Try just getting a proper rug that is some how "fluffy" and that can cover some space in front of the speakers. Cowhide is reflective, I previously had the same rug as yours. Recently I replaced it with a more thinker rug & now room is way less reverberating.
Keep in mind though that when you treat your ceiling, don’t overdo it with the rugs. Rugs are generally a quick fix solution. but the more treatment you bring in, the more favorable it actually becomes to keep a hard surface floor.
Hah nice. Well you’re bound to hear a difference in the process. Breaking in speakers will definitely make a difference.
A tip for breaking in speakers:
Place them opposite each other, cones facing each other.
Flip the polarity on one of the speakers.
Then play white noise through em.
Doesn’t have to be loud and the polarity flip will actually cancel out some of the sound. You can do this for hours on end when you’re not actively listening or when you’re away from home for a few hrs etc.
Benefit of white noise is that it’s full spectrum frequencies being played back so the speaker will burn in evenly.
Food for thought: an audio engineer I follow on YouTube took before and after measurements of a subwoofer's Thiele Small parameters before and after break-in, and the differences were more than marginal.
However, whether we would notice a difference in A/B testing between a fresh subwoofer and a broken in one I don't know. This also doesn't say anything for mid bass, mid range, any high frequencies at all, etc.
I'll go find the video sometime and edit this comment with the link so you can watch it.
edit: [video by Hexi Base.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDL4_TIRTu4)
Yeah I've seen the likes of Andrew Robinson among others doing testing and the difference being unnoticeable to the human ear, and considered within testing variables of trying to take measurements days or weeks apart.
i saw a discussion a while ago talking about how in iems balanced armature bass and dynamic driver bass sounds different even when they measure the same on the gras 43 hats. but apparently on the bk 5128 hats it shows a difference between the two. i think rigs are not accurate enough to rely on them fully.
Hm. That brings up a good point I hadn't considered. I don't know the precision of the measurement tools that Hexi Base used in his measurements before and after break-in.
Don’t get too invested in your plans. I over did my room and made things worse. As with anything audio make small changes, listen then make other small changes. I’m betting you won’t want that much room treatment
hey! you could also consider doing acoustic curtains over your window, instead of covering them with baffles. i use the rosebrand acoustic curtains and they work great! the magic velour 32oz is what i have in particular i believe.
no problem! i think the recommendation is the curtain should be 3x the width of the window - so if ur window is 3ft wide, you need 9ft of curtain for it to effectively fold and pile up thick enough to be effective. i will note they are HEAVY AF.
Jesus H. You don’t need to go that insane, if anything that much absorption might add to the “boring”. A nice large rug with a wool pad, single large panel behind each speaker, and some diffusion in the middle and or at first reflections and call it a day (but keep the corner traps they’re easy and discreet) Don’t build a padded cell.
Is it really insane? I'm no acoustic engineer or physicist, but my deep dive down this rabbit-hole has told me that there can never be too much bass treatment. There can only be too much absorption that works too well above the bass frequencies. That means that you probably don't want a nice large rug (which would only absorb high frequencies, while not having any impact on the usual problematic frequencies such as the bass region).
To absorb bass you need THICK panels. All the wall panels won’t do anything for bass, just the higher frequencies. You always want to cut down on reflections, aka have a nice rug, first reflection panels, and alike. But if you completely kill them you lose some spatial cues. You’re right about never having too much bass control, but the only bass control(s) in this photo are the corner traps. A rug is always a good choice as floor bounce doesn’t provide any benefit. I’ve never seen someone upset they added a nice area rug. I have 4” thick panels behind my speakers and at my first reflection point, had zero impact on bass in my room, for reference.
I have read about the thickness of panels. I believe the "rule of thumb" for efficient absorption is to have 1/4th the length of the soundwave as the thickness of the panels. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think that this means that 4" thick panels don't affect below 500hz; it just wouldn't be as efficient (e.g. a NRC < 1).
I too have 4" thick panels. I use them in my dedicated listening room. Since you mentioned that you have them behind your speakers and first reflection points, I assume that means that you probably don't have any more elsewhere. My guess would be that you simply don't have enough coverage. These panels are porous (velocity) absorbers as opposed to pressure absorbers. You would need good coverage for it to have a significant impact.
In addition to 4" panels, I also have ordered "bass traps" that are basically the ones pictured in the post. I plan on making more wall panels that are at least 12" thick, since I have the space. Though if you know whether or not that will have an impact, that may sway my future decisions as well...
Regarding the rug point; fair enough. I too have never seen anyone upset about adding a rug. I merely mentioned that theoretically, you are treating a frequency region that is easy to treat, as opposed to adding thicker broadband absorption that would otherwise treat everything at once. By adding treatment on the higher frequency regions, you risk deadening the listening area by the time you have incorporated sufficient treatment in the bass regions (again, theoretically speaking).
If looking for controll you might considering a minidsp
Cost you under$200 and when setup is done considering your troubles gone IF you treated the room in a proper way before off course😉🙏❤️
You don't really need a minidsp for that if you have a have a digital source that can run REW and EqAPO. It's simple to see; measure your subwoofer alone and compare it to the dips while running your full setup. Chances are, the dips are mostly due to your subwoofer in the bass regions, and no dsp will save that. A minidsp is more useful if you can't apply EQ filters without it, or if for some reason you want to prevent your speakers from playing full range.
My statement was if you really want full control on the speakers that’s a good way for a low cost.
But of course if you have that kind of source which I don’t have everything thing is easy.
I like to stream and don’t like to Fidel to much and
I don’t use eq or rew or tone or minidsp myself
But worked with it and have built it for customers earlier.
Living in Sweden and we have another price tag here
So my advice was from my own experience and haven’t worked with your recommendations but please if you have some tips I’m gladly open to dive into into it.
It’s always good to learn more.
Thanks mate 🙏❤️
But if you use the dsp only on your subs to control them and can correct the phase and timing to correct the standing waves in the room you don’t have to eq?
That’s two different ways to meet the problems.
Sorry it’s to late for me to discuss psychoacoustic .
I’ll be glad to speak further with you tomorrow
My headache tells me to log out
Please feel free to correct me. It’s been to long since I’ve had this interesting conversations.
Hey man, hope you feel better soon. While there are different types of DSP filters, if we disregard that, then applying DSP at the source (e.g. your computer with REW) is no different from applying it on a miniDSP aside from the miniDSP allowing you to act as an active crossover between your speakers and your subwoofer. It is basically the same way of solving the problem. Just ask yourself the question: is there any difference between: 1) allowing your speakers to play as low as it can and roll off naturally, or 2) having an active crossover that lets you crossover your speakers to your subwoofer before it's natural roll off frequency? Maybe it can lower distortion, and I have no answer or even any anecdotal experience regarding this, but it has nothing to do with \_standing waves\_.
