I bet they disconnected the actual speaker components (top driver included) and are just running that roughly 8in ceiling speaker array via the cabinet terminals.

That’s the most local progression that could lead to this

I actually think you’re working with an overall pretty useable room.

1. Your response has a slight downward trend as you go higher in frequency. For in-room response, this is generally accepted or preferred for two (2) reasons: your ears naturally want more bass to hear it “evenly,” and your flat side and flat rear wall sum reflections will be full of >1-2k and up, so the blurred sum will add to your SPL and let you hear a flatter overall response, albeit blurred by reverberation.

2. I marked up this screenshot of your room response to show you what I feel like are your problem room modes: approximately 120hz*, 150hz, and 200hz.

• The 120hz could very likely be from your ceiling. Sitting over a very thick couch can help this. Or cloud absorbers directly overhead of your listening position.
• The 150 and 200 Hz are grouped-yet-separate in a way that makes me think it is 2 more boundary-reinforced (wall-amplified) room modes. These 2 can be DSP’d easily and without much adverse effect

edit: whatever you do, don’t go throwing -15db notch filters on servere room modes, especially if you “measure loudly and mix/listen quietly.” room EQ is volume dependent, and to do it properly you really should be EQ’ing to fixed volume and staging positions.

I heard cable lifts solve this

My list:

1. Bryston (insane engineering, insane specs, insane 20yr warranty, insane customer support)
2. Bryston
3. ATC (insanely sound physics designs, world class custom drivers)
4. Genelec (with significant stipulations, is a more consistently “good” sound than all other manufacturers on the planet. Their two flagship lines may be the best performing production loudspeakers in history)
5. RME (insane specs, engineering, support, legacy support)
6. SPL Germany (classiest circuit designs & product material quality available)

I buy round or rectangular media- it depends

OP keep in mind that passive/DIY approaches to reducing sound transmission will at most net you 3-6db in some specific frequency ranges, but not much more.

Likely you will get a couple db reduction that might help reduce total transients I.e. kick drum

My goal is to have a “reference” system based on physical possible capability for each component, based on my maximum possible budget:

1. Roughly 30hz-20Khz +/-3dB in-room

• this is very, very difficult, and most rooms can’t do it without significant acoustic treatment

2. Good time-alignment and dispersion

• this can come in the form of coaxial drivers, DSP-aligned drivers, or speaker design that accommodates time-alignment

3. Dynamic speed and tight response (transients) across the full frequency spectrum

• removing resonances, removing reflections, and carefully aligning and DSP’ing your system can go a long way to remove the multitude of “smearing” distortions that your system + room facilitate

1. Laptop w/ Spotify premium (320k OGG, sounds great on any system under about $5k used)

2. Basic AMP with proper specs to avoid accidentally doing something that hinders sound (trying to drive 4ohm speakers with a $10 av receiver from the early 90s) [ignore this if you found powered speakers or studio monitors]

3. Nicest speakers you can afford (do research, buy used, don’t accidentally spend $$ on marketing or looks)

4. As many hours researching acoustics and tweaking your room and stereo configuration as humanly possible

Things I’ve hated:

1. Krell 5.1 AV receiver (most etched awful shrill DAC sound signature I have ever…jfc)

2. Martin Logan Aerius (electro stats do NOT provide a natural or accurate listening experience- also blew 2 AV receivers due to gargantuan impedance drops below 2ohms)

Lmao, but when 95% of people’s home listening rooms have +-12dB peaks and nulls in the room response, truly the last thing you’ll hear is the additional A/D/A conversion of a DSP unit.

$3000 used speakers $1500 used amp $100 Amazon all-in-one DAC preamp $400 for a nice dinner and some shoes

T-Pain’s tiny desk concert is amazing

Rotel stuff is hit-or-miss.

Circa 2016-17 I had a Rotel RB-1080 and B&W 805 Nautilus system.

I upgraded to a Bryston amp and was just blown away at how it sounded like I got better speakers. I think the Rotel stuff fits squarely in the “consumer product” category of things.