AcousticDreams.com

Don't trust what the old-school audiophile magazines tell you about component upgrades being the fastest path to audiophile enlightenment. They aren't right. The most important part of great sound in your high-end-audio system is improving your room's acoustics. Its physics and its hard to argue with. Not everyone can rip a room down to the studs and start over with their acoustic design with a deep five figure budget but don't worry – there are affordable, mainstream ways to improve your acoustics with meaningful results that won't leave you a) broke or b) divorced.

Affordable Tricks To Improve Your Acoustics

Kill Your Coffee Table: Having a coffee table might be something that you always had in your listening room but it's an audio killer in your room. Your front loudspeaker's imaging is being reflected off of that hard surface and blurring the audio in your room. Don't think its hurting – simply try this test when its quiet in your home...Play 30 seconds of one of your favorite and best sounding recordings. Then without saying anything (or having a friend help you) remove the coffee table. It won't make it back other than to repeat the experiment. Long term look to side tables beside your primary seating positions. You need something to put your iPad on, we know but ditch the coffee table.
Treat Your First Order Reflections: Putting simple, non-ugly treatments on the areas about three feet in front of your left and right speakers as well as about three feet in front of your speakers on the ceiling is the fastest way to get your speakers sounding better. Expect to hear more a open soundstage as well as more resolute highs.
Buy Bass Traps: There are all sorts of companies from ASC to RPG to others who sell bass traps that come in different form factors, colors, sizes and shapes. These products suck up standing waves (bass energy creates a much longer wave than higher frequency) so that your room doesn't "load up" on bass. For a few hundred dollars each you can make your speakers sound thousands of dollars better. Beware of wife acceptance factor here but you will be able to find what you need (or something that you can hide behind a plant) for a price you can afford.
Equalize Your Subwoofers: First off, it's a good idea to use multiple subwoofers in even a dedicated audiophile system. I know the audiophile magazines don't like this idea but they are wrong again. You get a more even bass pattern and can ease the load on your main speakers depending on how you crossover your speakers. Some people using AV preamps, crossover their speakers at around 80 Hz and let the subs do the work. Today's subwoofers come with calibration mics and equalization. Embrace the new tools given to you and make these subwoofers work for your room. A properly EQed sub in a treated room is something to behold and likely something that over time you can afford as an upgrade.

When To Call In An Expert?

Grimani Install Room Accoustics Sadly most audiophile dealers aren't trained in acoustics. Many of them load their demo rooms up with dozens of speakers, lack meaningful room treatments and hope for the best results. There comes a time in your audiophile journey that you might want to hire a professional to come in and use powerful computers, lasers, mirrors and calibration mics to measure the audio issues that you have in your room specifically. Solutions will vary but sometimes a tweak of 1/4 of an inch can make a huge difference. Other times, an analog or digital EQ can fix nodes or issues in your room that no audiophile component can solve. In more extreme solutions, you might reorganize an entire room by moving the speakers to a different wall for an entirely different experience and sound. With the right measurement tools and some good acoustical treatments the few thousand dollars that you will invest will pay back tens of thousands in returns.

Some of the more famous room designers for home theater and audiophile rooms include: Bob Hodas, Anthony Grimani and Keith Yates. Their prices, services and travel schedules are variable but their services can help your acoustic dreams come true in ways that your local audio salon simply can not.