Tailoring system sound

[Alonzo]

I'm looking for input on what other BH's are doing to tailor their systems.  I have my amps and speakers I want to use (I have one speaker that may need upgrading) but haven't taken the next step to adjust the speakers and amps to each other and my room.  How are you guy/girls doing it?  Is everyone running full range, no crossovers?  Anyone have passive or active crossovers?  While we wait on the BH line level crossover kit, how are you bi-amping? I've just started to play with 1st, 2nd, etc. crossovers to try to get good blended sound, but I haven't tried active DSP yet.
I'm hoping to start a discussion I can learn from, if it's better to adjust the amp, adjust the signal prior to the amp, adjust the signal at the speaker.
My systems in my signature, there are 45 amps available for tweeters and mids, 2A3 amps for mids and upper bass, SS amp for sub.
Thanks in advance for the input.

[johnsonad]

I would first ask, what’s missing that you are trying to adjust for? 

If you want to get down to it, I would recommend downloading a copy of Room EQ Wizard.  It’s free and has a great forum of people to help you through the initial learning curve of it.  The forum has recommended calibrated USB mic’s too.  Once you are set up, measure your room and system.  At that point, you have a baseline for a more scientific approach to improving the sound.  If you were to post your room sweeps, dimensions and such, there are knowledgeable people here and on the REQ forum that could give recommendations.  This is how DocB, PJ and PB set up the listening room at Bottlehead and how I’ve set up rooms where I can make adjustments. 

In my experience, well placed dampening and speaker placement have a greater effect on the overall sound and listening experience over swapping amps, caps, etc.  If your gear was properly designed and build correctly from inception, you wouldn’t need to mess with crossovers and such unless you are building something from scratch. 
I hope this helps some.

Aaron

[Paul Birkeland]

Aaron is right on the money, treat your room to the best of your abilities.  Doing a cloud, first reflection points, and rear wall coverings cost me in all about $300 in materials.  It took me some years to get around to treating my room, which I've been working on over the last few weeks, and the results have been absolutely marvelous!

[johnsonad]

I just re-read your post.  My system is source>preamp>Rythmik sub (using the 80Hz HPF)>power amps>Altec 755A's in WE cabs.  With this, the bass can be tailored to the room and the speakers (and power amps) are happy running 80Hz and up. 

[Alonzo]

Thanks Aaron and Paul,
I'm just trying to use what I have at it's best, everything sounds good but the tinkerer in me knows that I can improve.  I will work on the room first, I do have some challenges with carpet and a window so there are opportunities.  Reading thru the REQ forum,  this is something I definitely should do.  And that should lead me to making the correct adjustments instead of changing everything and hoping for the best.

[Alonzo]

Looked at everything again today and decided on my ultimate goal, get the best signal to the amps for what they are built and then work with the room and speakers to make that happen.  I will change out parafeed caps to get the sound I want from the amp without having to put in extensive crossover networks on the speakers, so tweeter amps, mid range amps and woofer amps to speakers that can play them best.  Room treatment to correct any problems the room introduces into what the speaker is outputting and what I'm hearing.  If needed go active on splitting the signal after the preamp.
The goal is to get to a couple of sources (streamer and vinyl) to my BeePree to multiple amps playing thru my MMG's and a MTM or MTW or MMTW speaker.  Room treatment will be the icing on the cake.

[johnsonad]

What you may find once this is all done is that room treatment and proper speaker placement is the foundation of everything else. No capacitor, amp or speaker swap has improved my listening experience more than placing the speakers correct for a room and treating it well.

[denti alligator]

Do we have a room treatment suggestion thread? Having moved into my new space I'd love to hear basic insights about how to improve sound.

[Alonzo]

Yep, wife has agreed to some nice coverings for the windows, I've ordered some mic's and got started on learning how to use REQ.  My MMG's are in marked spots per my ears, it'll be interesting to see how that compares to measured responses.