Just a couple of weeks to go till we are in our new house, and one we are gonna stay in, yippee.

Had a call today to say one of the rads has sprung a leak and that the lounge carpet is trashed, so they are kindly going to replace it for us.

Normally we would go for a real wood floor, as we don't have to worry about spills etc and it lasts for ever, but having heard my hifi in a room with carpet i am starting to think this is the best option for hifi, the sound was much softer and a little more direct.

What do you guys prefer?

One thing i will say about wood flooring is that it does seem to give a better sound stage, sounding a little more live.

Interesting what a difference these things make to hifi.

I've never had a hifi in a room without a carpet. (Never thought of that fact before!)
I suppose theoretically a carpet would be preferable (sound insulation to stop reflections - which would explain your improved sound stage comments).
DF

We have just had a real oak floor,replacing a cheap laminate one,sounds better now,still a bit to live,but you can always get a couple of rugs to soften the sound.

Hey guys,

One thing that made a big difference with the wood flooring was curtains, i know this sounds strange but with my speakers being twin ported front and rear the addition of curtains (sat behind each speaker) made a BIG difference to the bass, essentially abolished the boom.

Thought you may be interested.

In any event, i have found a concrete paving slab under each speaker is a cheap way of improving overall separation.
(My listening rooms have always been suspended timber floors.)
DF

I would always go for wood myself as I find nothing worse than a 'dead' room. Every enviroment has a 'sound' and if you over dampen the room you'll loose the space that you get from having reflections from the walls and floor.
Some carefully placed rugs or bass traps can deal with the humps in the room acoustics.