How do I make a 7.1.4 system work in a very small room?

[mandrix]

lol. I don't know if we've solved the OP's problem, but we've certainly covered some territory.

 

[barfle]

Yeah yeah. Everyone does not have a room to "optimally place" all speakers. If you do, then good for you.
True, room correction will not fix everything.
Saying that room correction software causes distortion is shortsighted. Nor in all rooms can all the base speakers be exactly the same level.
What is not fun is your personal opinion possibly causing others to forgo immersive sound because they can't set their audio room up 100% ideal. Where is yours set up? A pro mixing studio? If so, how many others do you think have the flexibility to do this?

One thing I’ve pretty much always said about my setup is that I want it to be “pretty good.” I intend to keep improving it until I’m wheeled out of the house, but perfection doesn’t happen, even in a live performance in an excellent auditorium. Different seats will have different sounds, and maybe, just maybe, the conductor of an orchestra hears perfection, but if so, not often.

 

[ProgRules]

One thing I’ve pretty much always said about my setup is that I want it to be “pretty good.” I intend to keep improving it until I’m wheeled out of the house, but perfection doesn’t happen, even in a live performance in an excellent auditorium. Different seats will have different sounds, and maybe, just maybe, the conductor of an orchestra hears perfection, but if so, not often.

Perfect is the enemy of good.

 

[zar]

Perfect is the enemy of good.

Great thought piece to ponder on the reality of working with the room you actually have versus the dream room that may never materialize.

I will echo the sentiment of great being the enemy of good. It’s all-too-easy to forget that while you’re waist deep focusing on the details and chasing ‘perfect’.

The most commonly overlooked part of the equation is the room itself. Think of the room as every bit as important as any single component. Everything works better if you start with correcting the room to solve for knowable issues. Then revisit room tweaks once you see how the theoretical treatments match up to your actual listening experience.

I had some success using green glue (a viscous elastic dampening material) that allows you to sandwich an additional sheet of drywall to form a fairly cost effective way to achieve a dampend room; especially useful where you don’t want to tear the room down to studs and employ more complex building techniques often employed in custom builds. Back boxes can be utilized to elevate in-wall speakers performance by removing the variable of a randomly open space behind the speaker. Some mfg offer engineered back box solutions. Triple pane windows may be worth considering for certain rooms where covering glass is less preferable.

In-wall speakers often get a bad rap, but some of the brands mentioned here are solid offerings and worth considering in space challenged rooms or where an aesthetic preference is to remove the visual clutter of speakers. Triad makes a true premium product that may be price prohibitive new but are something of a deal on the resale market. NHT from the last generation Classic series in-walls are really nice and well-engineered, especially at the top of the range. Those speakers feature the same driver arrays as their best monitors. They also offer aim-able drivers on some of their smaller in-ceiling models.

Absent from the speaker conversation are the ON-wall offerings. NHT spring to mind here as the previous Evolution (aka Evo) series L5 speakers use paintable metal enclosures with aimable metal mounting bases designed to be mounted on-wall or on-ceiling. The drivers are the same ones used in their M5 monitor speakers which gives you the option to blend monitors and on-wall speakers with matched speaker voicing. They also offered in-wall 12” subs, but those may be hard to source.

With the layered approach of addressing the room and thoughtful speaker choice you can do a lot in a small space. Bonus is you don’t need gobs of power to hit reference levels. The advances in room correction equipment has trickled down to more reasonably affordable gear, makes it more possible now than ever to build an impressive listening space.

Paraphrasing what someone remarked about the first Doors surround recording: Don’t focus on what your room lacks - just be thankful for having a dedicated space to enjoy your hobby. True as ever - comparison is the thief of joy.

Cheers!

 

[jimfisheye]

That's when you know your surround mix is on point. When it sounds right from any weird spot in the room and then also sounds right listening from the next room.

 

[omnipotent1]

If the OP is still here...
I suggest he go to ASR(Audiosciencereview)
They have far more members to help with this kind of thing.

 

[Starkenstein]

I have a small study/office, 13 ft. x 9 ft. I have found such a small area tough to use for upgraded sound. It's easier to use small speakers, but I wanted the better sound I get from larger speakers. I chose the Magnepan route, with 2 pair on-wall speakers, MC-1 for the front pair and MMG-Ws for the back pair, with an MG-CC3 center speaker. These speakers require an amp with lots of 4-ohm capacity, more than my Marantz AV receiver can put out, so I've been using a first generation Emotiva XPA-2 and a 3-channel Krell KAV 250a/3. I added an ELAC sub. The sound is the best I have obtained in this room.

Obviously, you would need more speakers, but I've been very satisfied with the performance of the wall-mount Maggies.

Just sayin'.

 

[omnipotent1]

I have a small study/office, 13 ft. x 9 ft. I have found such a small area tough to use for upgraded sound. It's easier to use small speakers, but I wanted the better sound I get from larger speakers. I chose the Magnepan route, with 2 pair on-wall speakers, MC-1 for the front pair and MMG-Ws for the back pair, with an MG-CC3 center speaker. These speakers require an amp with lots of 4-ohm capacity, more than my Marantz AV receiver can put out, so I've been using a first generation Emotiva XPA-2 and a 3-channel Krell KAV 250a/3. I added an ELAC sub. The sound is the best I have obtained in this room.

Obviously, you would need more speakers, but I've been very satisfied with the performance of the wall-mount Maggies.

Just sayin'.

When it did sound good -- which was on typical show audiophile tracks -- the experience was good. Alas, every track would sound similar with the same height and spatial effects.

Conclusions
The Magnepan LRS is a hugely flawed speaker with moments of delight. If I could control what you listen to, e.g. in an audio show or dealer room, I could convince you it is much better speaker than it is. The best way I can explain this is that the designers solved 30% of the physics of building a speaker, and threw you in there to solve the rest! You take on the job of spending what must be a lifetime messing with location, tilt, EQ, etc. to get sound that is good for more than a few select tracks.

I am confident a better job can be done than what we see in LRS. Maybe making the panels smaller causes the beaming and interference patterns worse. I don't know. What I do know that this is not a product finished and fit for use by a consumer.

I wonder how much simulation and in field analysis was performed as I have shown here. Doesn't seem like much was done to find and remove issues with this speaker.

Needless to say, I can't recommend the Magnepan LRS.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/magnepan-lrs-speaker-review.16068/

 

[Starkenstein]

When it did sound good -- which was on typical show audiophile tracks -- the experience was good. Alas, every track would sound similar with the same height and spatial effects.

Conclusions
The Magnepan LRS is a hugely flawed speaker with moments of delight. If I could control what you listen to, e.g. in an audio show or dealer room, I could convince you it is much better speaker than it is. The best way I can explain this is that the designers solved 30% of the physics of building a speaker, and threw you in there to solve the rest! You take on the job of spending what must be a lifetime messing with location, tilt, EQ, etc. to get sound that is good for more than a few select tracks.

I am confident a better job can be done than what we see in LRS. Maybe making the panels smaller causes the beaming and interference patterns worse. I don't know. What I do know that this is not a product finished and fit for use by a consumer.

I wonder how much simulation and in field analysis was performed as I have shown here. Doesn't seem like much was done to find and remove issues with this speaker.

Needless to say, I can't recommend the Magnepan LRS.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/magnepan-lrs-speaker-review.16068/

No LRS or any floor-standing Magnepans in my small room setup, only wall-mounted and a center Maggie. Totally different speakers. I found that the floor-standing Maggies, in particular the MMG, don't work in my small room. Too much like what others have called the "battleship in a bath tub" problem. Speakers must match the space.