Room filling sound

tosh

Well-known member
Dec 10, 2007
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18,540
Does your sound fill the whole room because when i listen it is obvious mine is just infront of me,does that make any sense?My system is Nad 315 and 515 combo with Kef IQ5se.
 
I have a feeling that you haven't played around with speaker placement too much. Just for fun bring the speakers out about a meter from the rear wall and angle them completely toward the listening position.
 
That sounds a bit better though i'm getting dagger's from the missus.What speakers would give same effect say 200mm off back wall?
 
Haha, of course, that's why I said "just for fun."

I hate to tell you, but almost every speaker benefits from having space around them. When the speakers are too close to the rear wall, according to my experience, they become boomy without any front/back perspective. You also have to dial higher in order to get the same volume causing unnecessary strain on the amplifier.

Can you describe to me how your system's set up in the room? Do the speakers have spiked feet? What is the floor material? What cables do you use? What is your listening height in relation to the speaker height?
 
The QED Original you are using for speaker cable is a very detailed cable and brings an element of control to the sound that maybe isn't gelling so well with your KEFs, which tend to be very controlled and reserved in themselves. I wonder whether using Chord Carnival might help to free the sound up a bit. I've just gone the opposite way from Chord Rumour 2 to QED Original 2 Biwire because my QA speakers are very sensitive and large scale sounding (the opposite of your KEFs) and the QED keeps things in check much better than the Chord. I've now got the same deep bass but its much tighter and the top end has much more clarity.

Another thought - are your speakers angled towards the listening position? If so, it might be worth trying them straight on which can give more of a widescreen feel to the sound. With the Uni-Q drivers this shouldn't really create any imaging problems.
 
Hi,room is 3.5mx5m.Speakers are 200mm off longer wall about 2m apart and about 3m from sofa.Speakers are spiked onto laminate flooring.Plenty of furnishing.Cable is QED original.Electronics are set up in through lounge 3mx3.5m.Speakers are normally pointing straight forward.
 
Hi Matthew,my cables are the oldest part of my system so maybe i should try your idea.Did you mean the silverscreen?
 
tosh:That sounds a bit better though i'm getting dagger's from the missus.What speakers would give same effect say 200mm off back wall?

Some on here will probably say, "oh no, not that old chestnut again, pp"
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but the RS6 give a fabulous virtual surround sound with good recordings. Mine are placed about 300mm from back wall with a smidgen of toe-in, and spin Saving Private Ryan DVD or CD Newton Faulkner or Eagles Greatest Hits and sound whizzes around the room.

But, after experimenting with speaker positioning, fire the speakers straight ahead and virtual ss increases. Toe'm in and the sounstaging increases.....
 
tosh:Hi Matthew,my cables are the oldest part of my system so maybe i should try your idea.Did you mean the silverscreen?

Yeah, the Carnival Silverscreen. If you can borrow some from your local dealer for a home demo all the better. That would at least give you an idea of how the sound could be tweaked using different speaker cabling. I'm not saying it would definitely work, but I've seen a marked difference from my speaker cable change so it has to be worth a try. Its certainly cheaper than jumping to change a component or the speakers.
 
Your laminate flooring probably isn't helping matters. Ive laminate flooring in my living room and found that placing 2mm thick rubber mat under my speaker stands helped. Ideally a concrete paving slab under each speaker as a cheap option but not too pretty. You can also cut a square of carpet the same size to place on top of the slab, then spike the speakers through it. I have one under my sub, but its in the corner so not so visible.
 
You'd have to try it but it might work better to put 4 large(2cm) balls of blue tac under each speaker instead of spikes but its a solid base/floor you need. However, this will only help to stableise the image and firm up the sound a bit, but will get you a little closer.
 
I'm sorry we are all giving conflicting and confusing ideas.

There is no cure for unsatisfactory sound. All these adjustments will only bring incremental changes, and sometimes not for the better.

From what I see, your room is not a confined space, so the sound might just be escaping all too easily. Your system has to be able to pressurize the room in order to get that room filling sound.

But I think your system is powerful and your room small enough to do that.

Let's get the fundamentals down and right. Make sure the tweeter (or tweeter/woofer in your case) levels with your ears in your listening position. This is very important. Keep the speakers at least a foot away from the wall and toed in slightly.

Also, check the polarity on cable terminals (red to red, black to black), and if it is biwirable, and you are not using biwire cable, be sure to leave the link in and secured tightly.
 
My wife wanted doors fitted to the room opening to keep the heat in the front room,maybe help with the sound too?
 
My listening height is roughly 6inch above top of speaker.Looks like new doors and sofa,Ha.Thanks for all your help.
 
There's one aspect we haven't touched yet, which is subwoofer.

You might be craving that feeling of the room being loaded. From what I can read from the specs on the iQ5SE, it might not have enough bass for your taste. It will definitely be cheaper than getting a new door and a sofa.
 
Try putting granite chopping boards from Argos under the speakers(around £10 each) and experiment with spikes/Blutak/Squash balls etc.You can get little discs that the spikes sit in,if nothing else they will stop the floor looking like a dartboard.Good luck.
 
My speakers are at an angle so they point to my ears.

Could try that?
 
Hi!

Yes, my system fills the room with music, depending on the recording of course.

As others have pointed out - speaker placement is critical. One meter out is a bit overkill perhaps, try placing them about 65-70cm out - measured from the front of the speakers, not the back and see if that works. I would also try and move them further apart, 50-100cm more apart. Also experiment with toe-in. From zero to over shooting.

It's also important that the tweeter is at ear height, or, is aimed at ear height by tilting the speakers.

Damping/absorbing the first reflexions on the side walls will help.

Still not happy? Upgrade the system 🙂 The more details, reverbs, micro dynamics and "air" a system can dig out - the more the sound "will leave the speakers and play in the whole room".

Good luck!
 
Hi,gonna upgrade speaker cables and get doors on between rooms to seal in sound.I've moved speakers out into room as much as wifey will allow and i'll take it from there.Thanks for all the help guys.
 

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