Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Is Carpet OK?
I'm new to high end audio. This is a true neophyte question.
Does it matter if I place my system I am purchasing on carpet? I mean on the rack but in a carpeted room. Thank you, Darryl |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Is Carpet OK?
Darryl wrote:
I'm new to high end audio. This is a true neophyte question. Does it matter if I place my system I am purchasing on carpet? I mean on the rack but in a carpeted room. Thank you, Darryl While live music often sounds better in an uncarpeted room, audio systems tend to sound better when there is carpeting on the floor and a reasonable amount of wall-damping material. You can overdo things and carpet (or drape) the walls all over the place, and I do not advise going that far. Some systems (those with flat on-axis performance but erratic frequency response at wide and ultra-wide off-axis angles) may benefit from an extremely damped room. However, most good speaker systems have problems with too much acoustic treatment of that kind. Yeah, I know it makes for better imaging and the like, but too much padding sucks the life out of good concert-hall recordings. Carpeting on the floor is a good compromise, however, and nearly all audio systems sound better in carpeted rooms than in rooms with hard floors. I have both situations at my place: the living room has hardwood floors (over concrete), with an area rug. The small audio system in there sounds OK, but only because of the area rug. (The room also has a grand piano in there, which sounds, well, grand.) The two other rooms, which hold my main and second AV systems, are blessed with heavy carpeting. Even though one system makes use of speakers with narrow and controlled dispersion patterns and the other makes use of speakers with wide and controlled dispersion patterns, both arrangements benefit from the carpeting. Incidentally, the main system can be seen at: http://www.michieldvd.com/ Click on "Howard's essays" on the left and when the next page comes up (the header picture is NOT my room) scroll down past the article list to "Howard's room & equipment" and click on that. The room is different from what the picture shows. New carpeting, furniture, and drapes, and the surround speakers have also been replaced. The system now also has a processor that lets me use center-back speakers. Still, the overall arrangement is philosophically the same now as it was then. Anyway, note that the room has carpeting on the floor. Thick carpeting both then and now. Howard Ferstler |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Is Carpet OK?
|
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Is Carpet OK?
Darryl wrote:
I'm new to high end audio. This is a true neophyte question. Does it matter if I place my system I am purchasing on carpet? I mean on the rack but in a carpeted room. You should be OK, so long as the air vents of the components aren't blocked (which might happen if you sat a hefty amp down directly on a shag carpet). Having a carpeted floor is generally a good idea in a listening room, since it ameliorates strong reflections from the floor. -- -S. "They've got God on their side. All we've got is science and reason." -- Dawn Hulsey, Talent Director |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Is Carpet OK?
Darryl wrote:
I'm new to high end audio. This is a true neophyte question. Good. I'm tired of talking to the paleophytes. :-) Does it matter if I place my system I am purchasing on carpet? I mean on the rack but in a carpeted room. It doesn't matter what your system is on, as long as the rack is reasonably stable. (If you have a turntable, change that to *extremely* stable.) Ditto speaker stands, if you use them. Carpeting can make a big difference in the sound of your system, since it affects the overall reverberance of the room, and in particular absorbs sound at a key inflection point. The sound that bounces off the floor between the speakers and your ears can play havoc with the bass, especially. But it sounds like you've got that covered, so to speak. bob __________________________________________________ _______________ Stop worrying about overloading your inbox - get MSN Hotmail Extra Storage! http://join.msn.click-url.com/go/onm...ave/direct/01/ |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Is Carpet OK?
Bob Marcus wrote:
Carpeting can make a big difference in the sound of your system, since it affects the overall reverberance of the room, and in particular absorbs sound at a key inflection point. The sound that bounces off the floor between the speakers and your ears can play havoc with the bass, especially. But it sounds like you've got that covered, so to speak. To absorb bass frequencies, you need something else than a carpet. U can usually expect a porous absorber to start working at wavelengths higher than 10 times its thickness, so a carpet of 1" from 1350Hz on. Not exactly bass frequencies anymore. -- ciao Ban Bordighera, Italy |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Is Carpet OK?
Thank you all. The ideal place for my new setup is in a carpeted room
in my home. I'm glad to learn from you that this is good for the sound. Also, thanks to the Moderators of this newsgroup. Darryl On Wed, 26 May 2004 14:21:45 GMT, (Darryl) wrote: I'm new to high end audio. This is a true neophyte question. Does it matter if I place my system I am purchasing on carpet? I mean on the rack but in a carpeted room. Thank you, Darryl |
Reply |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
rec.audio.car FAQ (Part 3/5) | Car Audio | |||
Carpet on sub box? | Car Audio | |||
Box Carpet | Car Audio | |||
Carpet fastener - What is this thing? | Car Audio | |||
Enclosure question | Car Audio |