I have a client that is torn between two home theater room design philosophies..........His dilemma is from me he hears one thing about how to make the room sound good and from another contractor , he hears another story. One says electonic equalizer is the way, one says passive acoustical treatment is the way.

I throw it out on the floor for comment.

Who says you can only buy one? (They don't solve the same problems you know.)

jcmitch

If you only had the choice of one way or the other , what would it be and why?

Acoustical treatment, because I would hope the loudspeaker choice was such that huge discrepancies in level weren't an issue and lowering the noisefloor is probably the next greatest goal. It would also lend a second benefit of reducing early reflections reaching the listener, and the increase in intelligibilty is a worthwile pursuit. Were I unable to choose the loudspeakers myself, and their positions, then I would favor equilization higher, as it can quickly mask large errors, and increase the chance of an acceptable result.

jcmitch

Speakers are Triad Gold LCR, OnWall Gold Surround, Platinum Sub

Not exactly what I meant. I meant, have "you" heard these speakers in a similar space, in these positions, etc. Is it "your" best choice? That being said, inwalls are going to need an EQ.


jcmitch

Scooper, I don't know the budget on your project but the fact that you are even posing these questions leads me to believe you should be hiring an acoustical consultant for the project - and I DO practice what I preach. Far too many people in our industry try to give advice on room design when they have little to no expertise in that area. Dennis Erskine on AVS Forum charges as little as $2500 (it may be slightly less or more but I think that's fairly accurate) to draft complete CAD drawings for a room with a thorough set of recommendations for how the room should be built AND treated. That $2500 is probably the greatest bargain in the world of HT because it will make a difference about 10 greater than spending $2500 more on speakers.

The best eualizer in the world won't amount to a hill of beans if you have a poorly built and treated room. The equalizer should ALWAYS be viewed as the last "room treatment" (i.e. you make the room as good as possible and THEN use the equalizer to address remaining issues).