Square room Soundstage??


I have a small 8 1/2 by 8 1/2 room. I am have been trying to get a soundstage in the room with no luck.

Has anyone had success with getting a good soundstage in a square room. Would room treatments be helpful in your experience? Or am I pushing my luck because of the small square room?

Thanks
darkstar1
I have tired alot of diffrent speaker placements. I seem to get the best results from near field listening and maybe 7 feet in between speakers. With the speakers far away from side or back walls

My speakers are rear ported. Is there any information the can be gained due to the fact that near listening has produced the best results? When I am put the speakers up close some intruments sound like there right over my head other still come right from the speaker.

Thanks
Put furniture in the room, get a carpet or rug, and move the speakers around until they sound better to YOU. Done.
sadly I have carpet and funiture in there. I also know for that at one time the equipment did throw a deep sound stage behind the speakers. The guy who sold it to me also stated that it usaully thows deep sound stage behind the speakers.

I guess I am really going to have to work to set up a room that allows for a soundstage. Eventually I will get a conditoner and room treatments. I know it can sound so much better its terrible I am having a hard time getting it back. I also plan on reading up on hi-fi and accoustics. Maybe I will come out learning a great deal from this challege.
Near field is producing the best results in that room because it helps take the room out of the equation. The first impulse (direct from the speakers) is higher in amplitude relative to the room reflections. In a way, that confirms that treating the room will improve results. At this point, that's all you should be thinking about - improving the room. Until you do that, you're just setting yourself up for a frustrating experience.
Generally your goal should be exactly that - to eliminate the room as a variable. In my small, almost squarish room (12 x 14), this was accomplished by positioning the speakers such that the room is minimized as much as possible, a sort of quasi near-field approach. Speakers are set 9 ft apart along the long wall and only 7 ft (ideal minimum of 6 ft) away from my seat and about 2 ft from the side walls. This puts the listening position only 1 1/2 ft from the rear wall. This arrangement facilitates almost 5 ft (ideally 3 - 5 ft)of space behind the speakers for a fairly deep sound stage to develop. The wide placement, with toe-in so that the inside edge of the speakers is barely visible from the seat, gives width to the stage with excellent focus in the center. I have 4 GIK bass traps, placed using mirrors to find the first reflections, on the side walls and behind the speakers. There is two tri-traps in the corners behind the speakers, carpet on the floor and a few pieces of furniture placed about the room.

If I was trying to replicate this set up, I'd start with similar placement and refine from there with minor adjustments until I am satisfied. This set up will give a huge sound stage with excellent front to back depth plus great width and height.