Spectrum analyzer?

Hi, I think you are asking good questions and and you are headed in a good direction. There are probably a number of considerations but I think you can save some money and take a first pass with some PC-based software and a microphone. I've spent many years with hifi and several years ago after building my system to the max I got serious about figuring out room acoustics; the process convinced me that no matter how good your equipment is the room will be a huge part of the equation. If you start with some software and a microphone - and if you happen to get some equalizers so you can make the process interactive - you will get a very valuable sense for the challenge and importantance of room acoustics. After this first highly informative and relatively inexpensive pass at analyzing and correcting acoustics you might then decide to go on to room treatments or even a full room design - but I think you can learn a bunch with the PC software and a microphone; and while equalizers might not be the best or right long term solution, the ability to treat the signal (to perhaps a 1/3 octave level) and then see the results graphically on your computer and hear the results with your ears will add significantly to your knowledge and skill - which will help you make further decisions on how to best invest your time and money.

Check out these two older threads on audioasylum:

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=speakers&n=177308&highlight=trueaudio&r=&session=

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=speakers&n=178395&highlight=Yada&r=&session=

the spectrum analyzer is useless is you cannot alter the anomalies of your room.
In other words, the analyzer will show you the peaks, nulls in your room but thats it.
I bought a Goldline RTA few years back and while it showed me the peaks and nulls in my room, that all it did.
It tried using traps and panels, while it did improve it did not really cure my peak in my room which was around 60-80 hz.
I was about to sell the analyzer since it stayed most of the time in the box.
It was not until I bought a Accuphase digital voicing equalizer that i was able to exploit the use of the RTA.
Given that I had a peak of 63 hz in my room at +8 db, which the RTA showed, I then use the Accuphase bring up the 63 hz frequency and with a stroke of a pen, pull it down to about -7 db. Problem solved and everything begin to make sense.
In short, RTA is useless unless you have some sort of equalizer to alter your frequencies or room acoustics. But room acoustics is a bit tricky as in my experience, it did something else but not really cure the peaks in my room. If it did, just a small bit compared to the Digital room correction.

Another option as many guys said here is to use the Tact or Lyndorf room correction. THese works very well.

"the spectrum analyzer is useless is you cannot alter the anomalies of your room. In other words, the analyzer will show you the peaks, nulls in your room but thats it."

The RTA can only show you the frequency response in your room. It cannot identify variations in FR as peaks and nulls due to room modes since it cannot show you the room response with respect to time. Corrections based on RTA, only, are chancy.

Kal

Kr4...You say "Corrections based on RTA, only, are chancy."

Perhaps, but the $350 I bet on my first DEQ2496 has paid off better than any other expendature on my audio system.

As the saying goes "Don't let the search for perfection prevent the very good".

I said "chancy" intentionally; it does not mean that they never work. Besides, flattening the bass response, by itself, is advantageous.

Many people have had excellent results with the DEQ2496 using REW as the tool for setting up the filters. I do not know what tools for measurement are built into the DEQ2496, itself.

Kal