Room treatment-I was afraid of this


There I was with a dedicated room-not ideal being nearly square and a less than 8' ceiling-and barely adequate music, not awful but the system had sounded better. I tried moving things about some with differing results but nothing satisfying. Part of the problem was moving from a 30x35 foot room with an 18' ceiling. I was used to the speakers being well out into the room, far apart and sitting pretty far away. I used the odd integer matrix method promoted by Vandersteen but hadn't considered either placing them closer to the wall or moving near field. Nick at GIK recommended both, as well as some furniture rearranging that made a very pleasant difference. That was all the encouragement I needed to order bass traps, 1st and 2nd reflection panels and front and rear wall treatments. Installed them by about 4pm Monday and listened until 2 am, back at it last night from 3pm-1am. It's just as so many have said, this is a serious component upgrade. It is matched in scale only when I went from Vandersteen 2CE's to Chapman T-77SE's. Not a single aspect of the listening experience that isn't enhanced. So now the problem; I suppose a lot of the glowing stuff folks make of cables, power cords, fuses, and on and on also make significant differences. How long can it be before I'm off and running on that stuff?
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Showing 4 responses by toolbox149

I am wondering if anyone has had the opportunity to compare GIK bass traps with and without either the Flexrange Membrane added, or with the Scatterplate added, or with both added.  
As stated by someone above, I also love the sound of reflected upper frequencies.  My listening room duplicates my favorite listening experience; 25th row, dead center at Apline valley. I would hate to part with that sound.  Nevertheless, tightening up lower frequencies might be an improvement.

OK. I'll downsize my question.
Has anybody tried/bought GIK bass traps with either the Flexrange Membrane added, or with the Scatterplate added, or with both added.
I'm interested in the effect on your bass frequencies and did they allow upper frequencies to continue, almost as before you added the bass traps?

toddverrone,
I just read through your post about your wall of glass. I can't tell if you have a total wall of glass (side to side and/or floor to ceiling), or if you have a lot of separate windows, (maybe spaced close together, but each having a separate frame).  If your wall of glass is made up of separate windows have you ever tried that 3M insulating, window shrink wrap?  It's very easy to install and with a little practice and care, you can get them to the point they are almost totally invisible.
They may dampen the room since you're introducing a softer surface where you had a large, hard surface.  You might try a couple of the windows and then test the sound before completing the job.
If you have a second pair of hands, get help to attach the window film to the double-sided, clear tape as straight as you can.  After that, it's pretty easy to get the film totally smooth using a hair dryer.  Just use a light touch with the dryer, and don't linger on one spot too long to get a wrinkle out.  The two-sided tape comes off easily and any tape residue that might remain comes off with a light application of adhesive remover.
Anyway, $15-30 and a little effort should be enough to test out your plexiglass cover theory.

Dentdog,
Thanks for the answer.  I went to the virtual system page to see your system, but when I searched for "dentdog" it found nothing.  What is your system listen under?
I'm interested why you placed the GIK bass panels behind you, as opposed to addressing the corners first.  I have a similar seating arrangement.

Thanks