Challenging Room Node


I have a dedicated listening room that I have treated with GIK panels in the corners, first reflection points and behind the speakers.   I have had my 800 D3's in a number of positions and thought I had them locked in.  I ran some frequency sweeps using some test disks.  There is a node at 60hz so bad that the narrow frequency almost disappears.  When I stood up to move about the room it came back with a roar as soon as my head got above 4 1/2.  I was always thinking in 2 dimensions but evidently my room (17.25 x 23.13 x 8.54) has some vertical issues.  

I have mitigated pretty well by moving the speakers closer to the read wall but i give up some clarity.  I also think the speakers sound more dynamic when I stand.  Anyone encounter this issue and mitigated it?
jwalsh31

Showing 1 response by pragmasi

Yep, that's a difficult frequency - a porous absorber would need to be over 4' thick (1/4 wavelength), even stuffing that into the corners is going to be pretty obtrusive. A sub array would seem to be a good choice if you have the space and wallet.
If you're really intent on treating the room then there are more options. As you're dealing with a narrow frequency band then you may want to look up diaphragmatic absorbers and helmholtz resonators, both of which are more efficient in terms absorption coefficient but have a higher Q (they cover a smaller range of frequencies). Both need tuning to the room so will require a bit of DIY (I've not checked to see if there are any commercial ones available). If you go down this route prepare yourself for quite a bit of trial and error... also grab a copy of the Master Handbook of Acoustics.
I ended up putting in a suspended timber ceiling made up of 1/2" T&G timber, 6" rockwool and a 6" air gap above that... so I lost just over a foot of ceiling height. I had left myself the option of making holes in the timber to create helmholtz resonators but it's good enough without that.