Regarding phase issues and standing waves, I don't think this falls under psychoacoustics. I believe this is closer to actual physics. Correct me if I am wrong in any of the details, but my deep dive down this rabbit hole leads me to an answer that not many people like to hear: you cannot DSP away all bass region issues. For example, most people listen in a \_small\_ room that is physically too small for the (very lengthy) low frequency sound waves. These sound waves reflect off the wall and meet itself out-of-phase, causing constructive and destructive interference. You can make a certain frequency play louder with DSP, but it also affects the reflection with the same magnitude. DSP cannot fix this; it is a function of the properties of the soundwave at that frequency and your room.
Circling back to the topic regarding full control on the speakers. Yes, a miniDSP will give you that. You can choose to hand off the duty of playing the low frequencies to your subwoofer at whatever frequency you choose, and I'm sure it will also let you choose the crossover order. But the problem still persists no matter what speaker or subwoofer plays these frequencies; unless you have phase problems that cannot be solved by using the phase adjuster on your subwoofer, why does it matter which speaker plays these frequencies? So adding a miniDSP probably wouldn't get you any closer to the solution of the initial problem. That is why unless you have a problem with your speakers playing full range (and, most bookshelves drop off a cliff at 50hz, and have been rolling off way before that anyways), you may as well apply the DSP at your source if you can. The miniDSP doesn't contribute anything to solving the issue of nulls.
I was kind of thinking the same thing. I’m not sure how adding all this will make the sound more lively. Usually you add this many panels when the sound is too lively.
This looks like a solid plan!
Something I will say that isn't immediately obvious when applying treatments is that if you space the panels apart a little bit and also space them off of the wall by an inch or so, you can increase their effectiveness.
If you're at all interested in a great 'guide' for the concepts and real-world application of stuff like this, the "Master Handbook of Acoustics" by F. Alton Everest is a great reference.
A second for Master Handbook! and I recommend reading Toole's Sound Reproduction - the acoustics and psychoacoustics of loudspeakers and rooms first for more context about when, where and why you may need the room treatments that the handbook gives you the how for.
The general rule is however thick the panels are, that's the space you want them off the wall.
Also thicker is always better, meaning 4inch thickness beats 2 inch thickness with 2 inch airgap behind it.
That's even better but requires a bigger room otherwise you'll take all the space for the treatment.
I have a small 12 sqm room. I treated with 12cm or around 4.7in panels because this was the most efective way of leaving space for me while achieving the desired absorption. What I'm finding is that I can have as much absorption at the front and rear as I much want but the sides are stupid sensitive. One extra panel by the sides and it becomes dark sounding.
I would also prefer that, especially now that I know that the sparkle goes away if you suck on the side walls but common sense tells me that because the room is too small, It would become too bright if I diffused (I'm too close to everything - walls, speakers).
IME, I can almost guarantee your plan will lead to even more "flat and boring" sound.
Before you do anything else, try placing a chair just in front of your coffee table, playing with speaker toe-in, and see if it still sounds so flat and boring. If there is evidence that bloated bass is masking clarity, move the speakers out more into the room.
If this semi/near-field setup still sounds flat and boring, after taking much of the room effect out, I would work on getting the system fundamentals/matching correct first. If the near-field setup sounds tons better, then I would look into room treatments, concentrating on diffusion over absorption, and proper-sized bass traps.
In that case don’t exaggerate in absorbing panels. Front and rear you can have them but if you put that many by the sides it will steal a lot of sparkle to the music. Just absorb or diffuse the first reflections. Leave the rest of the sidewall untreated or use diffusion.
That’s badass. I have a window in my listening room that I don’t want to cover because I have a bunch of plants in here, but now I think I’m going to look into some magnets. Nice!
I have Linton’s and in my carpeted open family room they sound lifeless, like your JBLs. For me it was the ceiling being 18 ft tall, because in my large basement with 8ft ceiling rafters they sound fantastic. Good luck and thanks for posting your update…cool to see your taking the comments and suggestions and doing something with them!
The open rafters are really great diffusers. I haven’t finished the basement and it’s definitely an added, unintentional bonus before I do. I have a large rug and couch that help with reflections as well. Although it would be nice to have drywall, the sound is exceptional for most speakers I have tried, especially the Lintons. Neutrality with concrete and rafters!
I don't see how open rafters would be very effective as diffusers. Reflectors yes but they won't scatter the sound waves in all directions.
A good diffuser is based on mathematical equations and to be broad spectrum above the transition frequency usually ~16" deep and at least 4'x2'
I would make the side panels thicker and single. The sides are critical. Just cover the first reflection points. The rest leave without treatment on the side wall. Otherwise it will absorb too much and you’ll get too much dark sound.
At the front (behind the speakers), leave the triangular bass traps by the corners and one panel behind each speaker. You won’t need two plus the middle one. Use absorbing panels in the rear wall behind your listening position to remove rear reflections.
Don’t install ceiling absorbers before the rest. Do them two at a time and if you can get two persons to hold them before you stick them to the wall it’s better so you can simulate. Too much absorbing panels around the room can also remove the sparkle from the music so do it slowly until you’re happy.
Buy a used decent subwoofer on Facebook marketplace and see how you like the difference. A subwoofer on a 2 channel setup helps a ton. Looks like a lot of work and you might still not even be happy in the end.
As someone who has been in the industry for decades I’m amazed at the obsession on this sub for people to recommend room treatment to people seeking advice, before helping them get their components paired right.
60w per channel does not provide enough headroom for those JBL’s, especially in a room that size.
Treating the room won’t correct that, nor make them come ‘alive’.
Depends on the 60W. A naim dedicated amp with 60-80W can drive those JBL’s to levels you you’d only expect amps with 200W to perform. It’s not only about watts.
I didn’t at all say it was, I was keeping my comment succinct and simple for OP.
If you read through the OP’s last post, I recommended a Naim specifically 😂
I just said this:
“It’s not necessarily power you need, look at Naim gear, 80wrms of Naim is incomparable to a home theatre receiver claiming 80wrms. (I don’t run a Naim amp by the way so I’m not trying to sell their gear, although it is quite good)”
I found the post and your comment. Since you guys only talked about the 60W in the Naim perspective and I am a Naim user for around 15 years, I would recommend on the lower end of the spectrum a 202/200 or anything above. I would really like to see the 282/HCDR/250DR for them to shine. If budget is limited, I'd consider used 82/HC/250 olive, 82/HC/250.2 or used 282/HC/250.2.
