Not treated bigger space vs a small space treated acoustically?

[SuyashMoorpana]

Hello everyone!
I hope you are all safe and doing well.

I am currently faced with 2 options which are as follows : -
A room of 20 x 18 x H 8.5 feet with speakers placed 9 feet apart and 18 feet from the listening position which I cannot treat acoustically.
The second room being 13 x 15 x H 8.5 with speakers placed 9 feet apart and 9 feet from the listening position which can be treated acoustically.

My question is, what will give me the best sound? A well treated small room or a bigger room with no treatment at all.
My speakers are recommend to be placed around 9-10 feet from the listening position and are appropriate for rooms measuring 200+ sqft.

I sometimes feel my speakers are not able to pressurise the bigger room but having ordered a JL Audio's E110 which I am yet to receive might just make them sound a lot fuller and get the job done.

I don't know if the room's picture will help at all.
If yes I will upload them for you.

Also, do better wires really make a difference in sound? Any suggestions on which one to use?

Setup
NAD C388 amp
Focal Chora 826 loudspeakers
JL Audio E110 Subwoofer

 

[liverpool_for_life]

My question is, what will give me the best sound? A well treated small room or a bigger room with no treatment at all.

The former, IME. Not even close.

 

[Love4sound]

Go with the second option

 

[revolty]

Small space treated acoustically will be the better one.

 

[balavignesh002]

The second room being 13 x 15 x H 8.5 with speakers placed 9 feet apart and 9 feet from the listening position which can be treated acoustically.

This would be a good option. Are you planning to treat the ceiling?

 

[Analogous]

Since you can’t treat the larger room, why not try it out there first?
Then try it in the smaller room and decide?

 

[IndianEars]

Smaller Treated room with be IDEAL.

Also as you mentioned, your existing amp-speakers are unable to cater to the larger room, which seems a super size...

The Million Dollar Question .... How will you treat your room optimally ?

Doing it on yr own is HUGELY hit and miss.

Getting a Pro is tougher than it seems in practice. Few Pros actually know their business, to deliver good results, specifically in a domestic environment..... TONS of Bullshit and bad solutions being put out.

 

[girishtd8262]

Acoustic treatment really makes significant difference. Ihad untreated room for 2 yrs ,later got acoustics done now the same gear sounds different.go for treated room

 

[bloredude]

Since you suspect speakers are unable to fill the room and your subsequent decision to add a sub raises some questions. What genres do you often play? And how loud your music typically is?

The merit lies in going with the smaller-treated room. One, because it automatically takes care of your issue about thin sound. Two, because a treated room is almost always going to sound better than an untreated room.

That said - a large room has advantages as well. Meticulous planning can result in good sound in a untreated fairly large room as well. But I am guessing when you say untreated, you perhaps also mean you may not have 100% flexibility in speaker placement in that room.

If you have total freedom of placement within the large room, it may be worth a try, unless you like your music loud, in which case, smaller treated room will serve you much better.

 

[IndianEars]

Acoustic treatment really makes significant difference. Ihad untreated room for 2 yrs ,later got acoustics done now the same gear sounds different.go for treated room

Will CERTAINLY sound different, but BETTER ?

Also each of us has a different sound preference, so what your treated room sounds like can pretty much be a Hit & Miss, compared to what you would ideally have liked it to sound.

 

[girishtd8262]

Obviously it's better.more clearer vocal.bass will not be boomy. My room only 3 walls are treated on screen side partially covered. Floor is wooden flooring and ceiling is untreated

 

[IndianEars]

My suggestion is to put yr setup in the smaller room, untreated, n play around with speaker positioning, to first get the bass correct.

This is very time consuming n difficult for a novice. If you have a friend experienced in placing speakers by ear, it would be ideal. Speaker position changes of 1 inch or less are quite audible off the ideal position. There are videos on YouTube, do explore.

 

[Dev.R]

Treated Room is always better, but as IndianEars mentioned , it is not an easy task. DIY Acoustic treatment is a Hit or miss. A simple solution, you can start with a Carpet ,thick curtains and artificial plants on the corners . Once you know what you need , then you can add panels accordingly.

 

[spirovious]

The second room being 13 x 15 x H 8.5 with speakers placed 9 feet apart and 9 feet from the listening position wh

This is best option as larger rooms if not treated will sound poor than smaller treated one . Larger room may also need more votume to fill it to achieve best movie effect. It can have more reverb and may not have great movie impact. So to me option 2 better.

 

[SuyashMoorpana]

This would be a good option. Are you planning to treat the ceiling?

I am not sure as to what all has to or can be done will do a bit of research on the same.

 

[SuyashMoorpana]

Since you can’t treat the larger room, why not try it out there first?
Then try it in the smaller room and decide?

Tried.
Not happy with the sound quality at all.

 

[SuyashMoorpana]

Smaller Treated room with be IDEAL.

Also as you mentioned, your existing amp-speakers are unable to cater to the larger room, which seems a super size...

The Million Dollar Question .... How will you treat your room optimally ?

Doing it on yr own is HUGELY hit and miss.

Getting a Pro is tougher than it seems in practice. Few Pros actually know their business, to deliver good results, specifically in a domestic environment..... TONS of Bullshit and bad solutions being put out.

I agree.
By any chance anyone in your contacts or a dealer you might know who could help me with the same?
Request you to share his contact.

 

[SuyashMoorpana]

Since you suspect speakers are unable to fill the room and your subsequent decision to add a sub raises some questions. What genres do you often play? And how loud your music typically is?

The merit lies in going with the smaller-treated room. One, because it automatically takes care of your issue about thin sound. Two, because a treated room is almost always going to sound better than an untreated room.

That said - a large room has advantages as well. Meticulous planning can result in good sound in a untreated fairly large room as well. But I am guessing when you say untreated, you perhaps also mean you may not have 100% flexibility in speaker placement in that room.

If you have total freedom of placement within the large room, it may be worth a try, unless you like your music loud, in which case, smaller treated room will serve you much better.

I do not have the flexibility to move the speakers in the large room.
I do like to crank up the volume when listening to techno and electronic.

Thanks for the advice mate. Will get the room treated in sometime.
My speakers go down to 49Hz. I definitely needed a sub to get better sound quality at the low end.

 

[Analogous]

Tried.
Not happy with the sound quality at all.

Not happy with SQ in both rooms? Then you are in trouble brother.
Others have made room treatment suggestions, but you still need to choose one of the two to do this.
wish I had something useful to suggest, but nothing comes to mind at the moment.

 

[SuyashMoorpana]

Not happy with SQ in both rooms? Then you are in trouble brother.
Others have made room treatment suggestions, but you still need to choose one of the two to do this.
wish I had something useful to suggest, but nothing comes to mind at the moment.

I'm going with the smaller room.
Definitely need to treat it tho. At this point my speakers sound very bright. Any sort of sound echoes and seems so hurt my ears.