Tiny music room (closet) sound cancellation?

[NickMDal]

Hi.  My wife and I have a (maybe unique) listening room.  There is a small problem, but first to share what we have and that we love it!

 

THE ROOM

 

We had an unused 7'x9' closet.  If you are feeling creative, imagine this space.  Completely light sealed.  Add a silent ceiling PC cooling fan to attic and a couple of strategically located ventilation openings the floor edge molding level.   One queen sized futon mattress with a memory topper under its cover.  An XVR star ceiling 9 feet up with 12" flat black wall border added to absorb light.  712 stars of 11 different levels of intensity.  Lossless audio goes to 4 PC speakers via cell phone 3.5mm (Neutron lossless app)

 

PC SPEAKERS

 

Front:  Sony Z623 (2 desktop speakers and a sub)

 

Back:  Creative Gigaworks T20, Series II

 

QUESTION

 

Recently I rewired to eliminate a ground loop.  I also lowered the speakers to a foot above ground since we are lying down looking up at the stars.  There seems to be some kind of audio loss.  As the volume goes up, the sound seems to cancel in ways I do not understand.  Its not just the base.  The sound is clean but some seems to disappear or at best, parts do not scale well with the volume.  I don't think the setup can be out of phase since these speakers to not have separate + - connections.  Is there some way to optimize positioning of the speakers based on the size of the room and where we are in it?

[rando]

You may not be old enough to remember hotel beds you stuck a quarter in for a few minutes of (ahem) speaker optimization.  This goes counter to every tenet of reducing vibration to increase sound quality I can think of.  After a brief consultation, we here at Computer Audiophile strongly believe it's just crazy enough to work very well in your restrictive environment though. 

 

It very well might be the best US $79.99 or CA $95.99 you spend this year! 

 

 

[NickMDal]

I really don't understand this.  Does it have anything to do with audio?  We and friends that visit cram into the room and listen to Beethoven under the stars.  Seriously, what does "(ahem) speaker optimization" mean?  It sounds like an innuendo.

[rando]

In simple straightforward serious and frank terms you have created an impossible scenario for correctly recreating audio.  Your crazy idea is no doubt fun for all involved.  Numerous people laying down together in a closet, horizontal, with speakers mounted on the walls, vertical, would be the first decision that needs to be challenged.  I fear going any further to examine this will only become innuendo so I'll suggest you try this software and consider the recommended reading listed on the page.

[NickMDal]

Okay I got it now.  Had no idea this sort of program (REW) existed but it sounds perfect.  It brings Onkyo's Audacy to mind, which is all I know of in this area.  I apologize for my response to the first suggestion.  Maybe it had something to do with base phase cancellation?  Okay, I'd better stop guessing.  I really don't know much about this stuff.  Off to read the article and maybe order the app.  Thanks!!!

[rando]

It's free, just download it and get started.  You will learn a lot about sound diffusers, bass traps, and speaker placement.

 

No offense was intended.

[NickMDal]

I think this undersized listening room may not be hugely horrible.  The walls are already mostly covered with hanging clothes, so there isn't much bounce going on.  I've rearranged the 4 speakers a bunch of times and have had better almost reasonable sound in the past.

 

Thinking the first problem might be to reconsider 4 speakers.  Here is an argument against them.  http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/do-you-recommend-hooking-up-4-speakers-in-a-two-channel-stereo.262276/#post-6936073"]  Does this sound right?

 

We have nice sounding 5.1 in a large room so I thought 4 (double 2-channel) in the music room would be better than 2.

[NickMDal]

Hi Rando.  Well... as you just said, speaker placement, base traps and diffusers.  With all the hanging clothes, it took 30 minutes to move them around like curtains to find a sweet, balanced sound.  After flipping speakers on and off repeatedly and playing with fade, 4 definitely sounded better than 2.  I tested with the finale of the second concerto, ASIN B000025TEZ.  So nice now. Thank you!!!

 

For all its disadvantages, a small room has one good one.  Its very easy to quickly rearrange and test.  Now I see how I messed the sound up.  Thank you for pointing me in the needed direction!