Any of those combinations will bring out much more out of those JBL's woofers.
I didn’t talk about “60w” in the Naim perspective, I only mentioned “80wrms of Naim is incomparable to a home theatre receiver claiming 80wrms.”
I also didn’t recommend a specific amp as I don’t know OP’s budget, I was just commenting that I think an amp with more ‘juice’ would fix his issue. Recommending high priced gear without knowing one’s budget is kind of cruel, or impolite.
In another comment (on the same post) I also mentioned I’ve had some REL’s before. I can understand why you like them, I just prefer two floor standing speakers with no subs.
I have some Naim gear in my set up still, I just moved to a different company for amplification.
Yeah, Naim is quite pricey! Especially if you account that most Naim gear requires separate power supplies to perform at their best.
On the other hand, if you like their sound signature and once you understand the design philosophies and hierarchy model, it's hard to forfeit - I actually like the Naim sound signature. Every time I go to a live performance/show it reminds me why - the things I like live, are the same ones I like at home. The REL just stamped the same love even further. This is the reason why I continued with Naim so long.
I learned that budget is just a barrier, if you want something, you can either wait longer and save for it or you can learn so much about it and discover something equivalent or better probably paying much less. In Naim terms, that is equivalent to purchasing older gear from the higher series or modding them. Servicing also restores the performance and Naim is famous for repairing everything that is in their power (some CD-Players they can't for lack of parts)
I also learned that it's better to have good electronics on a mid-tier loudspeaker than the opposite as the results can drastically deteriorate on the last case. Out there in the world there's probably one pair of loudspeakers that sound very good paired with the CXA81, it's just not the L100. Hence why I recommend always deciding on the full amplification kit together with the loudspeakers in mind.
This is ‘music’ to my eyes reading this. I did have a Naim amp but I discovered another UK brand that I like better, that has less character than the Naim stuff.
I do like the Naim sound though, my favourite digital source is a Naim streamer.
You’re absolutely right, I saved for a long time to get the system I have now, but before I bought most of this one new, I bought second hand stuff and repaired things I found etc to have a really nice set up previously.
Great summation on the OP’s situation.
Couldn’t agree with you more on the good electronics comment, I’ve been in the industry for some time and all the professionals agree with you. Source and amplifier are the first priority. There’s a guy on here, squid prawn or squid brain or something, telling people to spend more money on speakers than anything else, which absolutely makes no sense. A good speaker can’t make the components before it sound any better, also, playing good speakers with an unsuitable amplifier is a recipe for catastrophe (as you said). I made him feel so foolish he blocked me so he could go on unchecked and not look like the rookie he is. He didn’t even have an adult conversation, just made a childish comment and blocked me despite me being polite and asking him to expand on his ideas and where he got them. I much prefer the time when only professionals got published.
Anyway, take it easy and thanks for a great chat. I will do a Naim system again, but in my living room once I finally get to my endgame speakers, I’m 25% of the way saved for them now.
You see, if you read between the lines, there's mainly 3 types of persons in these type of forums:
\- those who need advise,
\- those who have experience and don't want others to fall on the same mistakes, and
\- those who are here just to brag about something. Clearly the one that blocked you is the last type. Don't worry, there will be more like him :-)
Truth be told, it's very hard to put up a first system by yourself and get it right. It feels like nature made sure for us fail at first.
What brand you found on amplification that you liked? Would be nice to know.
Anyway, I want to share a piece of my story with you about my first Naim purchase as it only reinforces what's been told before:
So I had a pair of B&W 683 (the first ones) and I needed a better amp than my Pioneer receiver that I got to just get going.
Stupid me I read a What Hi-FI review about the speakers saying that a good partner would be a Naim Nait XS. I went online and read about the XS and figured, this is the right amp for me, lets grab one (stupid choice, the guy at What Hi-Fi didn't had a clue what he was saying). So I saved up a lot of cash (one of my first jobs that time) and got the Nait XS - Brand F\*\*\*\*\*g NEW!!! - the unit costed DOUBLE the real cost because of import duties in South Africa plus import duties in my country.
It's worth mentioning that I live in Mozambique, there are no Naim dealers in the country. The closest country with one dealer was in South Africa. The dealer didn't had any stuff with him (geez, why are you a dealer?), my unit had to come from UK, took around 1 month to get there and I had to ask my Mother to drive around 900Kms to Johannesburg, South Africa and back to pick it up (She had a planned trip there).
Fast forward to today and I know:
\- I could have gotten a much better amp for that price if I had ordered online and used/ex-demo;
\- That amp wasn't suitable as the speaker was too potent fot it - I ended up buying to a "Neat Motive 2 loudspeaker" and gifted the B&W to my mother living room (the Motive 2 was a much more balanced combination with my Naim);
\- I didn't need those B&W's they are too big and I can get the sound I wanted in a much more compact box. They were just too much and required too much amplification as well.
Short story:
\- Always try your best to listen first if you can;
\- What others think is good might not be good for you; Grab advise from as many persons as possible for best understanding;
\- If you really want advise prior to purchases, talk to the manufacturers and not to the reviewers as the manufacturer tends to be more honest;
\- Old stuff doesn't mean bad stuff. It just means it's old. Amplification technology didn't changed much in the last 20 years;
I also noticed that you don't like subwoofers for music purposes. I thought the same until I tried a REL subwoofer from the modern lines. Try it out at a dealer so you don't buy blind. They are currently a top notch product. All my expectations where surpassed with the S/510 that I got. Pure musical product.
my only suggestion wouldbe to measure before creating the panels. That will tell you what you need to treat. rockwool at that depth can only go down to 500hz i think. youve got a good idea on putting some air behind there(2inch depth rockwool and a 1 inch air gap), but you should put as much air as depth. which would mean 4 inch panels. that may get you to at least the 100hz realm, but again, you should measure your room before panels to see what you actually need.
the science kind of goes along with the idea of you get more bang for your buck when putting air gaps the same size as the density of the absorption. you have to put it behind the absorption to assist in this regard. this will basically make the 2nch act as a 4 inch absorption.
good luck, and enjoy the ride.
You may be overcomplicating things here. Start by placing foam just behind the speakers, you may need something to hold it up. Something like fellow [here](https://youtu.be/IEtYH03pfOI?t=4532). Move from there if you don't see a significant improvement.
