Next Move: Room treatment or XSP-1?

[GEL]

Good day!

I recently seized an opportunity to acquire a pristine pair of barely used Magnepan MMG loudspeakers locally for an incredible price. After one month of break-in through daily sessions of 2-channel music listening (CD/vinyl), 5.1-channel TV/movie watching and experimenting with placement, I must say that I now understand what the fuss is all about with the planar sound. Concepts like soundstage, depth, microdynamics and lack of colouration are terms I grasp much better now that I am experiencing them first-hand. Even the slight harshness I had in the highs and causing listener fatigue after a while with my previous L/R speakers is now gone. I also love the great flexibility the MMGs offer by allowing you to easily tilt the speakers up or down with the OEM stands, or position them with the tweeters either in or out, to suit your taste in sound. What an incredible and significant upgrade to my system, for a relatively low cost!

As the novelty of those new speakers is wearing off, I would like to get advice from fellow lounge members as to what my next move should be to calm a recurring, nagging case of upgraditis, now that I know the MMGs are here to stay.

Add room treatment? My 18'x14'x7.5' dedicated, basement-level home theatre has bare walls and ceiling, with a floating laminate floor over solid concrete slab. Uneven/booming bass and echo never appeared to be issues for me in this room so I never really considered adding corner bass traps or absorption panels at reflection points; however I read that dipole speakers might benefit from some diffusion on the front wall, 48" away behind them, that absorption at the first reflection point on the side walls is not recommended due to the soundwave pattern. Would you advise getting bass traps too anyway, at least in the front wall corners at first and progressively treating the back (diffusion) /sides (absorption) of the room as money comes handy?

Considering that acoustic treatment products from a major brands are typically very pricey and that I am not really skilled or equipped for the DIY stuff, would the foam products sold here (http://www.thefoamfactory.com/acousticfoam/acousticfoam.html) be a decent solution?

Getting the XSP-1 and sell my USP-1? I read so many positive reviews and comments from members on this forum having done so that it is definitely on my list of equipment upgrades when money comes my way, now that I have upgraded the speakers. Regardless of the perceived or real improvement in sound quality vs. the USP-1 (I certainly believe it's real, moving up to an X-series product), the better volume control and the various MC settings on the phono stage are certainly new features that are important enough for me to upgrade.

I can think of those two options above which would fit within my budget of about $CDN 1,000 right now. Have I missed something? Getting a pair of Magnepan 1.7 will have to wait... ;-)

Thanks for your help,

G.

[jlafrenz]

I would vote for room treatments. If the room has issues, new equipment won't change that as the room will continue to have the same issues. I would work on this first and you may find that you are still happy with the USP-1.

[hemster]

I agree, room treatments will give you the best return on investment.

To make the most of your budget, check out Acoustimac for reasonably priced treatments. www.acoustimac.com/

Good luck and keep us posted of your progress.

[Deleted]

not to derail the thread...but if I have windows on one of my walls (where the first reflection would be) would heavy curtains help diffuse this reflection?

but to be on topic of OP...I am curious to this discussion as well as I have been contemplating grabbing an XSP-1 and selling my USP-1

[ansat]

Sept 10, 2013 10:32:22 GMT -5 @bmoney said:

not to derail the thread...but if I have windows on one of my walls (where the first reflection would be) would heavy curtains help diffuse this reflection?

but to be on topic of OP...I am curious to this discussion as well as I have been contemplating grabbing an XSP-1 and selling my USP-1

Only of the highest frequencies.


Tony

sorry for the short response.
sent from my phone.

[jlafrenz]

As Tony has stated, it is going to help out on the higher frequencies. You will actually have absorption at this point. Depending on your room and system, this can still be beneficial.

[repeetavx]

+1 on room treatments first. I've tried a couple of panel manufactures and I like Acoustimac. I'm fascinated that you don't have smearing and booming. You must listen to your music at a low level.

I've got some foam I use as a test treatment. I tack it up and listen to the effect. When I find a place where the foam helps the sound, I buy a panel to put there and find that the panels do a better, more balanced, treatment.

If you buy something and think that you've over treated, you can place the treatment at the back wall. It's hard to "over deaden" the back wall. I would start by putting bass traps at the upper corners of the back wall. Well actually I'd start with a semi-thick throw rug.