Sound Absorption Behind and Between the Speakers?


Recently my system moved to a new listening room and I was not enjoying the sound very much. There is a window between and behind the speakers. Last night, I put three sound absorbing panels right in front of the window and added a couple salt lamps which illuminate the panels. The sound instantly became way better! I have a soundstage now! I am not sure why though. Do the absorbing panels really have that much of an effect? Or does the fact that I added the panels with the salt lamps give my mind a surface to project the soundstage on which makes a bigger difference? Bit of both?
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Showing 1 response by br3098

Before you jump in sound absorption I suggest that you consider covering the window with materials that will mimic the absorption/reflectivity of the rest of the wall behind the speakers. What you are looking for, ideally, is uniformity across the wall. If you have localized hot spots or reflections you can treat those with spot treatments. 1'x1' diffusers work great for this purpose.

The problem with "absorption" as a universal treatment is that no material "absorbs" sound uniformly, across all frequencies. You may end up with something worse and less treatable. IMO if you stabilize the highly reflective spot between your speakers you will have a uniform, treatable surface that you can tune or use DSP.