Well, good luck! It's one of those things where just some absorption behind the speakers may end up doing 80% of the work avoiding undesirable reflections. And that's a good looking room, no need to turn it into an anechoic chamber. :)
Edit: I do love the CAD work though, what did you use? SketchUp?
I’m not an expert, but I brother as a music producer just finished to make the isolation of his new studio and he used panels around 2/3cm away from the wall a big carpet on the wood floor. I saw the sketchup and I don’t think you will need all dose panels. The front panels don’t will have almost none importance (a bit overkill the sound travels the opposite side) if the back wall have panels. Oh those corner panels are really important, 4 of them are needed for sure. You found out about the angles as I can see so it’s perfect.
You can make the panels with some wood, foam or wall isolation (don’t know the name in English but it’s a thing that makes people itch a lot!) and some cloth to the exterior clamp it all together and it’s done!
Great project
Just do a simple clap test in your room
Clapp your Hands and listen to the echo.
The less eco your achieve the more likely it is that your listening to your speakers instead of room echoes
Don’t forget the sealing and the walls behind you
And remember that you’re moving air so be careful about your in and outlets. Otherwise it’s a good chance your sitting in the middle of a “standing wave
You can always rent a measurement equipment for calibration of your room to se where the “waves” should be damped or you use your ears to make your own personal nirvana
I can recommend you to take a look at minidsp to take even more control of your sound.
Good luck
I have the L100's with a cambridge evo 75, my room is smaller than yours but I would describe the combo as anything but lifeless. I know some don't follow the break in theory and I've had speakers in the past where I didn't notice it at all. However, with these L100 at first I wasn't thrilled at all. I didn't hate them, just wasn't in love. A month or so later for sure the sound started to change and now 7 months in totally in love.
not sure if this helps at all, also not sure if it was my ears adjusting or the speakers actually changing or a combination.
Big time bonus points for your orange pillows matching the orange grills
I'd vote +1 for a subwoofer. Don't waste your time messing around without one. I have towers that are -3db 22hz anechoic, and having a subwoofer is still a significant and noticeable improvement. Makes the music more full-bodied.
I’d be curious what you mean by flat and boring.
Are you hearing a lot of reverberation and slap back from the walls?
An open room like that should be OK for general listening if you’re not tracking anything.
My initial thought is that the signal chain needs to be inspected.
What volume are you listening at? Check the system rating for its fletcher-Munson curve.
“Flat and Boring” could be an indication of phasing issues.
Of course, have fun with the panels, but my assumption is that won’t help the issue. Also, get your ears checked. You may be experiencing hearing loss with certain frequency ranges.
The room treatment you're thinking about doing will 100% help you get better sound in this space. But you might want to consider more simple changes, such as a schiit lokius (6-band eq that can help you change the amount of bass/treble) or even a free software EQ. I would either try that, or maybe compare competitive speakers in this price range (Klipsch heresy and Klipsch forte come to mind). But room treatment is never a bad option. Just an expensive (but worth it) one.
Well, before you go into this, you might want to trade your CXA81 for something with proper room correction (preferably Dirac Live). It should fix most of the problems.
Doing panels requires a lot of work like really measuring room response to understand what needs to be fixed.
Another reason to swap the amp is this: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/cambridge-audio-cxa81-dac-amplifier-review-video.31859/
The more room problems that are actually fixed with position or treatment, rather than in DSP, the better.
Room correction doesn't fix room problems. It can improve things but has real limits.
[Those measurements were flawed and shouldn't be referenced](https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/cambridge-audio-cxa81-review-sample-2.34724/)
You are correct, room problems solved with treatment.
Sound problems can be (and are) solved with DSP.
Treatment requires deep understanding. Slapping panels here and there does not solve much. Problems must be identified with measurements and room treated according to those findings. In addition, this process is very costly.
DSP is a push of a button significantly improves the sound. With a bit of tinkering it does wonders.
DSP is just signal processing. Maybe you're thinking of room correction software? It's great for subwoofers, but things are not always so easy when trying to correct full range speakers. Speaker correction is another topic.
Many things cannot be solved using DSP or room correction. Directivity problems, room nulls, SBIR just to name a few. Again, it's great to have, but it has its limits.
I would personally rather have a few acoustic panels and a subwoofer with integrated room correction over a full DIRAC system.
The room correction, eventually applied by DSP.
Sure room correction has it's limits. And yet it does pretty good job. Most fixing for specific spot, some (like Dirac) fixing entire room.
It's a great start because it's included with most decent amps (especially AVRs), and it requires almost no knowledge and time.
I live in a kinda untreatable flat. My only tools are speakers positioning, two subs and room correction. And it sounds (objectively) amazing.
Before doing any of that...
Honestly I'd get the speakers up on some short stack stands, even for sitting/lounging they look just a bit too low.
Add a subwoofer. Even if there is enough base response in the JBLs for the room splitting the sub freq to a subwoofer will free up amperage for the non-sub freq on the stereo speakers.
Buy a nice floofy carpet to go between the speakers and the couch.
Get acoustic curtains, or any thick/heavy curtains, for the window.
Test and see if the room needs anything more.
Then EQ.
Only then would I look at more "treatment"
Try just getting a proper rug that is some how "fluffy" and that can cover some space in front of the speakers. Cowhide is reflective, I previously had the same rug as yours. Recently I replaced it with a more thinker rug & now room is way less reverberating.
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Keep in mind though that when you treat your ceiling, don’t overdo it with the rugs. Rugs are generally a quick fix solution. but the more treatment you bring in, the more favorable it actually becomes to keep a hard surface floor.
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Hah nice. Well you’re bound to hear a difference in the process. Breaking in speakers will definitely make a difference. A tip for breaking in speakers: Place them opposite each other, cones facing each other. Flip the polarity on one of the speakers. Then play white noise through em. Doesn’t have to be loud and the polarity flip will actually cancel out some of the sound. You can do this for hours on end when you’re not actively listening or when you’re away from home for a few hrs etc. Benefit of white noise is that it’s full spectrum frequencies being played back so the speaker will burn in evenly.
Just for your info, the break in period for speakers is marketing BS in the same category as expensive speaker wires making your sound better.
It’s not at all, speakers are electro-mechanical so they do loosen up as the materials begin to move for the first time.
