How far apart from each other are your speakers? Your position and the 2 speakers should form a perfect equilateral triangle.. If the speakers are 4' apart, you should be 4' from them..

The MSP5’s probably sound a little more focused in your room because they roll off at 50 Hz.. The V8's probably go a bit lower than that, maybe 40Hz?

I noticed that you have acoustical treatments installed but I see no reference to bass traps. In any room, you absolutely need to add some bass trapping. Check the acoustics forum here at RO. There are several acoustics experts there that can show you how to build some very affordable bass traps..

Stabb,

The sign wave for a low "E" on a bass guitar is about 26 feet long. So now you see that on top of what Kurt told you about the equilateral triangle you now know why you need bass traps in a 10x13x8 room. Those frequencies are really piling up.

Near fields, and most non-PA speakers for that matter, are usually designed for and tested at a distance of 1m (~3ft). So this is the shortest listening distance for which you will get reliable results. However, even this distance will yield a small "sweet spot". If you think of the sweet spot as the base of a cone whose tip is at the tweeter, you'll see that moving back from the speaker enlarges the spot.

The bass frequencies not "forming" until farther back is not a listening proximity effect. Close listening positions will cause problems in the midrange near the crossover frequency, not in the bass. This bass issue is almost certainly due to room modes. You're probably sitting at the congruence of several nulls. So like Kurt said, you definitely need some bass trapping.

Another major problem is interference due to sound bouncing off the front and side walls. Try putting your layout numbers into my [[url=http://[/URL]="http://johnlsayers…"]2D Wall Bounce Calculator[/]="http://johnlsayers…"]2D Wall Bounce Calculator[/] and see what you get.

Thomas

Thanks for your input, guys.
Kurt, yes the point on my head and the spkrs form an almost perfect equilateral triangle.

I was hoping that 4'x8'x4"ers would absorb a lot of the bass. And indeed they did as the back of my room is not nearly as filled with lows as they were.

The aborbers are positioned:
1 over the mix position slightly tilted to reflect toward the back of the room.
2 hanging over the middle part of the room (parallel to the ceiling).
2 hanging parallel to the side walls in the middle part of the room.
1 hanging from the ceiling in the back of the room ala Ethan's mini traps (angled over where the ceiling joins the wall).

But I guess I need some real trapping!

I think I am somewhat hindered by the layout of my rooms' closet and door. But before I ask about building traps -

Can someone explain exactly what is bass trapping?
Is there a difference between absorbing and trapping?
I'd just like to know exactly what to listen for when I'm standing there with my ears open.

Thomas, from what you wrote, I am sitting too close to my spkrs.
It just seems to me that the MSP5's throw just 'fits better' in my room.

Thanks again, guys!!!