listen to.

[@hoth2112]

I can't watch some interviews podcast that are all or partly in completely untreated rooms. I hear more of the reverb than I do of the person speaking & it makes it impossible to listen to..

[@toecutterjenkins]

@Hobbsmeerkat my non OB speakers are encores. It's not great but better . But with OB wow its distracting

[@rothgartheviking858]

I bet that beard is good bass trap. Impressive! Great video thank you.

[@pkats9093]

I think we need a sing-along with Ron video!

[@Bradimus1]

I'm actually just starting to work on this now as my home theater is a terrible setup thanks to the previous home owner.

[@Old_Sailor85]

You can also screw up a decent room by overdoing room treatment. I know, I did it myself. Really screwed up the sound stage with too much absorption. I had to go back and add reflective surfaces.

[@neo-jy8xl]

You can make the mistake of adding too much thin absorption, which means you are absorbing only the high frequencies. It’s basically impossible to accidentally make your room dead by mistake, if you use proper broadband absorption, with 4" to 6" panels.

[@vtkz]

Its not overdoing, you just use wrong materials at the wrong places. A good room need first an Measurment & Analysis, an Concept, and than choose the correct Materials, thats what a lot of people dont understand. Just because you buy 10 overpriced Absorbers & Diffusors from for example GIK. doesnt mean you solve the problems. There is a reason that we have acoustic engineers.

[@budgetaudiophilelife-long5461]

THANK YOU RON AND RANDY , WE DEFINITELY 💯 HEAR 👂 THE DIFFERENCE AND THE TRUTH BE TOLD 😅I LOVE ❤️ REVERB….DOES THIS MEAN THAT I AM NOT AN AUDIOPHILE 😳 😂…O WELL I WILL JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH THAT 💚💚💚

[@Silver_Surfer_1]

Please tell. how to make a room sound larger?

[@Newrecordday2013]

Hey Mike, it will take some experimenting but try diffusion on the first and second reflection points and behind you. That would be the places to start…

[@truman4956]

That beard is a diffuser and an absorber!

[@dendenovich8366]

link diffuser?

[@xsamitt]

You are the Man!!!!!

[@Newrecordday2013]

You are!

[@MacStoker]

I reckon my best component is my 'small' room with a low ceiling...

[@vtkz]

nope the worst, smaller room = bigger acoustic problems

[@engulfaudioable]

9:30 I thought I was at the airport

[@reydelanada]

And thats why if you want to record yourself with your acoustic guitar, your small all reflective bathroom is a great place to start 🙌😻🤣

[@ripjones5294]

What are the walls currently covered with ? It is not sheetrock, but appears to be some kind of sprayfoam or something similar. I'm also assuming a concrete floor...Thanks. Very informative.

[@Newrecordday2013]

2” of closed cell foam. Had no real meaningful benefits to acoustics but since I’m building a room inside this, it won’t matter. For thermal, foam is excellent!

[@ripjones5294]

@@Newrecordday2013 -- If spray foam is don right, it is really good, but if it is done wrong, it is VERY BAD. That is what it looked like.

[@Newrecordday2013]

@@ripjones5294 yeah they did a good job on mine.

[@stevedawson5844]

Nice video! You've also highlighted how a great 'performance space' isn't necessarily ideal for reproducing recorded music. Check out The Tank Center for Sonic Arts.

[@davidcross890]

Once the room is tamed acoustically, I am curious what level of power you intend to use to power your setups?

[@bakeone4406]

Guessing that just having a very dead (absolutely no perceptible echo when clapping) room is not all you want to aim for in a listening room. I have a very dead small room and often hear harshness in middle and upper frequencies. Pretty sure this is largely due to wall or ceiling interactions in the room since this tendency toward abrasiveness has existed through several component changes. The walls of the room are pretty much covered w/ CD racks floor to ceiling, (about 10,000 of em') and since the room is small, putting up good wood diffusion panels could be untenable. Like a lot of viewers, I'd kill to have Ron drop by and provide an Rx to see what might help.

[@TheJohnniegolden]

I hate looking at too many pillows on my made bed that my lover enjoys. She says they please her to look at. I have decided that recording voice in the bedroom sounds better in the bedroom than the office. Maybe I'll nap in the office with 14 unnecessary decorative pillows and tube mics ;-)

[@rickmackay4758]

GREAT Videos. Bass traps. Salesman never mention this OR poo hoo it. but. Fiberglass in the original bale, DON"T OPEN IT ! Wrap it up in some nice material and put it in the corners. It's a reasonable mid way solution.

