Audiophiles without a dedicated listening room — what drives you nuts?

[joedel]

Hey all, Joe here; fellow audiophile, currently squeezing a system into a room that very much was not designed for it.

I'm talking to people in the same boat to understand the real-world headaches of listening seriously in a shared/living space: room treatment fights with the partner, speaker placement compromises, neighbours, WAF, gear that "should" sound better than it does, etc.

Not selling anything. Not a survey. Just a 10-minute call where you tell me what actually annoys you. I'm doing this as part of my bachelor's thesis and hoping the output is something genuinely useful for the community.

Looking for 10–20 people. If you're up for it, drop a comment or DM and I'll send a couple of time slots.

Cheers,
Joe

 

[Shadowfax]

The clock ticking and the hum of 2 Radon fans attached to the house are my maim beefs.

 

[Mike]

My wife.

 

[brad225]

My wife.

 

[Michaels HiFi]

Hi Joe,

You may find many people are (smartly) hesitant to start talking to someone with no history on the forum and give out such info.

 

[joedel]

The clock ticking and the hum of 2 Radon fans attached to the house are my maim beefs.

Oh no... the radon fans are a nasty one, constant noise right in the listening band. Quick question if you don't mind: have you tried anything to deal with either of them?

 

[joedel]

My wife.

Haha, fair enough!

What’s the main thing that causes friction: speaker placement, volume, visible gear/cables, acoustic treatment, or just the whole system taking over the room?

 

[joedel]

Hi Joe,

You may find many people are (smartly) hesitant to start talking to someone with no history on the forum and give out such info.

Hi Michael,

You’re right, that’s a fair concern, especially since I’m new here.

I’m not looking for private info, and I’m happy to keep the discussion on the forum. Even broad, non-personal replies would be really useful: what compromises people have had to make with speaker placement, treatment, volume, aesthetics, neighbours, or shared-room use.

Thanks for pointing it out! I should probably have made that clearer in the original post.

 

[Mike]

Haha, fair enough!

What’s the main thing that causes friction: speaker placement, volume, visible gear/cables, acoustic treatment, or just the whole system taking over the room?

Competing sound. Talking mostly. But I have a dedicated room and usually head up there. The living room system is for playing when we are cooking or doing other things. More background than critical listening.

 

[joedel]

Competing sound. Talking mostly. But I have a dedicated room and usually head up there. The living room system is for playing when we are cooking or doing other things. More background than critical listening.

Ah, gotcha! Since you already have a dedicated room for critical listening, you've actually solved the exact problem I'm researching. Just out of curiosity, did the competing sound in the living room drive you to set up the dedicated room in the first place, or did you always have it?

 

[Mike]

Ah, gotcha! Since you already have a dedicated room for critical listening, you've actually solved the exact problem I'm researching. Just out of curiosity, did the competing sound in the living room drive you to set up the dedicated room in the first place, or did you always have it?

Always had it.

 

[Michaels HiFi]

Hi Michael,

You’re right, that’s a fair concern, especially since I’m new here.

I’m not looking for private info, and I’m happy to keep the discussion on the forum. Even broad, non-personal replies would be really useful: what compromises people have had to make with speaker placement, treatment, volume, aesthetics, neighbours, or shared-room use.

Thanks for pointing it out! I should probably have made that clearer in the original post.

No worries - just trying to help.

 

[Shadowfax]

Oh no... the radon fans are a nasty one, constant noise right in the listening band. Quick question if you don't mind: have you tried anything to deal with either of them?

Stop the clock and turn the volume up is the way.

The Radon Fans are getting old and you can hear the bearings now. Going to look into getting them replaced soon.