For a quick good time, blankets...

I have an upright piano 4' from my left speaker and nothing to the side of the right speaker for 20'. I cover the piano with an old tablecloth when I'm alone. It helps.

My TV has a swivel it can be tilted back while listening. I hung a curtain over a large LCD to block potential reflections, it also looks good kinda gave the room a sense of being in a cozy little cinema. 


alpha_gt109 posts02-11-2017 8:57pmMy mother made me a quilt wall hanging, beautiful piece of art. And I hung it behind my listening position, and it made a very positive improvement to the sound. A friend of mine has a tapestry that's been in his family for generations, behind and between the speakers, I haven't heard the room without it, but it does seem to be a well damped room. Looks a lot better than egg cartons stapled all over the room!

I did that when a rear wall was only about a foot behind my ears. Treating a back wall in such close proximity makes a huge positive difference. 

@alpha_gt

Exactly the kind of things I was thinking of. Maybe someday when I join the plutocracy  I'll be able to do that.

Best,

E

My mother made me a quilt wall hanging, beautiful piece of art. And I hung it behind my listening position, and it made a very positive improvement to the sound. A friend of mine has a tapestry that's been in his family for generations, behind and between the speakers, I haven't heard the room without it, but it does seem to be a well damped room. Looks a lot better than egg cartons stapled all over the room! 

A suggestion for those who put blankets over there big screen TVs.
I bought a piece of 2in Pyramid foam, cut it to size, put three 3in velcro straps on it. They come with adhesive, but then you need to put something on the adhesive strap part. And the adhesive doesn't hold well, so I sewed them on, just some stitches in no special pattern other than coming through between the pyramids. Put a few pieces of the other side of the velcro, the grabby side, on the top edge and back  of the TV.
When watching TV, I placed three small squares on my CD shelves.
On a 56in HDTV the velcro lines up nicely in three places on the CD shelves. It takes about 20 seconds to remove or install.
No more problems with big reflective screen.
I went with 2in, if I ever change TVs, I would probably go with 3 or 4in.
It helped with soundstage, depth, and to me just overall improved the sound.
I bought the foam here [very reasonable prices]:
http://www.foambymail.com/acoustical-foam-products.html
One piece of 48in x 72in was $35 plus shipping.
I had a few pieces left over that I placed in areas that I felt could benefit.
 

Does that reviewer have any furniture? 

Yep, at least one Stereophile reviewer has no room treatments at all, and constantly bemoans the poor bass response in his room, but that's how he reviews $100k+ speakers.

Best,

E

Brings up an interesting thing I notice in audio magazines...the always wireless and generally ampless and everything elseless cool man speakers in cool man modern rooms for advertising pics. It's as if your wealthy neighbor liked the looks of your Ferrari Red Wilsons so much he broke into your place and took the damn things up to the penthouse and just put 'em in there. Along the glass walled living area with no rugs and a view of the rooftop pool maybe. They hire ad agencies for this stuff of course, but I want to see piles of gear with gigantic cables, bass traps, ugly egg carton diffusers, and a grumpy looking trophy wife…just once...

@nrenter

Thanks !! Of course, this is far beyond where I meant to go.

I hope however that more audiophiles experiment with room acoustics which can be done for nearly zero cost. I think any who haven't yet done so in their audio education could be in for a real learning experience.

I do think that wearing a padded Winnie the Pooh outfit while listening would be taking the idea a bit far!

Best,

E

Candidly, some of my favorite listening is while being covered in a down duvet. Rather than go off the rails, I'll support the premise of the OP.

Interesting. In that environment, a bi-polar line array may actually be the best you can get.

Still, yeah, not where I'd put my best gear.

Bet it sounded Fabiolous...

Tom

I mentioned this somewhere else, but remember seeing a picture of male model Fabio's system? Nice gear, (IRS speakers and Krell electronics iirc), but set-up in a marble-floored, glass-walled room. Ridiculous.

I cant get by without an extra thick wool sweater while doing any critical listening. 

I realize that many people attempt to listen to audio systems while living in rugless or carpetless environments devoid of furnishings and surrounded with reflective surfaces like some sort of insane Bauhaus nightmare of sonic reflections, rendered helpless when attempting to distinguish between an oboe and a 52 Telecaster. This is sad, and we certainly should help these hapless souls. However, I also feel that anybody who hasn't figured out that glass houses are not only inappropriate when located near golf courses and skeet shooting ranges, but potentially internally lacking the proper damping for serious audio sound wave stability might be beyond help. However, I don't plan to ignore those who suffer the dizzying effects of reflected cacophony, and will begin a drive to gather blankets and provide them to those befuddled by environmentally inappropriate flat surfaces in my new charity, SUTR, or Soak Up Them Reflections…I care…I really do...

I'm always disappointed that the most measurable, most provable changes you can make in a listening environment are the most mocked and most resisted.




E

Legs on the coffee table and apart and directed to each speaker, wool thick socks with the toes at ear level and slightly bent inwards to guide the sound waves to the respective ear. Avoid holding glass mugs as they will make the room too bright.

@wolf_garcia ,
Hahaha! I think the same funny thoughts whilst enjoying me music in me old listening room. I'm thinking wool v cotton v synthetic v blend socks.
How bout no-shows v ankle-highs v calf-length v knee-highs?
Legs apart? Crossed at ankles, knee or mid-thigh?
One foot higher than the other?
The possibilities are endless!!! O, glory be!!!

