Bobby_M said:
You just can't fix a bad room without at least some absorbtion and I seriously believe you can make a $500 system sound great. IOW, it's better to spend $500 on a theater in a box and another $500 on room treatments than $1000 on equipment alone.
I'll agree with you for the most part on this. Yes, a bad room is just that. But, it doesn't always take $500 worth of foam to fix a room. Small rooms are an animal all their own and most of the problems with them are associated with the natural modal frequencies of the room. That is, certain dimensions of the room support and emphasise certain frequncies.
Sure, you can simply buy a bass trap and stick it in a corner but it isn't always necessary.
You know, all that vinyl we are talking about? A sensibly placed bookshelf, full of that vinyl can act as a bass trap too. Some witfully placed solid objects in that bookshelf "can" take that bass trap into the real of a Quadratic Residue Diffusor.
Curtains, cushions, medium density foam behind canvased artwork, glass, etc...
These can all be used to simulate the effect of diffusors, traps, and absorbers and most likely are things you already have around, they just ned to be placed in a manner that makes them more effective.
The only thing worse than a untreated room, is a poorly treated room after hundred to thousands of dollars have been spent. An overly treated room, even a poorly treated room can result in a dead room that sound just as bad, if not worse.
My devices of choice have always been RPG. But then again, I am biased. I am also a dealer for them. But that ain't going to well for me. As said before, room treatments can be cost prohibitive to many and the mentality of most consumers is to spend more money on bigger speakers, stronger amplifiers, and the likes.
Through my studys in acoustic physics, I intend to take this to a more commercial venue into Noise cancellation, studio acoustics, and civic center (concert halls). Who know, thatt'll probly flop too but it's something I enjoy and it all makes sense to me.
As for Bose, well it's a waveguide. What can I say, they are taking a midrange driver and attemptinbg to make it perform like a sub. To many, it sounds great but for others nothing less than a dedicated sub will do. Not all waveguide designs are bad, Freid Audio makes an excellent set of waveguide towers that perform beautifully if you have an amp capable of driving a 4 Ohm load. Which any Audiophile shouldn't have any issue with. Hook those beauties up to some tube gear, even the newer Cary stuff, and they sing a song that would temp even the sirens to crash into the rocks.