02-Feb-2019, 21:30
It could be a room problem. Is the room an open plan area, or does it have permanently open entrances to halls and other spaces, or is it an actual room with doors that can be closed to completely separate the room from other spaces?
The effect of linked spaces on frequency response in a listening room/area can be very unpredictable. My normal audio dealer years ago had a room which was linked to some other spaces and he told me that measurements showed that the frequency response in that room just started rolling off at 100 Hz. He tried a lot of things in attempts to ameliorate that problem.
My room has 2 open archway entrances, one to a hall and the other to an open plan area which also opens to the same hall my first archway opens to. The basic measurements I've tried show a roll off below 100 Hz but I usually don't notice it. What we hear is the sound picked up by our ears after it has been processed by the auditory centres of our brain and the brain "corrects" for some of the things that rooms can do. While my measurements show a roll off, it isn't really noticeable to me most of the time.
You can try using the bass tone control and turning the bass up, or playing with SAM levels if your speakers have a SAM profile, but be aware that if it is a problem with the acoustic behaviour of the room, it is very difficult to fill in dips and roll offs. You can boost the bass levels easily but the room just continues swallowing bass at the same frequencies so you just end up driving the amp harder and harder for very little noticeable benefit.
Try experimenting with speaker placement (closer to walls or corners tends to bring more bass reinforcement) and also try experimenting with moving your listening position forward and backwards a bit. Bass is actually unevenly distributed within a room and there are locations where speakers will deliver more bass and also locations where you will hear more bass. Simply finding the right spots for the speakers and listening position can make a big difference.
The effect of linked spaces on frequency response in a listening room/area can be very unpredictable. My normal audio dealer years ago had a room which was linked to some other spaces and he told me that measurements showed that the frequency response in that room just started rolling off at 100 Hz. He tried a lot of things in attempts to ameliorate that problem.
My room has 2 open archway entrances, one to a hall and the other to an open plan area which also opens to the same hall my first archway opens to. The basic measurements I've tried show a roll off below 100 Hz but I usually don't notice it. What we hear is the sound picked up by our ears after it has been processed by the auditory centres of our brain and the brain "corrects" for some of the things that rooms can do. While my measurements show a roll off, it isn't really noticeable to me most of the time.
You can try using the bass tone control and turning the bass up, or playing with SAM levels if your speakers have a SAM profile, but be aware that if it is a problem with the acoustic behaviour of the room, it is very difficult to fill in dips and roll offs. You can boost the bass levels easily but the room just continues swallowing bass at the same frequencies so you just end up driving the amp harder and harder for very little noticeable benefit.
Try experimenting with speaker placement (closer to walls or corners tends to bring more bass reinforcement) and also try experimenting with moving your listening position forward and backwards a bit. Bass is actually unevenly distributed within a room and there are locations where speakers will deliver more bass and also locations where you will hear more bass. Simply finding the right spots for the speakers and listening position can make a big difference.
Roon Nucleus+, Devilalet Expert 140 Pro CI, Focal Sopra 2, PS Audio P12, Keces P8 LPS, Uptone Audio EtherREGEN with optical fibre link to my router, Shunyata Alpha NR and Sigma NR power cables, Shunyata Sigma ethernet cables, Shunyata Alpha V2 speaker cables, Grand Prix Audio Monaco rack, RealTRAPS acoustic treatment.
Brisbane, Qld, Australia