[@nervouscough7115]

Several months ago you said in a video response to a live viewer’s question that there was an SVS Ultra Tower review in the works. Gotta assume the review was actually performed but the results were terrible therefore not published. Assumptions are never fun but it is what it is.

[@Newrecordday2013]

Nope, I just haven’t gotten to that review yet.

[@nervouscough7115]

@@Newrecordday2013 oh shoot, please accept my apologies. I eagerly await what you have to say. Carry on, fine gentleman!

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

I'm not sure I get it Ron. Do people listen in untreated spaces or carpeted rooms/ rooms w rugs & upholstered furniture ? The echo chamber of this empty room is hardly what people will experience at home, right ? Will you be at CAF ?

[@Newrecordday2013]

Yeah I think you missed the point on this one but it’s understandable. Of course I don’t expect or assume folks are listening in environments such as this. The purpose and point of this video was to show and extreme example of what acoustic treatment can do. As I finish out the room and it’s closer to what most rooms might sound like, I’ll circle back around on the topic and do a similar video. No, I won’t be at CAF.

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

@@Newrecordday2013 Got it. Its crazy how well these things work, huh ? Sorry I won't see you at the show. Perhaps another one. Kudos on the new listening room ! 👏 #ocdhifiguy

[@C--A]

@@OCDHIFiGuy To be fair quite a lot of living rooms are minimal with laminate flooring these days. Or open concept wooden floored combined kitchen living rooms. Not the ideal places to get good sound quality.

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

@@C--A for sure. Most have furniture and drapes... I was just wondering about the empty room thing as nothing is more reflective than a hard surface empty room.

[@vtkz]

The problem is most Hifi People are not into Acoustics. They instead buy new gear and think they bringt their system on a new level wich is nonsense. Phsyics are Physics and when you slammin a big tower in your small room, its impossible to control the lowend. And there are too much not workin Acoustics on the Market, a 10cm Panel doenst do anything to the Bass. But the Brands are smart and mark their product more as Design Product. Go to an Acoustic Engineer, first measure and than make an complete room concept maybe even with an Double Bass Array for an even Bass respone through the room (every 1k spend in Acoustics is way better than any money into new gear, get the room correct first)…. But hey, nearly no one does it because its easyier to switch Amps, Speakers and think you ,,upgrade,, but a uncontrolled Listening Space, stays uncontrolled The problem is most Hifi People are not into Acoustics. They instead buy new gear and think they bring their system on a new level

[@kevingest5452]

Cool, I'd like to see similar demonstrations where the room doesn't start as an empty echo chamber, like a normal living room with a big sectional couch, an area rug, maybe a lazy-boy, curtains on the windows and a few Dogs laying on the floor in random locations. I believe you that an empty room is acoustically honorable. I have doubts that acoustic treatment is a worthy investment, or if there is much room for improvement when a space has decent acoustics to begin with.

[@neo-jy8xl]

Rugs are most often stiff, so they are actually reflective. Except for a few thick and layered curtains, most are acoustically transparent. Couches are probably your best bet to help your acoustics, but are rarely dense enough, and if covered in leather or a similar material, they are actually reflective. So no, furniture and stuff might get your room from tremendously horrendous to just horrendous, but will never double act as acoustic treatment.

[@kevingest5452]

@@neo-jy8xl Anyone who has ever moved houses or apartments has noticed how much echo there is when rooms are empty. It gets better after you move all of your stuff in. My point was that it's easy to show how acoustic treatments improve an empty room, why not do a demonstration of a room that already has stuff in it like most of the rooms where people are listing to their systems.

[@neo-jy8xl]

@@kevingest5452 Darko did just that recently. The difference is still very noticeable. Won't link the video since I don't know the etiquette about linking to competition or whatever. You have to think about this, though: for effective treatment you need absorption; for effective absorption you need density; in today's cost-effective world it's unlikely furniture and other stuff will have any meaningful density. So yes, getting stuff in a room will help it not sound empty, but speakers pushing 20Hz-20KHz at 85dB will be largely unaffected by items in your room, in terms of decreasing their energy (which is what acoustic treatment does).

[@Newrecordday2013]

You can link darkos video, that’s totally fine.

[@neo-jy8xl]

@@Newrecordday2013 Thank you. This is Darko's video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqHCgJd_gbp4oaM Side-by-side comparisons like the one in this video or the one in Darko's video are few and precious, because it's anything but a straight forward thing to arrange. At the end, these demonstrate for better or worse, that there is a penalty on not optimizing the space where the actual sound waves will exist, which is your room.

[@jon4715]

This is exactly what I've discovered, moving into a different listening room. Room treatment > any quality of hifi. And I hate it, but it's true.

[@JamesWilliams-ps6xz]

That was great.