Ok, I wanted to show you the RTD2 floorstander. This tool will make a system sing. The original Deluxe RoomTune was everywhere in the 90's, along with the CornerTune. I needed to move on to studios though and Echobusters and other floorstanders came into the game, but the Deluxe was the champ. About a year ago people started getting on me to get busy with some floorstanders again, but I wanted to make something a step up from the original. Here it is the RTD2. We made it 2 inches taller than the old ones, surprising what this does. This is also designed with a serious frame that is a lot beefier than you think. Brazilian pine inner frame and outer frame. The RTD2 has spikes (3 point). There's burn on the back side and the RT Barricade on the front, so this does all the burn as a big trap and more full range, and keeps things clean with the membrane. Sweet tool and about a third the cost of the nearest competition. Plus the nice wood trim. Ok, enough commercial.
Lets look at what I did to the system
You can see from the original setup I switched to a low profile rack. I use platforms close to the floor but even cutting a foot or more off of the height makes a huge difference in openess. Get those components out of the way. Save the "you did it for sound reasons" for someone else
. If you have your speakers on the same wall as your rack you have all kinds of distortion going on. Look above at what I did. I pulled the speakers away from the wall and put the rack half way between the speakers and the wall, then I spent some money for you and put in CornerTunes and EchoTunes. Even if you pulled the speakers out, lowered the rack (pulling it out half way between speaks and wall), and did 2 CT's and 1 ET in the configuration I did here you will be
, holy smokes what a new system. Do not do the "1st reflection" point before doing the upper parts of the room. This is a no no, and will stop you from getting all the pressure building correctly. You can come back to the side wall tunes but you need to get most of the info into the room first before shutting things down. This is a major reason a lot of folks can't play more music. Music info needs equality to spread. Not alot of space just balanced space.
Now I know alot of guys start bellyacking when you bring up stuff they don't want to do, but this isn't Stereophile or Audiocircle, or TAS, this is TuneLand and you can either look at things from a positive point of view and lets have some fun or stay stuck. I don't make the rules, I live by them. If you open up your mind to what we do here your going to be surprised at what is waiting for you around the corner. Plus pulling out the system and getting the equipment out of the way is really just common sense.
Sit in your seat and look around you. What is blocking the sound from getting to you? And, what is crowding the speakers? Their not magic makers you know. They work like any other room source. They don't fire as much forward as you think (some horns do) and if your sitting there with a lot between you and your speakers, you have a lot to deal with.
Hint: when I say inbetween you and your speakers or your speakers and you what I'm talking about is equal space. Here's an example. Take a ruler and measure the distance between you and the speakers. Now take the ruler with that measurement and see what you have that is closer to you (including the floor and ceiling) than the speakers.
Now go to the speakers and do the same. Those are the things that are telling the speakers how to sound and telling your ears what to hear.
See the above room I just did. This is not a listening room. This is a living room with a stereo in it. The hobbyist with this room is hearing first off the sofa. This fabric is throwing the highs out of pitch. The listener is hearing what before he hears the speakers? The tables, the chair, the rug, the rack, the ceiling and the floor and back wall. So while we're looking at those pieces let go listen to them. You can use your voice and get close to these objects and hear how the sound either reverberates or gets soaked up. Notice how much better the reverberation sounds than the dampening? A lot better. Now if you could control that reverb so that it doesn't go on forever, and in this size room it won't, and clear out the objects distorting the sound, you would have the beginnings of your own private concert hall.
Lets go back to the drawing I did before
All you need to do to start your journey is this simple change of a few things. Those who do enter into a completely different hobby. No amount of money can make the living room/stereo setup sound as good as the system and room working together.
Now look at what I went and did
Oh no, I turned it into a concert hall, how could I
Guys, you can see by looking at it how much better it sounds.