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8. Getting a Great Sound at Home
The Effect of Your Acoustical Environment
When playing in a large room or on a big stage, getting a great sound from your amp is
usually easy. Generally, in this type of setting, can simply crank the amp up to full
power, and it will sound great.
Playing at home, or in any small room, is a different story. In a case like this, the
acoustic properties of the room can have a big influence on the sound you hear, and
can often cause problems.
There are many types of problems that can happen in a small room. Here are a few
suggestions for how to deal with them:
Floor Reflections
If you have the amp sitting on a hardwood, tile, or concrete floor in a small room, it may
sound harsh in the upper midrange, because of reflections off the floor directly in front
of the amp. To help solve this problem, you might try placing a small piece of carpet (or
a doormat, for example), directly in front of the amp.
Where to Place the Amp
Most small combo amps sound best when placed directly on the floor. However, if you
find that your amp sounds too bassy or boomy in the low end, you might try raising it
up at least 6” off the floor to even out the bottom end.
In a small room, you will find that the sound you hear is greatly influenced by the
location of the amp in the room, and by the orientation of the amp with respect to the
listening position (i.e. if the amp is pointing at you or away from you).
I strongly suggest experimenting by moving the amp around to different places in the
room, playing through it at each location, to find the place that sounds the best.
Carpeting
Carpeting can cause problems as well, and it’s not quite as simple as rolling off the high
frequencies and making the amp sound dark. Often, the problem is that it causes a dip
in a certain region in the midrange, leaving a hole in the lower midrange that makes the
amp sound harsh and brittle in the top end. This generally can’t be helped by moving
the amp to a different location in the room. The only solution I’ve found is to raise the
amp up a few inches off the floor. You may lose some bottom end in doing this, but the
positive effect in smoothing the midrange response will more than make up for it.