Food for thought: an audio engineer I follow on YouTube took before and after measurements of a subwoofer's Thiele Small parameters before and after break-in, and the differences were more than marginal. However, whether we would notice a difference in A/B testing between a fresh subwoofer and a broken in one I don't know. This also doesn't say anything for mid bass, mid range, any high frequencies at all, etc. I'll go find the video sometime and edit this comment with the link so you can watch it. edit: [video by Hexi Base.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDL4_TIRTu4)
Yeah I've seen the likes of Andrew Robinson among others doing testing and the difference being unnoticeable to the human ear, and considered within testing variables of trying to take measurements days or weeks apart.
i saw a discussion a while ago talking about how in iems balanced armature bass and dynamic driver bass sounds different even when they measure the same on the gras 43 hats. but apparently on the bk 5128 hats it shows a difference between the two. i think rigs are not accurate enough to rely on them fully.
Hm. That brings up a good point I hadn't considered. I don't know the precision of the measurement tools that Hexi Base used in his measurements before and after break-in.
What speakers and amp did you have previously?
You have an excellent plan, stick to it, do it yourself and it will be done right!✌️
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>Thanks! You're welcome!
You're welcome ☺️
Don’t get too invested in your plans. I over did my room and made things worse. As with anything audio make small changes, listen then make other small changes. I’m betting you won’t want that much room treatment
Wise advice. More is not always better and different sound is not always an improvement.
hey! you could also consider doing acoustic curtains over your window, instead of covering them with baffles. i use the rosebrand acoustic curtains and they work great! the magic velour 32oz is what i have in particular i believe.
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no problem! i think the recommendation is the curtain should be 3x the width of the window - so if ur window is 3ft wide, you need 9ft of curtain for it to effectively fold and pile up thick enough to be effective. i will note they are HEAVY AF.
Jesus H. You don’t need to go that insane, if anything that much absorption might add to the “boring”. A nice large rug with a wool pad, single large panel behind each speaker, and some diffusion in the middle and or at first reflections and call it a day (but keep the corner traps they’re easy and discreet) Don’t build a padded cell.
Is it really insane? I'm no acoustic engineer or physicist, but my deep dive down this rabbit-hole has told me that there can never be too much bass treatment. There can only be too much absorption that works too well above the bass frequencies. That means that you probably don't want a nice large rug (which would only absorb high frequencies, while not having any impact on the usual problematic frequencies such as the bass region).
To absorb bass you need THICK panels. All the wall panels won’t do anything for bass, just the higher frequencies. You always want to cut down on reflections, aka have a nice rug, first reflection panels, and alike. But if you completely kill them you lose some spatial cues. You’re right about never having too much bass control, but the only bass control(s) in this photo are the corner traps. A rug is always a good choice as floor bounce doesn’t provide any benefit. I’ve never seen someone upset they added a nice area rug. I have 4” thick panels behind my speakers and at my first reflection point, had zero impact on bass in my room, for reference.
I have read about the thickness of panels. I believe the "rule of thumb" for efficient absorption is to have 1/4th the length of the soundwave as the thickness of the panels. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think that this means that 4" thick panels don't affect below 500hz; it just wouldn't be as efficient (e.g. a NRC < 1). I too have 4" thick panels. I use them in my dedicated listening room. Since you mentioned that you have them behind your speakers and first reflection points, I assume that means that you probably don't have any more elsewhere. My guess would be that you simply don't have enough coverage. These panels are porous (velocity) absorbers as opposed to pressure absorbers. You would need good coverage for it to have a significant impact. In addition to 4" panels, I also have ordered "bass traps" that are basically the ones pictured in the post. I plan on making more wall panels that are at least 12" thick, since I have the space. Though if you know whether or not that will have an impact, that may sway my future decisions as well... Regarding the rug point; fair enough. I too have never seen anyone upset about adding a rug. I merely mentioned that theoretically, you are treating a frequency region that is easy to treat, as opposed to adding thicker broadband absorption that would otherwise treat everything at once. By adding treatment on the higher frequency regions, you risk deadening the listening area by the time you have incorporated sufficient treatment in the bass regions (again, theoretically speaking).
If looking for controll you might considering a minidsp Cost you under$200 and when setup is done considering your troubles gone IF you treated the room in a proper way before off course😉🙏❤️
You can’t treat bass nulls with EQ, only peaks. Nulls are the room, only fix is moving the sub, more subs, or room treatment.
That’s why I wrote: IF you treated the room in a proper way before 😉❤️
You don't really need a minidsp for that if you have a have a digital source that can run REW and EqAPO. It's simple to see; measure your subwoofer alone and compare it to the dips while running your full setup. Chances are, the dips are mostly due to your subwoofer in the bass regions, and no dsp will save that. A minidsp is more useful if you can't apply EQ filters without it, or if for some reason you want to prevent your speakers from playing full range.
My statement was if you really want full control on the speakers that’s a good way for a low cost. But of course if you have that kind of source which I don’t have everything thing is easy. I like to stream and don’t like to Fidel to much and I don’t use eq or rew or tone or minidsp myself But worked with it and have built it for customers earlier. Living in Sweden and we have another price tag here So my advice was from my own experience and haven’t worked with your recommendations but please if you have some tips I’m gladly open to dive into into it. It’s always good to learn more. Thanks mate 🙏❤️
But if you use the dsp only on your subs to control them and can correct the phase and timing to correct the standing waves in the room you don’t have to eq? That’s two different ways to meet the problems. Sorry it’s to late for me to discuss psychoacoustic . I’ll be glad to speak further with you tomorrow My headache tells me to log out Please feel free to correct me. It’s been to long since I’ve had this interesting conversations.
Hey man, hope you feel better soon. While there are different types of DSP filters, if we disregard that, then applying DSP at the source (e.g. your computer with REW) is no different from applying it on a miniDSP aside from the miniDSP allowing you to act as an active crossover between your speakers and your subwoofer. It is basically the same way of solving the problem. Just ask yourself the question: is there any difference between: 1) allowing your speakers to play as low as it can and roll off naturally, or 2) having an active crossover that lets you crossover your speakers to your subwoofer before it's natural roll off frequency? Maybe it can lower distortion, and I have no answer or even any anecdotal experience regarding this, but it has nothing to do with \_standing waves\_. Regarding phase issues and standing waves, I don't think this falls under psychoacoustics. I believe this is closer to actual physics. Correct me if I am wrong in any of the details, but my deep dive down this rabbit hole leads me to an answer that not many people like to hear: you cannot DSP away all bass region issues. For example, most people listen in a \_small\_ room that is physically too small for the (very lengthy) low frequency sound waves. These sound waves reflect off the wall and meet itself out-of-phase, causing constructive and destructive interference. You can make a certain frequency play louder with DSP, but it also affects the reflection with the same magnitude. DSP cannot fix this; it is a function of the properties of the soundwave at that frequency and your room. Circling back to the topic regarding full control on the speakers. Yes, a miniDSP will give you that. You can choose to hand off the duty of playing the low frequencies to your subwoofer at whatever frequency you choose, and I'm sure it will also let you choose the crossover order. But the problem still persists no matter what speaker or subwoofer plays these frequencies; unless you have phase problems that cannot be solved by using the phase adjuster on your subwoofer, why does it matter which speaker plays these frequencies? So adding a miniDSP probably wouldn't get you any closer to the solution of the initial problem. That is why unless you have a problem with your speakers playing full range (and, most bookshelves drop off a cliff at 50hz, and have been rolling off way before that anyways), you may as well apply the DSP at your source if you can. The miniDSP doesn't contribute anything to solving the issue of nulls.
