2. speakers
  3. 1203089315

Room Treatments and WAF? Long

Living area with H/T and 2 channel combined. This is our main room for everything. It is 22'6" W by 16'9" with the h/t on the long wall. Wall to the right is only 3'6" tall and joins to the kitchen. Left wall is the fireplace(never used). Rear wall is a big problem. Two large windows (roughly 3'w x 5't) with a french door between them. Cathedral ceiling, carpetted floors with a large sectional couch positioned 12'from the front wall.

I know that the room needs treatment. Particularly the first reflection points but wondering if I can treat just the left wall since the right is so short and open to another room.

The biggest problem I think is the rear. All that glass! Significant other does not want curtains but could probably be persuaded if I could come up with something that would allow her to have the open look when she wants it. Any suggestions?
Thanks for any suggestions.
Steve
scoly1

Showing 3 responses by shadorne

shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
He does point out and caution regarding overdamping a room, which is something I subscribe to. All too often too much "stuff" is added tot he room and can actually take away from good sound.

Could not agree more. If you have wall to wall carpet and the speakers are four feet from side walls then personally I don't think side wall treatments help ...they may even make it worse. I prefer a "Live front end" and a "damped listening end".

On the other hand I don't think you can ever get enough of broadband bass absorption...usually aesthetics are the limiting factor.

My comments apply for medium to big sized rooms....why anyone would want to put an ultra high end system in a very small bedroom sized room - I really don't get that.
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Steve,

I don't get it - why would you treat first reflection points on a long wall that is 23 feet?

I agree that the rear wall is a problem. However - it depedns onyour listening position....where is this?

Suggestions

1) adjustable wooden slatted blinds over the windows - these can look very nice and will act as diffusers and absorbers....of course they are extremely expensive but at least they are nicer than curtains - it wil also allow you to darken the room for watching sports during the day on a big screen.

2) Put your screen & mains where the fireplace is...flat screens are small and I have seen some designs where a screen is hidden in a cabinet or where a projection screen coes down from the ceiling.

3) You can turn the fireplace into a good RPG skyline absorber - this is what I have done - see my system - of course this is only of maximum benefit if the fireplace is behind the listening position...rear wall reflections from behind the listener being the worst problem in most home setups.
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Can you help me understand why it is less of a problem on a 23 ft wall?

Simply because you can keep the speakers at least four feet away from the side walls which makes the BIGGEST difference in side wall reflections....with 23 feet to play with and assuming you are sitting 12 feet back then an 8 foot spacing between speakers gives you (23 - 8} / 2 = 7.5 feet to side walls if you placed the speakers in the middle of the 23 foot wall (roughly speaking of course as I ignored the dimensions of your speakers but I expect it is small as most people prefer pretty looking, narrow towers these days)
More to discover