Accidental improvement in performance...cheap


I had family and friends over this weekend, my dad has a nice system and two members came down for a couple days. We had more people than rooms and one friend stayed in my listening room on an air bed (Queen size) the kind that comes with a electric pump and folds into a gym bag, $40.00 at Walmart.....anyway, during the day he rested it against back wall behind speakers. We went down for some serious listening and he asked if he should move it, thinking it would be easy to just leave it there we fired things up (I figured if it made the sound bad we would move it) now this Air Bed has dimples that look like where the springs would be and it has a sort of suede finish and I am probably going to be laughed at but the system never sounded so good, less smear and HF glare, maybe ot also asted as a sort of bass treatment too, so I wonder if folks would maybe try this if they have an air bed and report what you hear.........I think it made a nice improvement (or we just simply had a great time and my mood made everything sound great) Cheers
chadnliz
makes perfect sense to me - so here's the question, now that you know what you know, are you going to leave it there?
Well my Audio bud took his Air Mattress back with him but I am seriously thinking of blowing mine up and doing just that, I should make it clear my speakers have Di-Pole mid range which may make them a better canidate then sealed but hey its worth a try!
While tweeks to room acoustics can produce wonderful results, one must consider aesthetics, as well. Is it really worth having to stare at an ugly blown up mattress placed between your expensive speakers just because it improves the sound? I realize the main priority of this hobby is to achieve sonic nirvana, but at what cost? No, I am not laughing at the idea; I'm sure it does improve the sound somewhat, but I am scratching my head in wonder.
IMHO what you tried was really a "quick and dirty" bass trap. I had something similar happen when I put a big bag of pink fiberglass (in the unopened bag) in the corner nearest my rack. Esthetically horrible but acoustically nice. So now I think you have an idea of how a bass trap (and maybe some diffusion) could improve your listening room.
That is great! I love stories like this. A friend of mine has a nice older system with some Energy Conoisseur C8 speakers. We were listening to it one day and there were some rather obivous bass modes rearing their heads up. Laying on the floor were a pair of poufs and we thought of putting them in the corners behind the speakers. The difference was clear - pun intended! We were surprised at how much difference they made.

Arthur
Makes perfect sense, which #1 the sueded surface helps knock down the reflections behind your head, and the Air in such a contained capacity is the best bass damper you can find, Air cavity. Or a big fuzzy couch will do this with less of an obstruction :-) Room acoustics are everywhere, it is really more simple, just finding the right furniture and location is the hard part!
In addition to a possible bass trap as Tobias mentioned, also consider that you treated the first reflection point on the floor. Maybe you should try and hang one of those air mattresses from the ceiling as well. :-)
I use two twin bed matresses at the first reflecting point of my speakers. (one in front of each on the opposing wall) Huge difference. My wife is so understanding.

ET
The air bed was against the wall behind the speakers in a dedicated room so as far as how it looks that doesnt matter much (most of the time), I am going to try it with mine if I can find where it is stashed, just moved so there are a few unknowns :)
I non-accidentally added some blow-up devices with unique dimples and some uh, inverse accouterments. They all sound great [no whining to turn it down] and always someone to 'listen' with. The blonde is better on the floor. YMMV.
02-12-08: Tripper
I non-accidentally added some blow-up devices with unique dimples and some uh, inverse accouterments. They all sound great [no whining to turn it down] and always someone to 'listen' with. The blonde is better on the floor. YMMV.


ROTFLMAO!! Good work Tripper!
I agree with Aball completely. I love stuff like this and I'm absolutely not laughing. Got a small asymmetric listening area in a finised basement ... alcove with wall corner near my left channel speaker, open on the right channel. We've got an air matress. If that one's too big I may just buy a smaller one. I'm not opposed to taking it up and down when I listen. I looked at DIY base traps seemed like a lot of work and not easily hidden. An inflatable mattress solves a couple of problems. Thanks, Chadnliz.
Type in "acoustic foam" on eBay's search bar. There's a Canadian company making Auralex knock-offs(the original is also avaiable there). Their 2" X 24" X 24" squares, and Bass traps(just like the LENRDs) do wonders for room acoustics. They can be installed with latex caulk(removed or moved easily). They'd look MUCH better than two inflatable mattresses leaning against the wall!
For the bare rooms I observe in many members system these items offer a very economical way of experimenting.
You are of course absolutely right and people should appreciate your bringing it forward. congrats.
Could be a great anti-theft device too..and leave little signs when you're not home saying "I wouldn' touch that if I were you, if you know what I mean, and I think you do."