Ozzy where would you put the foam? The TV between your speakers would be the most apparent and logical spot for treatment. I would not use any type of foam product...they suckout to much energy and life and dynamics. The most broadly linear and least detrimental is natural long hair wool. You could make sound panels framed of 1 by 2's and covered in a fabric of choice and then hung on the wall or in front of your TV when listening to music.. Easy to move the panels about, very effective and lightweight. I have a few bags of long hair wool unused from several acoustic projects if your interested. Tom |
I would not use any type of foam product...they suckout to much energy and life and dynamics Absorption foams when used placed at optimum locations in the room will not kill dynamics but solve 1st order reflections. Benefits include less piercing highs and a more accurate and pin-point sound. Only when you use too much of those foams placed all over the place then you would lose dynamics and life. Too many products around. If you're looking for foams, try foambymail on the cheap. If you cannot live with the aesthetics(including myself), frame them up and cover them with acoustically transparent fabric. I bet the sound improvements will be huge compared to other tweaks as the room is one of the most important component besides the equipment and placement of speakers. With the quality of your gears I believe it is worthwhile to spend more time and effort on improving the room acoustics (especially if it's a dedicated room). If you have side walls, try absorption on the two walls in between the speakers and your listening chair. You can either use absorption or diffusion for your front and rear wall. The TV at the middle is certainly not doing any good. Others may have different opinons or suggestions. |
The problem response area has to measure as the inverse to the foams absorption efficiency
over a pre measured frequency. If not you will have a suckout and lotsa deep dark lifeless soundstage. Try that balancing act on your next year off. Most room issues can be dealt with proper geometry and the use of natural materials. Solutions and products as mentioned that are not normally advertised, reviewed, shipped, sold or suggested by retailers of any type.
Recently there have been rooms described where instead of the vendor/designer suggesting solutions at the outset of constuction,the expert has sold at the end a truck load of foam and fiberglass band-aids as the cure. I feel this approach is is an error in judgement and a dis-service to both the customers ears and bank account. |
What a coincident, I purchased a foam "kit" from Auralex today with the intention of treating a small room which I'm dedicating to audio. Haven't applied it yet as I'm figuring out the best placement. Also have a couple of absorptive panels. We'll see how it goes. |
Ozz, my VMPS speakers have Di-Pole mid range and tweeter and that material comes with speakers in a saw tooth pattern to place behind the mids, maybe Brain C. at VMPS can give you his source. |
Fire hazards??? That's why some clubs have had massive fires. Only certain foam will pass code. Most foam burns like mad. Spend real money on the certified stuff. |
Thanks for the responses.
The stuff from Foam by mail looks like the stuff I was thinking of.
I dont know if I need it as much as I thought it would look cool behind my speakers.
I also thought the idea was to have a dead end behind the speakers and a live end behind the listener.
Anyway, now I am confused,by some of the comments, if putting this stuff on the wall behind the speakers will deadin the dynamics. |
I am no expert but have gone through quite a few trial and errors. It depends on what you're looking for and every room is diferent. If you feel the highs are piercing or the sound becomes 'messy' when you crank up the volume too high then you would need absorption on at least one wall. I personally ended up with absorption at two side walls and RPG diffusors at the rear. I cannot treat the front wall as I have a screen there but have tried diffusors with positive results.
If you do not plan to have treatments on the side wall then I would think you can have absorption at the back and possibly minimal absorption at the front behind the speakers. You need to try it out yourself.
On a separate matter, I find bass traps to have a positive effect in my room as well although some may not find them doing any good in controlling the bass.
You can be amazed at how well your system will perform or react in a well-treated room. Prior to treating my room I always cannot turn up the volume too high although I like my music loud or I would end up with painful ears. Now I often listen at higher volume levels without hurting my ears. It just feels great when you can just keep turning up the volume without getting a 'messed-up' sound. At that point of time you would appreciate the importance of room acoustics and maybe spend more time working on improving it. |
Ryder, Thanks for the response.
I do not have a problem with high frequency at all.
I was thinking of soundstage depth.
With my Big Sony in between the speakers, I am sure that limits my options.
Covering the TV while listening to music is ok, but, I also watch Sports while listening to music.
I am using ASC 16" Round Bass Traps in the Corners and on the side walls I have ASC products on the first and second reflection points.
Behind my Sony LCD is a half moon ASC trap and above it is an Echo Buster on the wall.
I was seriously thinking of treating the entire wall behind the speakers to create a dead zone .
I have read that that is desirous along with the area behind the listener as a active zone.
So, behind me is my thousands of CD's on racks providing reflection surfaces. |
Oz, did you get the email I sent? |
Chadnliz, yes thanks. It looks like it only comes in the color natural(whatever that is) |
I moved my system into a new room that has two chairs and the stereo now. It was extremely lively with almost no soundstage, depth or focus. After installing most of the foam the improvement is not subtle. The music is no longer seeming to come out of the speakers. I can play it much louder without being driven from the room. I'll go on record as saying this stuff is good for the money.
The previous room was treated mostly with DIY absorptive panels and heavy carpets on the walls. They worked pretty well also. Other than the aesthetics, the room looks like a sound room, the Auralex products work as advertised. |
Hi Ozzy. I took a look at your system just to get familiar with your room's layout & characteristics.
Congratulations on beautiful system - nicely done!
The biggest problem that concerns me is your huge TV. Without a doubt that's where your system suffers the most.
There are ways to address this problem but you would have to be willing to make some adjustments ( not easy to any of us since we love our creations ).
Rearranging few thing, adding a couple diffusers etc.
could bring your system to another level.
I can't stress enough the importance of room acoustics.
Without taking care of room acoustic properties even the best equipment sounds JUST average. |
Ozzy, I also have the Auralex Roominator kit and a couple 3" burgandy panels that I purchased from Guitar Center a few years ago. I have had good results with this product, especially when I put the hand made corner traps in the rear corners and the diffusion array behind the listening sofa. I was having a bit of a upper bass boom which the Auralex took care of. It is an affordable tweak, couple hundred dollars, which is worth a try probably with a 30 day money back refund. |
I'm still experimenting with the Auralex. Instead of glueing the foam directly to the wall I bought some 2X4 foot acoustic ceiling tiles from Home Depot and glued the foam to the tiles. Easy to mount the tile to the wall and I can move them around until they are placed correctly.
For bass tuning I cut the tile down the middle and mounted four foam pieces to it. This piece goes nicely into the corner.
Man k.d. lang sounds good right now. |
Timrhu, good tip. Thanks everyone .
I just looked at the web site and it stinks!
I mean, I was not able to find anything as to the price of the products. I hate that!
The room calculator was nothing more than giving the web site my name,home adress, and email. The calculator then would not work !
Also, I could not find any mention of the Roominator kits.
How did you guys know what to order?
Must I find some dealer in order to find out these things? |
Check Guitarcenter.com for pricing. I believe shipping is free if an item is more than $100. There may be a local Guitar Center near you. I never heard of them until I checked into the Auralex products. They had the kits in stock. My "Roominator" kit was $139 (I think). I have quite a few pieces left over but unfortunately I glued most of them to the acoustic tile. I figured I'd use them all but they can really deaden a room. Now I have leftovers. |
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