Realtraps.com has some good reading also. You'll be glad you treated your room. The bang per buck on the improved quality is very good. The sound quality is so much better you'll wonder what you were waiting for. I did.
Where to place room treatment?
Hi,
I plan to buy some bass trap, diffusing and absorbing materials for treating my room, and the room is 8Hx10wx22L. Here are the questions
1/ Where to place room treatment, and where should I put diffusing or absorbing materials?
2/ Do I have to buy the ASC tube trap to control down to 50Hz? Are there any things cheaper than ASC?
Last night, I used Audiophiles test CD and Radio Shark analog meter to measure the low requency between 200Hz to 40Hz.
200Hz, 160Hz = around 68 to 69db
125, 100, 80Hz = around 74 to 76db
50, 63Hz = around 82 to 86db
40Hz = 72db
Do I have a peak problem @ 50 and 63Hz? Tube trap help?
How about the low at 200, and 160Hz? How to fix?
Thanks a lot!
Tran
I plan to buy some bass trap, diffusing and absorbing materials for treating my room, and the room is 8Hx10wx22L. Here are the questions
1/ Where to place room treatment, and where should I put diffusing or absorbing materials?
2/ Do I have to buy the ASC tube trap to control down to 50Hz? Are there any things cheaper than ASC?
Last night, I used Audiophiles test CD and Radio Shark analog meter to measure the low requency between 200Hz to 40Hz.
200Hz, 160Hz = around 68 to 69db
125, 100, 80Hz = around 74 to 76db
50, 63Hz = around 82 to 86db
40Hz = 72db
Do I have a peak problem @ 50 and 63Hz? Tube trap help?
How about the low at 200, and 160Hz? How to fix?
Thanks a lot!
Tran
7 responses Add your response
Good suggestions provided already, particularly regarding first reflection points which is the first area to tame. You need to try all different potentials with room treatments, and without knowing your equipment, wall type, room size and materials, etc, it's not possible to recommend much. Many people like the live wall / dead wall set-up. You have to try everything depending on your room situation. I have Martin Logans 4 feet from a hard wall surface, and the backwave was a killer. 2 2x2 auralex 2inch absorbing panels has been very effective in allowing me to turn up the volume much louder without the speakers glaring at me. Bass traps are hugely effective depending on your room. I have 4 inches of the same absorbing panels all around the upper intersection of the room, and bass traps in the corners. Also have absorbing panels at first reflection point on the ceiling. I'll have to put up pictures some time soon. Is it effective - unbelievably - is it done yet - never. I put everything up with the long push pins from Staples so I can move them around when I have nothing better to do, and to see what the effect is. Sometimes even moving a few inches makes a huge difference. |
Front and back wall treatments are usually best treated with a materiel that is diffusive as opposed to absorbtive, but much depends on the types of speakers you are using, their proximity to the walls, the location of your listening seat, and the source an amplitude of the reflections you are trying to treat. In my experience the wall behind the speakers is generally more critical and the wall behind the listener. FWIW, those room measurements you listed are mostly dependent on the location of your speakers and listening position - start moving both around and doing some remeasurements. |
As another resource, go to www.audioasylum.com and check out Jon Risch's DIY tube traps and absorbing panels. Very effective, innexpensive, and easy to make. I recently made 5 big (4' x 2.5') wall panels and 4 "Super Quick and Dirty" bass traps for about $250 Cdn. Generally, you place the wall panels at the first reflection point and the tube traps in the corners of your room. And then you go from there. Oh, I just remembered. The placement of your speakers is paramount prior to determining what room treatments (if any (?)) are required. |
Have you checked out the rives site? They have a room into which you can plug your numbers and get some basic help. Try http://www.rivesaudio.com Get a friend and a big mirror. You sit in the listening chair while your friend moves the mirror around the walls to the spots where you can see the drivers of your speakers. Use an absorbing panel in those spot to help reduce reflections. Use the same principle on the ceiling, and floor if it is not carpeted. That should help you get started. Report back when you're ready for the next step. |