Thanks for the responses so far.
To answer some of the questions:
The room is 14 x 25 x 7.5. It's actually a dedicated home theater. Listening position is the middle of the room (not ideal I know, but I have a riser with second row of seating behind me and I can’t move backwards). The room is soundproofed and carpet is a thick shag. I have Real Traps (corner mondo bass traps) in the front corners. I use two Real Trap panels for first reflections (just leaning against the side walls). The front wall is NOT treated as there is a 11’ wide screen (for home theater the speakers are tucked into the corners and EQ’d; for 2 channel I pull them out in front of the screen).
I’ve always thought the room was on the dead side of things (I used to have several ASC wall planks on the side walls but removed them seeking more ‘air). Previous speakers were Aerials (very rolled off high end and sounded muddy in this room).
There are pros and cons about the forwardness of the Sophias. They have nice presence and transients are great. But even with good recordings there can be certain higher frequencies that are painful. I listen at about 85db which is probably relevant to the conversation since at very low volumes it’s not an issue.
I’ve played with different speaker cables and interconnects. This has helped (also been playing with different preamps which has helped) but not solved the problem completely. I am certainly open to the possibility that it could be the room. Couches are leather and have fairly high backs – so the ones on the riser are probably somewhat deflecting sound. The rear wall has all the equipment racks and doesn’t have a lot of bare wall space. I’ve considered getting drapes for the screen.
As for budget, I’m willing to go ‘up’ from the Sophias (for example I would entertain the new Sashas, but probably not higher than that).
Thanks again for your thoughts.
To answer some of the questions:
The room is 14 x 25 x 7.5. It's actually a dedicated home theater. Listening position is the middle of the room (not ideal I know, but I have a riser with second row of seating behind me and I can’t move backwards). The room is soundproofed and carpet is a thick shag. I have Real Traps (corner mondo bass traps) in the front corners. I use two Real Trap panels for first reflections (just leaning against the side walls). The front wall is NOT treated as there is a 11’ wide screen (for home theater the speakers are tucked into the corners and EQ’d; for 2 channel I pull them out in front of the screen).
I’ve always thought the room was on the dead side of things (I used to have several ASC wall planks on the side walls but removed them seeking more ‘air). Previous speakers were Aerials (very rolled off high end and sounded muddy in this room).
There are pros and cons about the forwardness of the Sophias. They have nice presence and transients are great. But even with good recordings there can be certain higher frequencies that are painful. I listen at about 85db which is probably relevant to the conversation since at very low volumes it’s not an issue.
I’ve played with different speaker cables and interconnects. This has helped (also been playing with different preamps which has helped) but not solved the problem completely. I am certainly open to the possibility that it could be the room. Couches are leather and have fairly high backs – so the ones on the riser are probably somewhat deflecting sound. The rear wall has all the equipment racks and doesn’t have a lot of bare wall space. I’ve considered getting drapes for the screen.
As for budget, I’m willing to go ‘up’ from the Sophias (for example I would entertain the new Sashas, but probably not higher than that).
Thanks again for your thoughts.