Martin Poulin
The most important part of a stereo system which is almost always overlooked:
THE ROOM!
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Setting up a system in a small room will yield unpredictable results, and real tangible low bass won't be possible even with plenty of bass absorption treatment.
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My current room (as of 2016) is 21' x 12' x 7', and yet I find it’s still too small. I used lots of absorption and have a 100% front/rear wall absorption (in surface area, not 100% actual absorption coefficient.)
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The general rule of thumb with acoustic treatments in an average audiophile room, is that you never have enough!
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Absorption is the first thing to do.
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more absorption!
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Only after this, should you think about adding diffusion.
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If your room is small, you’ll need more absorption surface area percentage, than a big room would require.
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Cubic meters are your friend, the more the better.
Diffusion works very well but requires significant volume to do its job.
In most cases, diffusing below 500 Hz isn’t practical.
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More on room acoustics at these links (no affiliation):