Hi Skip, mentioning your age, I just retired at 66, and am hoping I’ll have more time to participate in the forum. I’ve read through the replies, so here are my 2 pennies (they won’t be around too much longer I guess).
I think it’s fantastic that you’re working on the room. When I got back into more serious listening about 7 years ago, I realized I didn’t have nearly the budget to buy really expensive audio gear. I read several articles online that said the biggest improvement you can make in your listening is not your gear - assuming you have at least decent stuff - but the room. It said something along the lines of “a good room will allow you to hear what your speakers are really putting out - something most people are throwing away by not considering the room.” So read, and ask questions. if you’re at all interested (or bored) in what I went through, here’s a link to the topic I started a few years ago - it was before there was a special Rooms category.
As for the size of room, I’ve read several responses and agree with what most people have said. When I started on the project, I had bad news and good news - the bad was that I was stuck with a pretty small space - about 12 x 15 feet. Fortunately I had a high ceiling to work with. The good news was that I was building this in an unfinished basement and had freedom and budget to configure the actual size of the space. There’s a really cool calculator that tells you how to set up your basic dimensions closest to what’s called the “gold ratio” that minimizes bad sound nodes.
I won’t bore you with the total project, but here are the basics of what I did that I’m certain improved the end results:
- Improved the quality of AC power by pulling an independent sub-panel taking several steps to reducing impedance.
- Sound-proofed the room as much as possible. Since I had control of the construction, I did the “room within a room” idea. It lowered the noise floor significantly and minimized other factors that can interfere with hearing what my speakers are producing.
- Having read a lot, and gotten assistance from a fellow PS Audio forum member, went to great lengths on internal room treatments to deal with a pretty small space - I did these myself, and I’m NOT a woodworker! These you are welcome to read about using the link I provided.
- When it comes to gear, I chose and configured for a smaller space, but opted to go with equipment suited for a bit larger space, figuring it would be better to “dumb down” a bigger system than “push up” a smaller system.
- Finally, once I got in the room, I invested in room-correction software and went through the process. My goal has always been to reproduce as closely as possible what the mixing and mastering engineers heard in THEIR room where they decided the recording was as good as they could achieve. Interestingly, I found in my research that THEY use smaller rooms in which to mix & master, so why should I be different?
The end result to my ears is a wonderful cross between a larger room and “near-field” listening. I get the intimacy and imaging I really love, but in no way do I think I’ve sacrificed soundstage size. When I close my eyes (which I do most of the time when listening), I’m in whatever space the recording seeks to emulate. With all the bass-trapping and panel coverage, I worried about creating a “dead” room where I could have shrugged and gone headphones instead, but there’s life in there. And incredibly accurate bass I can hear and feel as intended.
We’ll probably move to another house before I head for that great listening room in the sky, and I’d probably opt for a bit larger room next time, but in no way would I be disappointed with a smaller space. I hope your adventure is as fun and rewarding as mine has been.