Tom

The flooring halfway between your ears and your speakers, is often the very first of many direct reflections in the listening area.....especially for those that listen in the nearfield.

At the very least, a natural fiber rug/carpet and thick rug pad is a necessity for those trying to wring everything they can from their system. I went the extra yard and placed a pair of GIK 242's in 2x2 size in the locations mentioned above. Very nice improvement to a listening room that I thought was already dialed in.

I have a glass coffee table right in front of my listening sweet spot…I put a couple of throw pillows on top (covering 90% of the thing, and 100% of the area that would reflect anything into my ear balls), problem solved. And, I can then put my feet on it more comfortably which allows me to use my feet to reflect small bits of treble waves elsewhere, or simply absorb the waves into my socks. 

Yes, the coffee table!
I got rid of mine, and it helped, a lot.
But, mine is a dedicated room. Easy to ditch something pretty when WAF doesn't come into play...

Tom

@mr_m

Well, again, blankets were just a suggestion for skeptics and the inexperienced to learn about room acoustics experimentally. It's not actually THE recommended solution. However, I can see if you are into quilts or museum quality tapestries it might be! :)

For detailed help, and a range of products, contact GIK Acoustics. Great prices, advice and really effective and attractive tools.

Best,


E

I forgot to mention my biggest nemesis:

The Coffee Table

I can't really live without one, but when I remember to remove it things get much better.

Interesting thread. Will the blankets stop "slap echo?" Moved into a new home in AZ.  Unfortunately, my listening room is 16' by 16' square, 9 foot ceiling, wall to wall carpet, some drapes. Seems like the slap echo problem is somewhere near  the ceiling edges. I think.....

@terraplane8bob,
Interesting! Any chance you can recall the size of the room, and any treatments?

Thank you,
Tom

I recall being at a gathering of audiophiles at the home of an audio reviewer. We were well acquainted with the excellent acoustics of the room in which many of the items that he reviewed were auditioned and all of us were surprised at how poorly everything sounded during our session.  The host had generously replaced the hard surfaced chairs on which we normally sat with a beautiful upholstered couch.  We finally realized that the only change to the room was the replacement of the chairs with the couch.  Together, we removed the couch, and voila !!  After listening for an hour or so, we replaced the sofa in the room and everything turned to crap !  I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't been there !  Of course, the couch never was returned to the listening room.

Planar dipole speakers benefit more from diffusion behind them than absorption, assuming they can be 5' or more in front of the wall behind them. That allows them to create the very deep and huge sound stage of which they are capable.

I think the most overlooked "room treatment " is the area front/between the speakers on the ceiling. Try the blanket treatment, especially if they are standard height, e.g. 8', etc., and near field listening arrangement. Helped my room to sound a tad warmer.

@acman3 That's the problem with science, danger lurks everywhere.

I tried this tweek 25 years ago. Ended up having my 1st child.:)

Hey @tomcarr no problem at all.

I don't know about Prima. I found GIK and their prices and effectiveness so reasonable I'm a devoted fanboy. ASC is also very good, but pricey....

GIK also is really super helpful for the novice. Upload pics, diagrams and they'll set you up.

Try "fight attendants"  (as in boxing, MMA, etc.) for even larger room dampening (and we do mean DAMP) characteristics!

Hey Erik,

Don't mean to hijack your thread but the blankets worked so well I'm looking at room treatments that don't look like...thrift-store blankets stapled to the walls...
Looking at the London 12 kit from Primacoustics.
So... you, or anyone, have any knowledge of this product?

Thanks very much,
Tom

Hey Wolf, what's this extreme affinity to sheep..? You heard the story about the shepard who got real lonely on a cold winter night, soft music played and....remembering any fond memories??!!

@geoffkait, OMG...LOL!!!

Tom

There it is! That sheep never had a chance.

I would crush you mr kaitt . My chair has a top speed of 20mph

Lighten up, Beano. Want to race around the block?

@geoffkait  Only in your fantasy world mr kaitt

maplegrovemusic
I am in a wheelchair Mr. Kait

Was the sheep on roller skates?

I am in a wheelchair mr kaitt

I'm going out on a limb here and say there's a high probability it did not outrun maplegrovemusic.

Baaaaa

oregonpapa:
" I've  heard from multiple reliable sources that virgin wool comes from sheep that can run faster than wolf_garcia."

Comedy gold!  Well done, oregonpapa! 

     I've also heard reports that wolf's flock of acoustically beneficial sheep has been mysteriously growing over the years. Trusted eye witnesses are claiming many of these younger sheep(?) have opposable thumbs, walk upright and call wolf "Daddy". .. hmm.

That was too easy lpretiring

lpretiring
"Gotta be better than Sonex, one of the worst materials ever foisted on naive gullible audiophiles,"

geoffkait, are you jealous of Sonex?

Maybe.

"Gotta be better than Sonex, one of the worst materials ever foisted on naive gullible audiophiles,"

 geoffkait, are you jealous of Sonex?

Are the listeners being blocked by sheep? Or is there an attempt at some form of mirth control?...I think it was oregonpapa that described the technique he recommends when enjoying sheep…something to do with dangerous hillsides or cliffs causing them to back up...

Sonex barely works except as shipping material. Products from GIK Acoustics and ASC however are beautiful marvels.

I think sheep are cute and sometimes funny, but it is pretty surprising to me the apparently deliberate campaign to prevent listeners from trying things out inexpensively.

The gains in acoustic treatment are among the best values in audio.

Best,


E