Speaker Asylum

If you're used to the sound of an untreated room, a treated room can sound bad - at first...

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One of the things you might experience after installing effective room treatments are feelings of consternation.
If you're used to hearing muddy sound, increasing smoothness in frequency response and increasing clarity of sound overall can, at first listen, sound "wrong" to you. But only at first.
As you continue to re-listen to your favorite recordings, you start to realize how "muddy" the sound was previously and that you had, over time, gotten used to muddiness in sound.
The new sound can seem slightly "sterile", at first. But as your mind begins to take in the increase in sonic detail and the decrease in sonic muddiness, you start to realize that you were wrong in past assessments.
Just a heads up. If/when you do start to treat your room, be prepared for a slight shock - at least during the first few hours or days of listening.
You might, at first, feel as if you'd wasted your money and you might wish for old experiences to return. But continue to listen on, anyway.
Rebirths of this sort can take a little time, sometimes.
OTOH, it might be possible to "treat" a room excessively, for sure. In order to avoid this happening ? Read on...
At first, I would recommend placing smaller (2' x 2' x 4") wide-band absorption panels at all "first (or primary) reflection points", all around the room.
Then, walk around the room as bass-heavy music is playing, and drop those bigger, thicker bass absorption "traps" in place anywhere where you hear noticeable peaks in bass response.
You can gradually increase absorption at all "first reflection points", if/when you are able to. But once you think you've reached the point of "diminishing returns" in clarity of sound, stop adding absorption. Too much absorption can lead to "deadness" of sound...
From there, proceed to apply "the icing on the cake" (after the basic layers of "the cake" are built up, of course)...
Adding diffusion treatments is what comes next ! This means using wide-band (minimum 5" well depth) diffusion products. In rooms of average size, place these treatments in *available spots* remaining in the room - as far away from the ears as possible, and as far away from the "first reflection points" in the room as possible (as a general rule)...
Remember, though. The "general rules" in the use of acoustic treatments don't always equate to "personal preferences" in their use. You simply need to listen at every step of the way in your room treatment journey while deciding for yourself what "the right things to do" actually are.
The above is my basic recipe. I've found that it works, and you might too.

Edits: 11/23/24 11/23/24 11/23/24 11/23/24

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