Room Treatments and WAF? Long
Try full height vertical blinds to cover the entire rear window when you want to do super serious listening. You can get these in a variety of materials from vinyl to fabrics. Forget dealing with the open area (too costly-not WAF I suspect) just position the speakers imaging the best you can. Good luck |
As you wished Mr.Herman, there you go: "Unless the glass rattles it probably doesn't reflect much if any more than any other type of wall." Mr.Herman glass does have different reflective or absorptive properties then any other common material used in constructing a listening room. I will agree with you on ONE matter dou, not all reflections are bad. Matter of fact is that some are even beneficial. It never fails to amazed me seeing fellow audiophiles buying into some idiotic tweak or gadget but are reluctant to realize the importance of acoustics and speakers & room interaction...............So sad to see great gear in the rooms that aren't acousticly optimize. Yes, it is true, that misinterpretation can lead to overdamped room that can loose the soul and character. And I do realize that, but it is NOT my intention to lead someone in that direction. I have always advised on taking a small steps while attempting to retrieve balance and proportion of ones' system with acoustic treatments. We might not agree on this matter and it is not of any importance to the author of this thread. What is important on the other hand is to find the solution to ones' problem. Mariusz Stark --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scoly1, I totally understand and feel your flustration, but not everything is lost and some improvement can be made to improve the situation. Actually, some of the above advices are good or very good: *slat wood shutters, drapes, plants, speakers adj.* It will take some trial & error to get some kind of results that will make you & your wife happy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- If possible: It would make sanse to try few thinks first, before addressing the problem with some kind of acoustic treatments (natural materials or dedicated treatments). Try pulling the speakers out into the room and away from the rooms' boundaries (especialy the right spk). Also, toeing-in the speakers inwards can help somewhat in reduction of the side wall(s) interaction and reflections. If that won't give you the effect that you are looking for there are some ways to help your room acousticly but with use of natural materials. FRONT WALL *bookshelf in the corrner or between the speakers. -(bookshelf in the corrner can greatly reduce the reinforcement of lower frequencies) -(bookshelf between the speakers can act as a diffuser/absorber, and can have a very positive effect. I think it is impractical in your case, because of the video display between L & R speaker) *oriental or art decco wall rug(but natural wool)can & will also work but that is a big (?) with the wife. PRO-TREATMENT @. Diffusers/absorbers - between spks. @. Bass traps right corrner & to the left of the L-speaker (there are some bass traps that have one side that is more absorbent and the other side that is more like a diffusor) @. Subwoofer base. The SubDude Sound Isolation riser is an incredibly effective device that's used to float a subwoofer and decoupling it from the floor. It is also inexpensive sub-base made by Auralex. I strongly believe that your imbalance between L&R speaker is caused by your speakers setup. Due to your present arrangement one of the speakers is very near the corrner and the other has no corrner at all. Frequencies of the right speaker are reinforced and amplify by the corrner + the right wall also bounce reflections back at you. This might create fuller, louder but in the same time diffuse, colored, busy sound that is not in sync. with the left channel. Beside treating the front wall, you can also try (if it is OK with the "W") placing bookshelf on the right wall and if possible the left wall. If bookshelf could be placed as high as your listening (ear)level at 1st reflection points - great. That would be a big step forward. Back wall: Like some already suggested, blinds, shades, shatters or drapes. My favorite window treatments are (shatters too) heavy drapes with extra thick backing. Motorized option is great and "W" might like it to. It costs around $500 but it might be the answer to your window treatment problem. Ceiling is maybe too much for now & might not be the best idea to pursuit..........if you want to keep the same address. I know it might not solve your problems but it is a start. Best of luck & Heppy listening |
Dcstep Checked out your link. Sounds really impressive however no one local to do something like this. Did listen to your first post suggesting positioning speakers. Amazing that the smallest adjustment can make such a large difference. All I did was toe the speaker in a bit and the soundstage got noticably larger. Have a lot more to do but this did show me what can be achieved with a bit of trial and error. Link emphasized it even more. Thanks. Mrjstark Thanks for sticking with me on this. Your right that bookshelfs between the speakers will not work but may be able to use something like the oriental rug or diffusers. I'm guessing there is some confusion about side wall reflections. Left wall is full height and right is short. Are you saying that the right wall is the reflection problem? I haven't addressed this problem with the wife but I believe we can come up with something agreeable for diffusing the reflection. Should have mentioned this earlier regarding the left wall with the fireplace. Fireplace extends roughly three feet into the room from the side wall. This creates a cubby on each side of the fireplace. Speaker to side wall is approximately 7'. The fireplace is about 2' in front of the speaker and roughly 4' to the side. Beginning to see this could make a big difference. Sorry! You, and most others seem to think curtains, blinds, etc for back will be the most effective. Hope I can get this approved. Thanks again for all the help and suggestions. Steve |
Steve, hopefully before 2008 is over there'll be a DIY self-help DVD available. You heard the power. It takes an expert to get the last percentiles of performance, BUT I'm convinced that a persistant audiophile can get 90% of his or her system's potential. (I think most serious audiophiles are only enjoying 30-50% of that potential). Keep a lookout for the DVD. I'll post an announcement here as soon as it's available. Dave |
Dave: You are right that you can get--well I don't know about 90%, but certainly way above 50% with a lot of reading and DIY methods. We have a whole section of our website devoted to acoustical resources. Most are free, some very reasonable, like certain books we recommend. I'm interested in the DVD. It sounds like it might be another great resource which we would also want to add to our site. |