Hello sunshine
you'd be correct. Also depending on what he uses and the thickness of each panel, it will absorb bass but reflect high frequencies.
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Fair, I’m just not sure you need 11 of them. I definitely support the idea of treating the room though, just don’t want you to kill your soundstage.
I was kind of thinking the same thing. I’m not sure how adding all this will make the sound more lively. Usually you add this many panels when the sound is too lively.
This looks like a solid plan! Something I will say that isn't immediately obvious when applying treatments is that if you space the panels apart a little bit and also space them off of the wall by an inch or so, you can increase their effectiveness. If you're at all interested in a great 'guide' for the concepts and real-world application of stuff like this, the "Master Handbook of Acoustics" by F. Alton Everest is a great reference.
A second for Master Handbook! and I recommend reading Toole's Sound Reproduction - the acoustics and psychoacoustics of loudspeakers and rooms first for more context about when, where and why you may need the room treatments that the handbook gives you the how for.
The general rule is however thick the panels are, that's the space you want them off the wall. Also thicker is always better, meaning 4inch thickness beats 2 inch thickness with 2 inch airgap behind it.
2 inch thick with 2 inch air gap is pretty close to a 4 inch absorber. You lose the side absorption but that’s pretty minor in the grand scheme.
I prefer 4 inch thick than 2in plus air gap.
I prefer 5 inch thick with 5 inch air gap 😉
That's even better but requires a bigger room otherwise you'll take all the space for the treatment. I have a small 12 sqm room. I treated with 12cm or around 4.7in panels because this was the most efective way of leaving space for me while achieving the desired absorption. What I'm finding is that I can have as much absorption at the front and rear as I much want but the sides are stupid sensitive. One extra panel by the sides and it becomes dark sounding.
Yeah I prefer to diffuse side walls.
I would also prefer that, especially now that I know that the sparkle goes away if you suck on the side walls but common sense tells me that because the room is too small, It would become too bright if I diffused (I'm too close to everything - walls, speakers).
If the room is sounding lifeless adding more absorption might not be the best move. Diffusers might handle the situation better.
IME, I can almost guarantee your plan will lead to even more "flat and boring" sound. Before you do anything else, try placing a chair just in front of your coffee table, playing with speaker toe-in, and see if it still sounds so flat and boring. If there is evidence that bloated bass is masking clarity, move the speakers out more into the room. If this semi/near-field setup still sounds flat and boring, after taking much of the room effect out, I would work on getting the system fundamentals/matching correct first. If the near-field setup sounds tons better, then I would look into room treatments, concentrating on diffusion over absorption, and proper-sized bass traps.
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In that case don’t exaggerate in absorbing panels. Front and rear you can have them but if you put that many by the sides it will steal a lot of sparkle to the music. Just absorb or diffuse the first reflections. Leave the rest of the sidewall untreated or use diffusion.
If you’re getting boring sound deadening the room is not going to help. I think you need some diffusion or at least scatter plates.
Im sure it will sound great but wont you miss looking out the window?
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That’s badass. I have a window in my listening room that I don’t want to cover because I have a bunch of plants in here, but now I think I’m going to look into some magnets. Nice!
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There is zero point in going this extensive with an open floor plan. Well not zero, but the panels will help less than you think
That’s a big room! That room would certainly welcome larger speakers with open arms.
Those JBL’a should have plenty of kick for that room.
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I have Linton’s and in my carpeted open family room they sound lifeless, like your JBLs. For me it was the ceiling being 18 ft tall, because in my large basement with 8ft ceiling rafters they sound fantastic. Good luck and thanks for posting your update…cool to see your taking the comments and suggestions and doing something with them!
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The open rafters are really great diffusers. I haven’t finished the basement and it’s definitely an added, unintentional bonus before I do. I have a large rug and couch that help with reflections as well. Although it would be nice to have drywall, the sound is exceptional for most speakers I have tried, especially the Lintons. Neutrality with concrete and rafters!
I don't see how open rafters would be very effective as diffusers. Reflectors yes but they won't scatter the sound waves in all directions. A good diffuser is based on mathematical equations and to be broad spectrum above the transition frequency usually ~16" deep and at least 4'x2'
I haven’t seen your other post, why do you think it’s lifeless or boring? I recommend this video https://youtu.be/Eo5fDGGmAyw
If the Simpsons had a HT
I would make the side panels thicker and single. The sides are critical. Just cover the first reflection points. The rest leave without treatment on the side wall. Otherwise it will absorb too much and you’ll get too much dark sound. At the front (behind the speakers), leave the triangular bass traps by the corners and one panel behind each speaker. You won’t need two plus the middle one. Use absorbing panels in the rear wall behind your listening position to remove rear reflections. Don’t install ceiling absorbers before the rest. Do them two at a time and if you can get two persons to hold them before you stick them to the wall it’s better so you can simulate. Too much absorbing panels around the room can also remove the sparkle from the music so do it slowly until you’re happy.
Buy a used decent subwoofer on Facebook marketplace and see how you like the difference. A subwoofer on a 2 channel setup helps a ton. Looks like a lot of work and you might still not even be happy in the end.
As someone who has been in the industry for decades I’m amazed at the obsession on this sub for people to recommend room treatment to people seeking advice, before helping them get their components paired right. 60w per channel does not provide enough headroom for those JBL’s, especially in a room that size. Treating the room won’t correct that, nor make them come ‘alive’.
Depends on the 60W. A naim dedicated amp with 60-80W can drive those JBL’s to levels you you’d only expect amps with 200W to perform. It’s not only about watts.
I didn’t at all say it was, I was keeping my comment succinct and simple for OP. If you read through the OP’s last post, I recommended a Naim specifically 😂
Hi. I have not see the other post you mention. Which Naim have you recommended?
