Hi all,

 

i recently moved house and have moved my great into our front room. Unfortunately, the sound is terrible compared to the old space. I’m open to any tip or suggestions re the layout to help improve.

 

 My speakers are Triangle Antal EZ with an NAD 388 amp

 

 

Edited February 22, 20251 yr by Joelb3108
Correction

Don't despair. Speakers are in a terrible position to begin with. Other photos showing the rest of the room?

 

Speakers need more space apart and space behind them too.  

24 minutes ago, Silver Audiophile said:

Don't despair. Speakers are in a terrible position to begin with. Other photos showing the rest of the room?

 

Speakers need more space apart and space behind them too.  

 

I agree. To me the space where the system is located would be a good spot for the sofa currently next to the bar. Then if there's room, i'd consider moving the system to the opposite end of the room if you've got the room. If not, then how about in front of the shutters which would act as a crude diffuser?

 

Suggest you do this. The speaker cable will have to run across the bar which will be a tripping hazard. You can buy cable covers from Bunnings and stick it down to the floor. 

 

When placing speakers, adhere to the following principles: 

1. Symmetry is all important. The first reflection point on the left speaker should be the same as the right. This means both speakers need to be the same distance from each side wall and rear wall as much as possible. 

2. Experiment with toe-in. IMO the best results are achieved with toe-in so that the speakers are pointing directly at your ears. 

3. The seating position should be at the apex of an equilateral triangle between the speakers. 

 

4. Any obstruction between the speakers and listener (e.g. that coffee table) should be removed. 

22 hours ago, Keith_W said:

Suggest you do this. The speaker cable will have to run across the bar which will be a tripping hazard. You can buy cable covers from Bunnings and stick it down to the floor. 

That floor looks like it's not on a slab. If that's right, get under the house and run the cable that way, bringing it up the walls to wallplates like so:

Agree with the other comments above -  @Silver Audiophile, @Keith_W, and @David A. Worth considering all of these options.

Can you do as @Silver Audiophile asks, and send a few more photos of your room, just in case there are other options which it might be worth considering?

Unless of course you feel that the present setup (with adjustments) is the one you would like to work with, in which case play around with what @Keith_W has suggested - he is widely considered here on StereoNET as a guru in looking at the issues/situation which you raised.

Have fun experimenting.

When you find what works well, and have got things where you want them, @BugPowderDust's suggestion is worth looking at too I think..

 

Edited February 25, 20251 yr by parrasaw

@parrasaw That won't hurt Guru Keith's ego either 😆

I don't want to be a guru, i'll be forced to drink Hemlock! 

If Keith W was a guru, I think he'd be the Groovy Guru from Get Smart..

 

 

Edited February 25, 20251 yr by David A

Hi all. So sorry to come back to this chat many months later. I really appreciate all the input @Keith_W

@parrasaw @Silver Audiophileand others. Had a health issue arise.

 

 See some further photos attached of room. Again, your help is much appreciated

 

I’m starting to think that placing them in front of the bay window is the better option from a sound perspective?

 

 

Edited July 20, 2025Jul 20 by Joelb3108

for me if i had your room - i would be putting the speakers along the bay window. great view why not take advantage of it, besides imo also better placement of speakers.

22 hours ago, Joelb3108 said:

Hi all. So sorry to come back to this chat many months later. I really appreciate all the input @Keith_W

@parrasaw @Silver Audiophileand others. Had a health issue arise.

 

 See some further photos attached of room. Again, your help is much appreciated

 

I’m starting to think that placing them in front of the bay window is the better option from a sound perspective?

Good to see more photos of your room.

Hopefully the health issue is now sorted.

My gut feeling is the same as @genkifd - why not give the speakers a try in the new position which you are wondering about?

I think that there are also additional advantages of this alternative positioning, compared to where they were located in your original photos, and would be interested in the thoughts of people like @Keith_W, @Silver Audiophile and others who posted earlier.

The internal louvre/blinds could be closed for critical listening etc if needed.

If you place the speakers against the bay window, what is behind the listening position? If it's a wall, it is less preferable for a few good reasons. Can't give speaker placement advice without a better understanding of the room. If you could draw a quick diagram that would be very useful. Your drawing doesn't have to be fancy, just a sketch on a piece of paper with some approximate dimensions and indicating where the room openings are. 

Hi @Keith_W See a very rough sketch attached. Hopefully it makes sense alongside the photos already attached.

 

The listening position would be on the brown couch, which you can see in the photo attached to my last post. There is a large doorway to the right of the listening position which opens into a similar sized room.

 

 

Edited July 21, 2025Jul 21 by Joelb3108

4 hours ago, Joelb3108 said:

Hi @Keith_W See a very rough sketch attached. Hopefully it makes sense alongside the photos already attached.

 

The listening position would be on the brown couch, which you can see in the photo attached to my last post. There is a large doorway to the right of the listening position which opens into a similar sized room.

 

 

Would it be possible to post one more photo?

From the area of the bay window, looking back towards the brown couch (to show what is behind the couch - a wall/half wall/some open space?).

Hi @parrasaw - See photo attached. The photo is taken from the centre of the bay window.

 

I suggest something like this. Move your chair in the corner to the doorway when you want to listen. The advantage of this layout is that it makes your "room" a bit bigger since there is an opening behind you. The problem is that it is a bit ugly and you may prefer to sit on the sofa instead of a wooden chair. 

 

Otherwise your proposal could work. The problem is that you now have a wall behind you. Walls create a lot of early and loud reflections and ruin the stereo image. It would be best to treat that wall with some absorbers (it only needs to be behind your head), but that's up to you. 

The listening room is a huge part of final sound from a HiFi system. We all realise this, and if we were to approach this question in reverse, that is design an ideal listening room, nobody will conceive an ideal room consisting of large open exist and large fixed open entries, with side bar areas, in the front of one's home main shared entertainment lounge area. Plus, a mostly wooden flooring, no acoustic wall treatment, and a glassed bay window to one wall. Not to mention the WAF and other households needs for that shared room!! Just the last consideration would have had me ruling out that room altogether. 

 

Two suggestions:

1) Find another more suitable listen room if possible?

2) Failing option 1, try the other speaker placement options mentioned above. Room acoustic needs to be attended to (within WAF). Main point, keep experimenting with different placements. 

 

Hi @Silver Audiophile and @Keith_W

 

Thanks for the time and the information. Unfortunately, I m stuck with the room as there is nowhere else that I can put the system. I do have scope from the WAF to do the room up as an audio space, but within reason.

 

I think that the only thing that I can do is try the various suggested locations, however, the most likely option will be placing them in the bay window and attend to sound proofing/wall treatment. I also have scope to remove the coffee table and some chairs etc to deal with the space. I can also purchase a larger floor rug and more solid furniture.

 

I'm trying to think of good cost-effective options for deadening the wall behind the couch. A feature curtain?

You could hang a rug behind the listening position. Like this: 

 

This is fantastic idea. I could even place some sound panels behind the rug.