Creating Your "Bubble": Setting Up A Medium Sized Room For Great Listening

The Fantasy

Our listening environments. Most of us fantasize about a cavernous listening room, free from boomy bass and early reflections. Our massive system would sit well away from the room boundaries, as would our favorite listening chair. The drink caddy would be the only thing allowed near the seating during our audio therapy sessions. The thing about large rooms is they also give you a larger margin for error. Error in speaker placement, error in acoustic treatment. They are in a sense more forgiving. This makes getting them to sound good at normal listening levels much easier than a small room.

The flip side to this advantage is it takes a bigger speaker, possibly multiple subwoofers, a larger amplifier, and a lot more acoustic treatments to get to the desired sound pressures in that large room.

The Reality

The reality for many of us is quite different. The average listening room is about 15 feet by 12 feet with 8-10 foot ceilings. Not small, but not large either.  The margin for error in listener and speaker placement is smaller.  We have been told either directly or inferred through reading reviews, etc. that we need 8 feet of space between our speakers and ten feet of space between our listening position and speakers. Following this information places the speakers and the listener near the room boundaries, creating all sorts of room modes, and reflection issues. This may look good, or fit into our assumptions of what should sound good, but are you getting the best listening experience? Probably not.

What a situation like this calls for is defined by the recording industry as mid-field listening. Mid field listening is done at distances of 6-12 feet from the speakers. Most of us are realistically working within the range of 6-9 feet before we start encountering serious boundary interactions.

It takes more work perhaps, but a mid field listening setup can produce a visceral, holographic and tonally even listening experience with less amplifier, less speaker, and fewer acoustic treatments. By work I mean careful speaker placement. Really nailing down the best place for your speakers and the best place for your seating is critical.

Ultimately, we will be creating a "bubble" with properly set up speakers and listening spot, acoustic treatments, and a tweak or two to really dial in the holographic experience.

The Bubble

Step 1: Speaker Placement

I have tried many different methods for speaker placement, most of them do not work as well nor are as simple as New Record Day's method that was recently revealed in one of his great YouTube videos. It's a little counter intuitive, but for a reason (I'll let him explain it). It takes 2 hours or so (I may be really slow at taping off the floor however...)  to really go through, but the end result is worth it.

Take the time and really do this before considering the next recommendation.

Once you have your speakers and seating placed and sounding fantastic, we need to figure out where to place some of the acoustic treatments.

Stillpoints Aperture II in Cherry wood with Cream Grille on a custom stand.

Step 3: Acoustic Treatments

In this example, we will be using 4 acoustic treatments. These will form an area in front of, behind and to the sides of our listening area. 

I recommend The Stillpoints Aperture II panels. Why? Acoustic treatments have a sonic signature. Out of all of the treatments I have experimented with the Aperture II's allow my system to sound the best. The Aperture II's also take a little guesswork out of what type of treatment to place where. They absorb, diffuse and have a little bit of bass trap built in. They keep the sound and soundstage lively, balanced and in tact. One can use a combination of absorbers, diffusers and bass traps from other manufacturers if that's what you have on hand. You are not limited to just 4 treatments either. This is an example and I am taking a minimalist approach.

I place the panels as follows:

• One centered between the loudspeakers with the main area centered at listening height
• One on either side of the listening position at the first reflection points
• One centered behind the main listening seat

12-15 room listening "bubble"

Another example below uses 6 acoustic panels.

This example uses 6 acoustic panels total.

I like the mid field approach for several reasons

1. It gives every critical component (speakers and your listening chair) acoustical space from room boundaries. This helps with bass response and early reflection issues.
2. Like near field listening, it takes much of the room out of the equation. Unlike near field listening, the additional distance between listener and speakers allows the sound from the speakers to become more cohesive, and is just less "in your face".

What The Bubble Can And Cannot Do

The "Bubble" will open up your soundstage, improve depth, imaging and detail. How? Most of the sound you will hear from your system will be what is directly radiated from the speakers. Reflected sound, which tends to blur detail and smear the sound, will be greatly reduced. If you have severe bass issues, you may need bass traps. Bass is more of a sound pressure issue than a sound wave issue. The pressure can be a function of the volume and shape of your room, and on some occasions speaker placement can only minimize this issue, not eliminate it. 

Step 4: Tweaks To Enhance Resolution & Soundstage

Into The Twilight Zone... Below I will break down products that will make your space appear, at least to your ears, to be sonically larger.  They also have the added benefit of enhancing resolution and detail as well. All without adding brightness or artificially altering the tone.

The Stein Harmonizers come with their own stands, but for the others, they are small enough to sit atop the acoustic treatments you have placed around you. 

Stein Harmonizer System - The classic tweak. 4 Battery powered boxes allow you to adjust their effect.  Harmonizer H2 system is $2395.

Bybee V2 - This small, rather utilitarian looking device has an effect similar to the Harmonizer system. Adding resolution, richness, air, space, liquidity. Perhaps a little on the more liquid, warmer richer side of things. $399 each.

