New speakers - masses of boomy bass

[helma]

Sounds like the speakers put out more bass than the room can handle, stuffing the ports with socks or something might work. Fast and easy to try and nothing to loose. Also finding just the right spot(s) for the speakers can help a lot, mainly distance from the wall behind them. The reflections from the wall will boost certain frequencies and cancel some others as the reflection is 180 degrees out of phase from the sound coming from the speaker. If your placement is boosting a frequency which already has a nasty room mode then things go very bad very fast.

Also doing 'something' about the speaker/floor interface can be important if the floor is boosting the bass. I have very springy wooden floors and placing speakers directly on them is a recipe for disaster - but decoupling the speakers with something too springy while helping with the bass messed up other things. After some experimenting I now have the hockey pucks (for some little decoupling) under 3 concrete slabs (weighing about 50kg in total I guess) on top of which the speakers rest. It did help quite a bit.

[Arkless Electronics]

The first and IMHO most important thing to do should be to try them in different positions! Further from wall for a start but sometimes a room will sound vastly more boomy with the speakers firing down one axis compared to another...

I agree that thin speaker wire is not the way to go!

Beware of concrete slabs as IME they can make some speakers sound awful by either resonating, or reflecting, vibration back up to the speaker.... I didn't experiment much but it seemed apparent that one of these scenarios was going on. I guess suitable lossy material betwixt speakers and concrete should cure this but I haven't tried it.

[jandl100]

Beware of concrete slabs as IME they can make some speakers sound awful by either resonating, or reflecting, vibration back up to the speaker.... I didn't experiment much but it seemed apparent that one of these scenarios was going on. .

That is my experience with concrete slabs under speakers - a sonic disaster. They muddle up the sound. A bit like hitting your head against a wall - wonderful when you take them away!

[Mikeandvan]

OK, the bottom of the speakers do have a space which is totally empty at the moment, so that's something I could try, the hole to access this about an inch in diameter though, guess you have to pour sand in through a funnel, this space is sealed off from the rest of the speaker, so no fear of sand getting into the electronics! I read somewhere else that Ruark suppliers - when they were selling these - would have small bags of sand to place in these cavities. I am able to pull the speakers out about 3ft into my room without them being in the way, but that's all, the room is 14ft wide by 20 ft long at its longest point, the kitchen takes up 9 ft of the length, its 3ft longer than the main lounge, which is 17ft long, hope that makes sense, but my lounge (listening) area is 14ft by 11ft, so its oblong, then it narrows by 3ft to the door, I can only place my speakers along the 11ft wall due to a Juliet balcony along the 14ft wall. So, few things to try, at present my turntable is out of action, due to needing an armboard, NAS are being very helpful with this, so should be back in operation with a few weeks, as I find listening to cd through my naim 72/140/teddycap set up somewhat harsher than vinyl. So once back to vinyl, the bass should be reduced. Saying that I was using Epos es11 up until a few months ago and I even preferred those with the bungs in to tame the bass! The height of my room is 7.5ft, so not too high.

[Macca]

Seal the sand in plastic bags and push them through. Don't use loose sand.

[jandl100]

I'd do the sand thing as a last resort, if that.
It'll be a bastard to get out if you don't like the result!

[Oddball]

If you cant find socks then knickers might be more revealing

[Mikeandvan]

I'd do the sand thing as a last resort, if that.
It'll be a bastard to get out if you don't like the result!

A quick web search reveals 'lead shot put into tights', the tights can be retrieved as some material can be left out of the hole! But are you supposed to put the plastic stopper back in? Worth a try I think.

[Pharos]

I bought a pair of slate slabs to reduce movement of my ESS speakers under bass excursion.

Skeptical, I obtained a money back guarantee, and for the attenuation of reflected energy I bought some EPDM 10mm rubber sheet, which seems to work well.

[alphaGT]

I bought a pair of slate slabs to reduce movement of my ESS speakers under bass excursion.

Skeptical, I obtained a money back guarantee, and for the attenuation of reflected energy I bought some EPDM 10mm rubber sheet, which seems to work well.

Rubber sheets? Sounds kinky! But seriously, how much did that set you back? That may prove a better option than old ceiling tiles.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk