RUG!

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by abernardi, Apr 6, 2016.

  1. abernardi

    abernardi Friend

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    Well, I finally bit the bullet and bought a rug because my room has wood floors and I've been bitching about ice-pick piercing upper mids in my room for over a year now… just lazy I guess.
    Anyway, I went to HomeDepot because I heard you could buy these "rug squares" that you can just throw down temporarily, make a bigger rug with them, kind of a modular system, cheap and easy to put away if they're ugly… you know, a temporary fix to see the effect. Well, they didn't have them… :drunk:DARGH… But they did have this oriental kind of cheap thing, on sale for $149 and I figured, hell, let's try it. Got to the register, it was on clearance, $50 bucks! :sail:Woohoo! The under mat thing was almost as expensive! Excuse the mess, been rearranging…damn, that couch was heavy!
    IMG_1337.jpg IMG_1334.jpg

    I'll report on the affect soon...
     
  2. AustinValentine

    AustinValentine Friend

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    That rug really ties the room together.
     
  3. bobmysterious

    bobmysterious Facebook Friend

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    Dammit, beat me to it.
     
  4. MrTie

    MrTie Friend

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    It looks really comfy in there, and I'm sure that rug will help a bit, all that glass directly behind your listening position and your nearness to it is mostly likely a bigger problem though. Imperfect rooms is the damn story of my life. Drawing those curtains, if they are heavy, could help a bit.
     
  5. songmic

    songmic Gear cycler East Asia edition

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    I thought this thread was about which rug material to use for mods.
     
  6. aufmerksam

    aufmerksam Friend

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    it is! just not the mod you are thinking of
     
  7. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    He's going to have a discoloured slice on his piano with the sunlight leaking in like that too.
     
  8. abernardi

    abernardi Friend

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    Yes, good thick curtains help. And I know better than to have the listening position right against a wall, a GLASS wall at that, but short of turning the whole rig 90 degrees, I'm not sure what to do. Even if I did, where would the piano go? I only had a brief opportunity to listen yesterday and the room is definitely dampened for the better, though the bass response has gotten noticeably bigger, I know, bass traps... the peakiness is improved and the vocals are sounding more chesty... more to come...
     
  9. SSL

    SSL Friend

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    Up for sale? I can't imagine it sounds that great crammed in a corner with knick-knacks on it.
     
  10. abernardi

    abernardi Friend

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    Yeah, it actually sounds awful there! The knickknacks are temporary...
     
  11. abernardi

    abernardi Friend

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    OK, potential eureka moment! Did some more listening tonight and while the rug is a definite improvement, the peakiness was still there, forcing me to turn down the volume if I didn't want ice-picks in my brain. The low end seemed slightly more emphasized and the imaging improved. There was also a change in the staging, it was more like a bubble of sound starting at the speakers and then moving closer to me as it neared the center. But I was disappointed about the main peakiness problem and while reduced, it was still present.
    So on a hunch I threw a knitted cotton throw over the big screen TV. I've heard some reports of these causing problems if in between the speakers. I didn't give it much weight because my speakers are very directional and have very little sound coming from the back. But holy shit! There must be some serious bounce-back to that screen because I dare say, putting the throw over the screen had more of an effect than the rug! IMG_1341.jpg

    The peakiness all but disappeared, the imaging got even tighter and the elements better defined and separated. The singers were right there and the overall presentation was slightly sweeter. Now, I could be fooling myself because I have thought I licked this problem many times before, so I'll be listening again tomorrow to confirm and report back. I played some pretty hard edged stuff too, and it was fine. The only stuff I played tonight that sounded peaky was from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, but I think that's a particularly bright mix. Can anyone else confirm that for me? It sounded awfully bright. Onward...
     
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    LOL, I would have told you TVs are bad between speakers had I seen it. That's actually a great spot to put diffuser. Extend your bookcase. Throw your TV away.
     
  13. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    I'm surprised no one suggested tp'ing the walls!
     
  14. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    The reason your TV is likely affecting the sound is probably because you aren't absorbing the front wave at the first reflection point on the wall (glass) behind you.

    Was your test with the throw over the TV done with the curtains behind you closed?
     
  15. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    This...I hate tv's in the way. If my g/f didn't like video games and movies so much I wouldn't have one. Only way compensate is absorption panels behind and each left/right side of tv on my part...those dang video games lol...
     
  16. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    If he did that, people are gonna where all the ectoplasm came from.
     
  17. abernardi

    abernardi Friend

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    tp'ing? you mean like wet toilet paper??? what am I missing? I did listened both ways, with and without the curtain. Funny thing is, once the TV is covered, the back window doesn't seem to make much of a difference w/ or w/o the curtain, and these are heavy curtains. So, upon further listening, the peakiness is significantly reduced, but not entirely gone. But I dare say, the throw over the TV has had more of an impact than the rug.

    And, no Marv, I'm NOT giving you the TV!
     
  18. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Love the rug, but what I'd do is... sit on it!

    I am a bit of a floor dweller, and this has led me to discovering that, in various rooms and with various systems, they suddenly sound better when I slide off the sofa and sit on the floor in front of it. After trying to make sense of ideas about driver hight and stuff, I eventually realised (theorised) that what made the difference was having a thick soft sofa behind my ears rather than a hard reflective wall.

    Feel free to disagree or suggest other theories for my perception!
     
  19. abernardi

    abernardi Friend

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    funny, I haven't tried sitting on the floor with my system, I guess because I never wanted to sit on a bare wood floor, but now I have a rug! I was at a speaker demo recently and that was exactly what I did there, they were sounding lousy and finally after trying many positions, I ended up on the floor and they really sang. I'll try that tomorrow... Concerning the couch, it is a little reflective. I've gone back and forth with using just a chair and it is definitely better with a simple chair, but the room is such that I can't put the couch anywhere else, grrr. I tried a throw on the back of the couch before and it didn't seem to help, but now with the TV fix, I'll try again
     

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