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Thanks for the insight. I think I’m mainly battling flutter echo, which the ceiling should help with. Just popped some bass traps into the 3D model of our living room and my wife went mental, so perhaps I’ll have to shelf that idea. Helmholtz resonator?
Really don’t want to use DSP as the Tannoys sound so good with no fiddling, switching from DSPed smaller speakers to these guys was a revelation. It’s really easy to do DSP wrong I think. I’d rather have a more fun than “accurate” sound.
Might have to move the sofa off the back wall somehow. I’ll invent some kind of excuse…
dbr-
Helmholtz resonator?
Usually needs to be too big for a domestic room.
Having the sofa on the back wall helps as it operates like a bass trap. Problem is you need to be sitting a few feet in front of it! Definitely experiment with the speakers further into the room. Don't have the bass drivers equidistant from the floor and walls either.
I hear you regarding the DSP. Although I just added convolution dsp using a new method to Roon on my mains and it's improved things. The mains are Dynaudio Air 20 so very flat to begin with.
Airhead
If your room is 'normal' size and construction you won't be able to fit large enough bass traps to be effective. You're right to have the concerns you have, it's a common outcome.
Best mitigation is speakers away from walls. Something dense behind the listening position, non reflective behind the speakers and convolution dsp.
There are some great books on acoustics, when you look at the acoustically perfect room you are ultimately trying to create, it's not a domestic room.
As an example, after years of measuring and moving things around the room I have has very little reflections, this is noticeable if you clap your hands in it. It also has controlled bass at the listening position but the rear corners have an extra 6db (that's double) at 50hz.
Bass flows like water across the walls and builds up in corners. It also reflects and doubles at certain frequencies depending on room size. All of this is predictable and software like REW can calculate frequency response from dimensions, including speaker position to help you.
Another basic improvement I believe in is tilting speakers about 5 degrees to the listening position. I personally find it helps with reflections.