Is my room doomed? Pic

Kevinzoe - thank you very much for your very thorough response. I greatly appreciate that.

I'm going to be trying a few different things over the coming weeks. I've defintely thought about turning it 90 degrees and may even do that if all else fails. With that setup though, I'll have sidewalls but no front and back walls. Would that be a problem?

One question on how the windows suck out the bass (because I do feel like I lack some bass - and nobody has ever questioned Rockports on bass... it's usually one of their strengths). Why do thin windows act as an absorber of bass?

I'll be trying some diffusion on the frontwall (where the TV is mounted now) this weekend, and maybe switch to thicker curtains. I heard diffusion should be in the center of the front wall for best performance so I'll put it in front of the TV for now just to try it. If it helps dramatically I'll get rid of the big 60" Pioneer plasma TV and install a projector instead (I don't watch TV much anyway).

I've already switched the side firing woofers to face inwards but have not listened to it long enough to draw any conclusions yet.

Professional help is an option (i.e Rives) but I have access to resources to try out (diffusions, absorbers, etc so I might as well try it first instead of getting someone to send me a theoretical drawing. Without sidewalls (building them is not an option), there aren't THAT many variables. I can adjust speaker position, listening position, thicker curtains, diffusion/absorption on the front wall, and diffusion/absorption on the ceiling, or maybe a thick carpet.

Anyway, thanks for all the help again. Will keep you guys updated!

Another thought if you have not already done so is to post this thread on Audio Asylum in the Rives asylum. Lots of helpful people over there.

". . .I'll have sidewalls but no front and back walls. Would that be a problem?"

The side wall lateral reflections are beneficial - particularly in stereo - since they can produce greater apparent source width and spaciouness, while the front/rear reflections can decrease these attributes since they come from the same direction as the direct sound and thereby increase the Interaural Cross Correlation Coefficient (IACC) which is a bad thing. So in short the situation of having side walls with no front/back wall is preferred over the opposite situation. Have you considered mounting some diffuser panels (DIY or store bought) on a moveable stand with wheels that can be moved to the side out of the way when not in use or put behind your listening chair for critical listening sessions? Just a thought.

"Why do thin windows act as an absorber of bass?"

Windows don't technically absorb bass unless they're loosely installed and their vibration back and forth acts like a diaphragmatic bass trap . . . As low frequencies have long wavelengths they don't "see" the window and easily pass through it; if they pass through it then they can't be reflected back into the room so therefore the windows function more like a bass trap/absorber. Higher frequencies with much shorter wavelengths will in fact "see" the window and reflect off of it. The biggest problem with the windows is that it's too good of a bass trap and allow too much bass energy to be drained out of the room while maintaining the higher freq energy and therefore acts like a high-pass filter throwing off the timbral balance which you hear. So diffuse or absorb in front of the windows to attenuate the higher frequencies.

I don't know your ceiling height but you could experiment with reflection, diffusion, or absorption at 1st reflection points there to see which you like best.

Thanks for all the help guys.

I've added some diffusion to the corners of the front wall, switched around the speakers so the woofers now fire inwards, pulled out the speakers even further (now about 2.2m into the room from front wall to tweeter), and moved the speakers closer so they aren't so wide apart.

The sound has vastly improved, maybe from a 5 to a 7 (if the dealer was a 10 in his properly treated dedicated room), and I expect I can get it maybe up to an 8-8.5 max with more diffusion on the front wall, maybe get rid of the TV in the middle, a bit more speaker placement adjustments, and a better preamp.

The soundstage depth is finally there, the sense of reverb/echo sounds more proper, the bass tighted up with more SPLs, and now the weight of the notes finally sound like Rockports.

My complaint has drastically decreased, but right now the biggest issues are probably 1) soundstage height is a bit too low and 2) I still want more overall bloom in the soundstage (envelopment from up down left right).

Does anyone know how to get more soundstage height? Seems like width and depth are the easier ones to get but height is really hard. Should I tilt the speaker more forward or backwards (by adjusting the footers)?

Anyway, thanks again for all your guys's help. I'm finally getting happy with this system after spending all the money and it just goes to show you proper setup is SO damn important. I was adjusting centimeters with speaker position when I should have been adjusting them in much bigger gaps. I had to basically pull the speakers 1/2 way into the room (guess I bought too big of a speaker!!) and space them much less far apart. I'm happy that the Rockport's tweeter/mid/bass integrate fast between the drivers or else it would be a bigger problem to deal with running out of room space.

Enzo618, thanks for updating your situation. So many people asked questions, get tons of advice and then they never report back what worked, or didn't work. IMO your feedback is a critical part of the forum process.

Good luck with future adjustments!