Thank you for the replies. First off, I apologize for coming off as salty. I really enjoy our hobby, but the level of elitist criticisms just keeps sending me back to my isolated little corner. I've searched for days for a new forum and this one seems to be the most open. I shouldn't have opened with assumptions. (And the comment about not selling VA to their worst enemy was an actual interaction at a shop in San Francisco).
So, the reason I'd mentioned wires; I'm ambivalent about wires (besides the obvious disparaties). I was able to directly A/B the Audio-Magic RCA interconnects to an Audioquest Coax. Was it the wires or the DAC in the BlueSound vs Parasound? I'm not sure. Also, the ELAC speaker wires are a new addition so I was leaving it open to someone saying that they've had issues with them. Again, I was trying to be as detailed as possible.
For the room, it's one of those dumb-dumb realizations. I moved from a dense neighborhood to overlooking the forest. I think I was so enthralled with the daily view that it completely slipped past me that I have giant sound mirrors all around. All glass has double cell blackout shades, so I'll pull everything down and see what difference that makes. Thank you for the head slap on that one. I will also look into performing the RT60 test.
I did move the couch about a foot closer and it helped bring things in. However, I've read in a few places that these speakers are quite tricky to place just right. That's where I was looking for suggestions. I was hoping someone had experience to say that they're too far apart, need extreme toe-in, no toe-in, something that I'm just missing. Movies sound great, but they're movies. I also probably shouldn't have even mentioned sound adjustment as that was simply for movies (the Anthem). 2 channel is processed directly through the Parasound.
The room here is significantly larger. Before I was crammed into a 12' by 15' space. I'll start looking at reflections, and maybe my ears just need to adjust to the new space.
With that, how do you all deal with the balance of a "living space" and acoustically perfect setup? Am I the only one that would be sleeping in the garage if I tried to hand acoustic panels from the ceiling? She often jokes that she's going to replace everything with a Bose Acoustimass system while I'm at work.
We all have to make compromises in our situations. That's the very nature of life if we aren't fortunate enough to have the perfect space which can be dedicated to nothing else.
Blinds are one thing: next step is hang curtains. Even left open they will help break up the room a little, but if you really want to sit in dreamland with your favorite recording, closing the ones at the front of the room will have a significant impact.
A further step that would be minimally invasive would be to
perhaps put some acoustic panels behind the front Speakers. Suggesting this is a bit tricky as we don't know exactly what may be happening in your room, but treating that front wall a little bit could help with some of the reflected energy.
To that point, this is where getting your hands on a measurement mic and REW (room eq wizard) can be very helpful. You don't have to be a pro acoustician to use it, though there is a bit of a learning curve. Folk here can help interpret graphs if you have questions. But for the cost of a microphone (about $100) you can start digging in to what is happening in your room and understanding what might be needed to make the changes that will aid you in your goal.
A follow up though re room size... A larger room should be easier for the Speaker to "disappear" in. That's the theory, at least. But consider that in the smaller room, you were likely enveloped by all that energy concentrated and moving around you. In this new room, you don't have the same boundary support and thus the acoustic issues are different and questing for the same experience as before may well be challenging.
FWIW, I'm in a very small room, too, 11x15'. When listening in stereo, I get a quasi-surround field because of the way all that sound moves around and stays in my room. The designer of my Speakers and I have discussed some of the effects I note about my mains and one aspect of difference is his listening environment where he fine tunes his designs is larger. Short version, he doesn't necessarily agree with me about the effect I experience.
This isn't a bad thing, it's just different.
However, the moral of this is that if I were to set up in a larger room, I would undoubtedly lose the effect I currently enjoy in my small room.
To that point, I don't really like the idea of saying the Speakers "disappear." While I get the concept, I think what you and I both experience(d) in our small rooms is more about envelopment of energy. If you look up an old video that made some waves on various fora about how to place your Speakers so they disappear, posted by New Record Day, he gives his process for finding that right spot. (Not saying I agree, but just some "food for thought."
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For him, as I recall, he needed to pull the Speakers pretty far out into his room to achieve this. Of course, leaving them there isn't an option. But again, this goes some way to showing the every room will be different and the things that worked before won't necessarily work now.
Perhaps you'll find something in all of this to help out further.
