Klipsch Ultras with LaScalas: The Window Repairman Was At The House Today. . .

[IndyKlipschFan]

For two channel' the subs might sound better more fuller in the corners... For HT when you have a center you might prefer them on the inside so your stereo separation is as wide as possible.

Either way is good.. AND bragging rights always good. Good equipment like klipsch is never cheap... Think of it like an investment too. You get what you pay for in most things in life. You having tasted great sound will be rewarded for YEARS while others will trade up swap out things for a long time till they find out what YOU already know. OMG is this a great fit!!!

When it gets warmer with some space, take em outside too, you will STILL be impressed... Some good southern rock concert type music will be WONDERFUL.. I am sure long before your time but like Peter Frampton live outside... (yes the "Do We Feel Like We Doooooo... ) song in particular... Is just awesome.

[SCOOTERDOG]

I so want to add a set if Ultra's to my system[:'(]

[meagain]

Tidmark - Very nice. Your LaScalas look pretty too but the pic is pretty dark. Have you considered moving the whole ensamble to the opposite wall with the sofa backing to the window? An ex-boyfriend of mine had a room identical to yours (same isles, etc) and it worked quite well.

Do Scalas sound best in corners? Is that critical?

[J.4knee]

I so want to add a set if Ultra's to my system[:'(]

I soooooo know that feeling.[] Ever since I heard them in Indy I have been convinced that is the sub for rmy HT.

[tidmack]

meagain,

Thanks for the compliment on the 'Scalas. They were my first pair of Klipsch. . .bought 'em in college about 9 years ago. The guy's wife made him sell them in lieu of an Acoustimass system. Wow, that hurts!! Original boxes, glass tops. . .it was a sweet deal. The poly/varnish job on them isn't perfect, but the cabinets are exceptional. I had another pair of 1980's too, but foolishly sold them last year to pay for new doors. Dumb move. Especially dumb since I have a Mac 2100 collecting dust now. . .but those Cornwall III's are on their way!!!!

Jeff

[tidmack]

Just a bump to see if Doc Who has any other thoughts on this placement.

[DrWho]

Who: I've added a couple more pics of the

speakers swapped to give you an idea of the two configurations I'm

toying with. Although I consider myself educated, I have to be

honest with ya Doc: I have no idea what your simulation

means! Man, I've re-read it 5 times and even studied your post

and I don't think I quite get what it says. Based on the limited

treatments in my room (light drapes, but heavier sofa and loveseat), do

you think I'm getting more accurate bass with the subs in the corners

or out? I know there will be some that say "just leave them where

you're happy" but if one way is providing more accurate bass, I'd

rather train my ears to accept that than the other way around. Am

I approaching this wrong?

Both ways of sub placement sound great to me, but there is more bass

when the subs are in the corners. After a couple more hours of

listening, maybe boomy isn't the right word (when corner loaded)

because I can still easily distinguish bass notes and there's no slop

to the bass when corner placed. It's just a lot louder when placed in

the corners. Either way, things still sound great-

lol, the simulation just looks fancy. All you do is enter the

dimensions of the room and then it spits out all the frequencies where

standing waves occur. It then provides a visual representation by

drawing hash marks and it sorts the hash marks by color to associate

the standing waves with the dimension of the room responsible for them.

So why look at standing waves? Well if your head is sitting in a null,

you will never hear any sound at that frequency. And if your head is

sitting anywhere else, you will hear a resonance at that frequency (and

the resnance is worst when your head is sitting at a peak). And of

course the problem is compounded when you have multiple standing waves

at the same frequency.

If you take it a step further, you will notice a much higher density of

standing waves as the frequency increases. At frequencies like 1kHz,

the chart would be a solid color because the modal distribution is very

tightly packed (logically it makes sense because as the frequency

increases - aka the wavelengths get smaller - it is easier to fit a

multiple of that wavelength along that dimension). So the fundamental

idea driving the optimizing the modal distribution is to get as many

modes as possible with as uniform a density as possible. This way the

same resonating bass note isn't being heard all the time (which sounds

boomy). Another approach is to minimize the number of modes and then

treat the offending frequencies - this is a lot harder to do in a

situation where there are multiple listening positions and it does

require measuring equipment and careful acoustic treatment (aka,

something that would be done in a studio).

By putting your subs in the corner, you are exciting all the standing

waves (aka eigentones...oooo fancy engineering term meant to make ppl

think you're smarter than you really are...at least that's why my

acoustics prof tells me, lol) and you are also taking advantage of free

SPL from corner gain (thus reducing how hard the subwoofer has to work

and thus reducing harmonic and frequency modulation distortion). The

downside to cornerloading is that sometimes you get eigentones at

frequencies that are offensive to the listener - which is going to be

music and listener dependant. If it's really bad you can consider

moving the subs and the listening position around to find other

eigentones that you don't find offensive, or you can implement some

acoustical treatment, or you can just change how you hear to accept

that sacrifice in sound for all the other benefits the subwoofer yields.

Well I've gotta get running - gotta go make some good impressions at a

job interview. His website seems to be down at the moment, but Ethan

Winer has a great write up on acoustics you might find interesting:

http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

[tidmack]

Who,

I should have guessed you were studying to be an engineer! One of my chemical engineering buddies from Madison came back from from class one day with a brown lunch bag for the roomates. Upon inspection, I realized they were mini marshmallows, but they tasted like Lucky Charms marshmallows. He was so proud to learn how the freeze drying (I think that's how they're made) process worked that he made the house a bag of "Lucky Charms". I'll have to tell you sometime about the time we jackhammered our sidewalk at 3 a.m. . .man I miss college.

Thanks for the excellent explanation, this time in English []

After a few days of having the subs in the corners, I'm really digging it. I wish I had more technical terminology, but I'm stuck with phrases like "they sound awesome" , "the bass on Outkast's Speakerbox disc makes my heart vibrate", and "I think my house might collapse." Good luck on your interview. . .internship or full time position?

Jeff

[DrWho]

Hmmm, does the word "effortless" come to mind? Normally I hate

lascalas, but when combined with the Ultra2 subs the music really comes

alive.

The interview was for a part time mixing job...just to soak up all that

last available free time. Oh, and I totally landed the job []