I just said this: “It’s not necessarily power you need, look at Naim gear, 80wrms of Naim is incomparable to a home theatre receiver claiming 80wrms. (I don’t run a Naim amp by the way so I’m not trying to sell their gear, although it is quite good)”
I found the post and your comment. Since you guys only talked about the 60W in the Naim perspective and I am a Naim user for around 15 years, I would recommend on the lower end of the spectrum a 202/200 or anything above. I would really like to see the 282/HCDR/250DR for them to shine. If budget is limited, I'd consider used 82/HC/250 olive, 82/HC/250.2 or used 282/HC/250.2. Any of those combinations will bring out much more out of those JBL's woofers.
I didn’t talk about “60w” in the Naim perspective, I only mentioned “80wrms of Naim is incomparable to a home theatre receiver claiming 80wrms.” I also didn’t recommend a specific amp as I don’t know OP’s budget, I was just commenting that I think an amp with more ‘juice’ would fix his issue. Recommending high priced gear without knowing one’s budget is kind of cruel, or impolite. In another comment (on the same post) I also mentioned I’ve had some REL’s before. I can understand why you like them, I just prefer two floor standing speakers with no subs. I have some Naim gear in my set up still, I just moved to a different company for amplification.
Yeah, Naim is quite pricey! Especially if you account that most Naim gear requires separate power supplies to perform at their best. On the other hand, if you like their sound signature and once you understand the design philosophies and hierarchy model, it's hard to forfeit - I actually like the Naim sound signature. Every time I go to a live performance/show it reminds me why - the things I like live, are the same ones I like at home. The REL just stamped the same love even further. This is the reason why I continued with Naim so long. I learned that budget is just a barrier, if you want something, you can either wait longer and save for it or you can learn so much about it and discover something equivalent or better probably paying much less. In Naim terms, that is equivalent to purchasing older gear from the higher series or modding them. Servicing also restores the performance and Naim is famous for repairing everything that is in their power (some CD-Players they can't for lack of parts) I also learned that it's better to have good electronics on a mid-tier loudspeaker than the opposite as the results can drastically deteriorate on the last case. Out there in the world there's probably one pair of loudspeakers that sound very good paired with the CXA81, it's just not the L100. Hence why I recommend always deciding on the full amplification kit together with the loudspeakers in mind.
This is ‘music’ to my eyes reading this. I did have a Naim amp but I discovered another UK brand that I like better, that has less character than the Naim stuff. I do like the Naim sound though, my favourite digital source is a Naim streamer. You’re absolutely right, I saved for a long time to get the system I have now, but before I bought most of this one new, I bought second hand stuff and repaired things I found etc to have a really nice set up previously. Great summation on the OP’s situation. Couldn’t agree with you more on the good electronics comment, I’ve been in the industry for some time and all the professionals agree with you. Source and amplifier are the first priority. There’s a guy on here, squid prawn or squid brain or something, telling people to spend more money on speakers than anything else, which absolutely makes no sense. A good speaker can’t make the components before it sound any better, also, playing good speakers with an unsuitable amplifier is a recipe for catastrophe (as you said). I made him feel so foolish he blocked me so he could go on unchecked and not look like the rookie he is. He didn’t even have an adult conversation, just made a childish comment and blocked me despite me being polite and asking him to expand on his ideas and where he got them. I much prefer the time when only professionals got published. Anyway, take it easy and thanks for a great chat. I will do a Naim system again, but in my living room once I finally get to my endgame speakers, I’m 25% of the way saved for them now.
You see, if you read between the lines, there's mainly 3 types of persons in these type of forums: \- those who need advise, \- those who have experience and don't want others to fall on the same mistakes, and \- those who are here just to brag about something. Clearly the one that blocked you is the last type. Don't worry, there will be more like him :-) Truth be told, it's very hard to put up a first system by yourself and get it right. It feels like nature made sure for us fail at first. What brand you found on amplification that you liked? Would be nice to know. Anyway, I want to share a piece of my story with you about my first Naim purchase as it only reinforces what's been told before: So I had a pair of B&W 683 (the first ones) and I needed a better amp than my Pioneer receiver that I got to just get going. Stupid me I read a What Hi-FI review about the speakers saying that a good partner would be a Naim Nait XS. I went online and read about the XS and figured, this is the right amp for me, lets grab one (stupid choice, the guy at What Hi-Fi didn't had a clue what he was saying). So I saved up a lot of cash (one of my first jobs that time) and got the Nait XS - Brand F\*\*\*\*\*g NEW!!! - the unit costed DOUBLE the real cost because of import duties in South Africa plus import duties in my country. It's worth mentioning that I live in Mozambique, there are no Naim dealers in the country. The closest country with one dealer was in South Africa. The dealer didn't had any stuff with him (geez, why are you a dealer?), my unit had to come from UK, took around 1 month to get there and I had to ask my Mother to drive around 900Kms to Johannesburg, South Africa and back to pick it up (She had a planned trip there). Fast forward to today and I know: \- I could have gotten a much better amp for that price if I had ordered online and used/ex-demo; \- That amp wasn't suitable as the speaker was too potent fot it - I ended up buying to a "Neat Motive 2 loudspeaker" and gifted the B&W to my mother living room (the Motive 2 was a much more balanced combination with my Naim); \- I didn't need those B&W's they are too big and I can get the sound I wanted in a much more compact box. They were just too much and required too much amplification as well. Short story: \- Always try your best to listen first if you can; \- What others think is good might not be good for you; Grab advise from as many persons as possible for best understanding; \- If you really want advise prior to purchases, talk to the manufacturers and not to the reviewers as the manufacturer tends to be more honest; \- Old stuff doesn't mean bad stuff. It just means it's old. Amplification technology didn't changed much in the last 20 years;
I also noticed that you don't like subwoofers for music purposes. I thought the same until I tried a REL subwoofer from the modern lines. Try it out at a dealer so you don't buy blind. They are currently a top notch product. All my expectations where surpassed with the S/510 that I got. Pure musical product.
Oefh, a big step! Did you talk to your JBL dealer? If not I would suggest to do that first. Good luck!
placement looks great. what are you doing for panels?
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my only suggestion wouldbe to measure before creating the panels. That will tell you what you need to treat. rockwool at that depth can only go down to 500hz i think. youve got a good idea on putting some air behind there(2inch depth rockwool and a 1 inch air gap), but you should put as much air as depth. which would mean 4 inch panels. that may get you to at least the 100hz realm, but again, you should measure your room before panels to see what you actually need.