DMT X1 - The 3 x 2 x 1 walnut box is filled with material that has a very similar effect to the Bybee products. $199 each

Bybee Quantum Clarifier - Smaller and less powerful than the V2 or DMT X1, it may just strike the perfect balance of effect and price. $100 each

Bottom Line

1. Really work on optimizing the placement of your speakers and seating. 
2. With a few acoustic treatments, create a "bubble" of sound where the energy that your ears pick up is the direct, radiated from the speakers.
3. With your system now hitting new heights, widths and depths try out some room enhancing tweaks to see if they do indeed take things further by making the walls in your room disappear.

Thanks for reading this far and as always, if you have questions please don't hesitate to call or email.

The DMT X1: Versatile & So Powerful

I'll start with the punchline. After 10 years in development, and 3 more years of optimizing form factor, I can confidently say the DMT X1 deserves to be in your listening room or breaker box. My goal is to make it easy for that to happen, which with my in-home audition program it is.

DMT started out as Sonic Tonic, which was a tiny mixture of the material in a little glass bottle. It was effective, but the bottles could break. I then suspended the materials in epoxy molds which did not break, but did not look that great, and with further research, I found the epoxy hampered the effectiveness and sound negatively.

The original Sonic Tonic

DMT X1 is much more effective, and much more attractive. Batteries and power cords are no longer needed for them to work. In fact, the X1 is more powerful than any other Sonic Tonic or DMT product. It is at least twice as powerful as the DMT mandala, at about 1/4 the size and 1/3 the cost.

DMT Dots

Where the X1 Works Best

As a room treatment: The "Tardis Effect"

My room is fairly large, at 15 to 18 feet wide, 27 feet long with 10' ceilings. It was two rooms at one time, one a roughly 15' x 14' media room, and an 18' x 13' game room. I have my system in the 15' x 14' space and the seating is actually in the 18' x 13' space. Smaller rooms will not need nearly the treatment I have. So with that in mind, below is what I have placed in my room:

• I have 4 X1's and 4 Bybee V2's placed in the for corners of my room at the ceiling. You can use just the X1, or just the V2, but I found the combination very synergistic.
• I also have the X1's running along the side walls at ceiling height, spaced about 8 feet apart.
• I have three X1's running down the center of the room. The first is behind the listening position at ceiling height, the second is on the ceiling between the listening position and the speakers, and the last is centered on the wall behind the speakers at about 5 feet off of the ground.

This setup rivals the familiar Synergistic and Stein room treatment systems in terms of holography, soundstage and immersion factor. Where it differs is in terms of naturalness, soundstage density, room depressurization, musical flow and low level phase information. The music just sounds more natural, less electronic. Instruments are not overly thin or full sounding. Wood sounds wooden, brass sounds appropriately brassy.   It's almost as if the pressure in the room is decreased and the sound opens up into a larger space that what is physically there. Call it "the Tardis effect". Music also just seems to have a natural energy flow. There is no artificial/electronic tension, unless it's in the recording. Image density is something to behold, and one has to be careful here to not get too much of a good thing.

Placement of DMT X1's. Not pictured are the three at ceiling height along the wall behind the listening position.

Starting Slowly

One could start with just a single X1 placed in the center front position. This will increase center image density and resolution. 

The next move would be adding 2 more on the side walls. I placed mine at the ceiling, because I like more image height out of my horn loaded speakers. You can place them as low as ear level on the side walls, about 1.5 feet in front of the front plane of the loudspeakers.

Next is a judgement call. Do you need more ambient fill, more soundstage depth, or more image height?

• Ambient fill - Try adding 2 to the rear corners of the room. If that isn't satisfactory, try them on the front corners of the room. This works in some cases.
• Soundstage depth - Add 2 to the front upper corners of the room
• Image height - Add 1 to the ceiling, between listening position and speakers.

On power: 

If you can place an X1 inside your power conditioner, great! I find it works Extremely well there. In fact the latest iteration of the Stealth power conditioner will have 2 OEM X1's inside.

Try them on your sub panel or main breaker box. I place one on the power coming in to the house, just after the meter and before the breaker box.

The X1 tends to lower the noise floor when placed in power conditioners, revealing more ambiant information and low level detail. The other effects apply here as well, with naturalness and flow of the presentation becoming more organic and less electronic, and chewy, dense imaging.

Comparing DMT X1 to Bybee V2 and Quantum Clarifier

The DMT X1 works very well with all Bybee devices. The X1's effectiveness lies somewhere between the Quantum Clarifier, which I consider the most modestly powerful, and the V2 which is the most powerful of all three devices. I highly recommend using the X1's as an "enhancer" to V2's in your room. More is not necessarily better in every application. Each device has it's place within one's system.

Bybee V2 (left) and Quantum Clarifier (right)

Conclusions

The DMT X1 is a versatile and effective product that can be used as a room or power conditioning treatment. If you love the Bybee Quantum Clarifier or Bybee V2 products, you will find the DMT X1 to be very complimentary. As a standalone product, the X1 lies somewhere between the Quantum Clarifier and V2 in intensity of effect. You may find one is better suited to your tastes than another, and some experimentation may be required. Fortunately, we can help you with determining what might be best in your situation with in-home auditions of any of these products. We are excited for what musical joys lie hidden in your system with these products properly implemented.

Contact Tweek Geek for An In-Home Audition of DMT and Bybee Products