I finally managed it. I have flat response from 30 - 200 Hz in my room. And I hate it (1 Viewer)

[Javier_Huerta]

I think Martin's "ultimate" solution is pretty interesting too. I'd love to think MoFi engineers and DCC's Steve Hoffman might have the ultimate truth when it comes to mastering a disc (and, according to my test, they usually have), but I really find it a pain to try to listen to many modern CDs with their (incredible) lack of low-end bass.
Also, I have to try and look for a suitable "house curve" for my speakers, so that they don't sound all bad.
I still think I'll keep my "flat" frequency response for a while. Then I might buy a pair of SVS subs

 

[Stephen Dodds]

You might also want to consider active room EQ. The Behringer Ultracurve is only $199 from www.zzounds.com and would be a good start.
Here is a review:
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazin...ringer8024.htm
Cheers
Steve

 

[BruceD]

Javier,
Having also used "Master Handbook of Acoustics" as a starting point for my education in acoustics, I can recommend the following site as a great tutorial on fine tuning room/speaker integration:
room tuning
I also bought the ETF5 software (actually ETF4 a couple years ago) and I found it to be a superb tool for improving room/speaker integratiion. ETF5 has measuring accuracy options including 1/3, 1/6, and 1/12 octave.

 

[Javier_Huerta]

Stephen, I'm about to buy the Ultracurve (at $199, it's a steal!). I was wondering if I can just connect the outputs and inputs between my pre-power amp to the 1/4 jacks of the Ultracurve (haven't seen any documentation about it, except that I can use balanced - non balanced inputs).

I won't be using the digital section of the equalizer. Do you think I'll still get my money's worth from it?

Thanks a lot for your suggestions!

Javier.

 

[Chris Tsutsui]

This may sound dumb but what I did was use 2 SPL meters one mounted where each ear is. I found that they weren't exactly the same and that one ear was hearing a different loudness than the other.
My room is a very small 10x11 which can perhaps account for a loss of 6db or more by moving less than a foot from the listening position. :frowning:
I may be the first to use 2 spl meters and hooking up a test tone generator from my PC to my HT. This way I could type in what ever frequency I want from 1 hz to 50,000 hz.
One other thing, when you read the level on your spl meter you must stand directly behind the spl meter(s) consistantly to mimick where your body will be. I found that the readings changed depending on where my body was in the room.
Also maybe take note of the time, humidity, air temperature, and pressure so you can add it to your response graph if you make one. I made one and framed it so I could show all the ppl that demo my HT. Most people don't understand it though... But you people understand me right?

 

[Javier_Huerta]

I wonder how can we live with ourselves when moving our head 30 cms. can have so much of an effect on loudness curves.
Then again, I wonder how *other* people can live without knowing this fact.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Chris- For some reason, I don't think it's quite that simple!
Two SPL meters in space doesn't account for the shape of the ear, or the head in between. (Anyone for "binaural listening" ? Hee, hee.)
And standing directly *behind* the meters I don't think is realistic either. You body is directly below your ears, more or less when watching a movie or listening to a CD. If you stand behind them while measuring, I think you'd mess up the sound from the surrounds and rear speaker(s).
I have also experienced sound level changes by moving the meter (just 1!), or my ears (2!), by just a foot or two. I found that moving my speakers around helped to minimize that. Plus, when I do measurements in my room, I have 3 "sweet" spots for seating that I average across (and compare to each other) in terms of speaker placement, what freqs to attenuate in the parametric eq I have my sub hooked up through, setting the crossover, and setting the phase between my mains and sub.
Food for thought though definately!

 

[Chris PC]

Wow, I have deviations of + 10 dB down low. I have lots of gain in my small room!

 

[Stephen Dodds]

Javier,

The Ultracurve would indeed go between your pre and power amps. Radio Shack sell RCA to TRS adaptors which you will need.

I used it via the analog inputs as well, as the digital inputs won't work for DD/DTS.


Steve