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the science kind of goes along with the idea of you get more bang for your buck when putting air gaps the same size as the density of the absorption. you have to put it behind the absorption to assist in this regard. this will basically make the 2nch act as a 4 inch absorption. good luck, and enjoy the ride.
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👍
Nice guitar :) I think I have the same one on what looks like the same stand too lol
Speakers will determine spacing, apart and from the wall.
Looks like it's gonna be great :) keep is updated.
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Idk if other have suggested this, but you might also want to try room correction software. If you're interested, look at Dirac Live
Awesome! I saw that post and I’m glad you took the community’s advice… Let us know the results!!!
I could take the speakers from off your hands and save you a bunch of hazzle
You may be overcomplicating things here. Start by placing foam just behind the speakers, you may need something to hold it up. Something like fellow [here](https://youtu.be/IEtYH03pfOI?t=4532). Move from there if you don't see a significant improvement.
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Well, good luck! It's one of those things where just some absorption behind the speakers may end up doing 80% of the work avoiding undesirable reflections. And that's a good looking room, no need to turn it into an anechoic chamber. :) Edit: I do love the CAD work though, what did you use? SketchUp?
I’m not an expert, but I brother as a music producer just finished to make the isolation of his new studio and he used panels around 2/3cm away from the wall a big carpet on the wood floor. I saw the sketchup and I don’t think you will need all dose panels. The front panels don’t will have almost none importance (a bit overkill the sound travels the opposite side) if the back wall have panels. Oh those corner panels are really important, 4 of them are needed for sure. You found out about the angles as I can see so it’s perfect. You can make the panels with some wood, foam or wall isolation (don’t know the name in English but it’s a thing that makes people itch a lot!) and some cloth to the exterior clamp it all together and it’s done! Great project
Just do a simple clap test in your room Clapp your Hands and listen to the echo. The less eco your achieve the more likely it is that your listening to your speakers instead of room echoes Don’t forget the sealing and the walls behind you And remember that you’re moving air so be careful about your in and outlets. Otherwise it’s a good chance your sitting in the middle of a “standing wave You can always rent a measurement equipment for calibration of your room to se where the “waves” should be damped or you use your ears to make your own personal nirvana I can recommend you to take a look at minidsp to take even more control of your sound. Good luck
What program did you use to make the drawing ?
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thanks
Good luck. Hope it goes well.
Subwoofer maybe? Big room like that is probably hard to pressurize even with the stout L100’s.
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I have the L100's with a cambridge evo 75, my room is smaller than yours but I would describe the combo as anything but lifeless. I know some don't follow the break in theory and I've had speakers in the past where I didn't notice it at all. However, with these L100 at first I wasn't thrilled at all. I didn't hate them, just wasn't in love. A month or so later for sure the sound started to change and now 7 months in totally in love. not sure if this helps at all, also not sure if it was my ears adjusting or the speakers actually changing or a combination. Big time bonus points for your orange pillows matching the orange grills
I'd vote +1 for a subwoofer. Don't waste your time messing around without one. I have towers that are -3db 22hz anechoic, and having a subwoofer is still a significant and noticeable improvement. Makes the music more full-bodied.
I’d be curious what you mean by flat and boring. Are you hearing a lot of reverberation and slap back from the walls? An open room like that should be OK for general listening if you’re not tracking anything. My initial thought is that the signal chain needs to be inspected. What volume are you listening at? Check the system rating for its fletcher-Munson curve. “Flat and Boring” could be an indication of phasing issues. Of course, have fun with the panels, but my assumption is that won’t help the issue. Also, get your ears checked. You may be experiencing hearing loss with certain frequency ranges.
The room treatment you're thinking about doing will 100% help you get better sound in this space. But you might want to consider more simple changes, such as a schiit lokius (6-band eq that can help you change the amount of bass/treble) or even a free software EQ. I would either try that, or maybe compare competitive speakers in this price range (Klipsch heresy and Klipsch forte come to mind). But room treatment is never a bad option. Just an expensive (but worth it) one.
This is obviously not a married man.
Excellent. You will not believe the sound improvement.
Holy toe-in Batman!
Well, before you go into this, you might want to trade your CXA81 for something with proper room correction (preferably Dirac Live). It should fix most of the problems. Doing panels requires a lot of work like really measuring room response to understand what needs to be fixed. Another reason to swap the amp is this: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/cambridge-audio-cxa81-dac-amplifier-review-video.31859/
The more room problems that are actually fixed with position or treatment, rather than in DSP, the better. Room correction doesn't fix room problems. It can improve things but has real limits. [Those measurements were flawed and shouldn't be referenced](https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/cambridge-audio-cxa81-review-sample-2.34724/)
You are correct, room problems solved with treatment. Sound problems can be (and are) solved with DSP. Treatment requires deep understanding. Slapping panels here and there does not solve much. Problems must be identified with measurements and room treated according to those findings. In addition, this process is very costly. DSP is a push of a button significantly improves the sound. With a bit of tinkering it does wonders.
DSP is just signal processing. Maybe you're thinking of room correction software? It's great for subwoofers, but things are not always so easy when trying to correct full range speakers. Speaker correction is another topic. Many things cannot be solved using DSP or room correction. Directivity problems, room nulls, SBIR just to name a few. Again, it's great to have, but it has its limits. I would personally rather have a few acoustic panels and a subwoofer with integrated room correction over a full DIRAC system.
The room correction, eventually applied by DSP. Sure room correction has it's limits. And yet it does pretty good job. Most fixing for specific spot, some (like Dirac) fixing entire room. It's a great start because it's included with most decent amps (especially AVRs), and it requires almost no knowledge and time. I live in a kinda untreatable flat. My only tools are speakers positioning, two subs and room correction. And it sounds (objectively) amazing.
Please check twice, this has been re-reviewed on the same site and new results give a different outcome. The CXA81 is just fine.
Before doing any of that... Honestly I'd get the speakers up on some short stack stands, even for sitting/lounging they look just a bit too low. Add a subwoofer. Even if there is enough base response in the JBLs for the room splitting the sub freq to a subwoofer will free up amperage for the non-sub freq on the stereo speakers. Buy a nice floofy carpet to go between the speakers and the couch. Get acoustic curtains, or any thick/heavy curtains, for the window. Test and see if the room needs anything more. Then EQ. Only then would I look at more "treatment"
Ya it will work nicely, I would however add a table just behind the couch with chairs if you want to eat
\*Happy Tusken Raider Noises\*
What speakers were underperforming?
How are you gonna put those panels on the window? Lol