2. misc-audio
  3. 154857-78421

Doubting Sound Treatment ?

3 years ago I purchased an 11 piece Kit from a reputable company. I noticed improvements, but wasn’t instantly blown away. Now 3 years later I took it all down for a home move. Bass definition noticeably less. Instrument placement less good. Overall coherence less. Not a as intimate. Far less enjoyable, simply put. If your on the fence, get past it. Better improvements with the treatment than most of us hope for when we change Preamp, Amp, or Speakers. Doubt no more !
Cheers ! 
fact33
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,839 posts
 
Rack along a side wall vs centered between speakers or worse in a corner is in the valuable Jim Smith book

@sandthemall +++++
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Rack along a side wall vs centered between speakers

Correct, worst thing you can do for imaging and depth perception, is have your equipment between the speakers. Speakers at least a min of .5 to 1mt in from the side wall, and as far out from the from the back wall as you can, if? you don’t need the extra bass loading the back wall can give.

Cheers George
jdeickhoff
12 posts
 
Does anyone have firsthand experience with Acoustic Fields or knowledge of their Active Carbon absorption technology?  
jdesj's avatar
jdesj
24 posts
 
I treated my 16 1/2’ by 18 1/2’ by 11’ high listening room with Roxal Comfort Board. Just placing the wrapped packages of raw materials in the room immediately improved the sound.
Now my bass traps are in all corners; looking good and sound is amazing. 
No doubt!
kevinzoe
167 posts
 
Thought I'd add my two cents to the discussion.
There's no doubt in my mind that acoustical treatment can make a world of difference that both the ears and eyes can detect (from pre and post measurement graphs).  Best start with some education I found.  I have examples in my systems of reflective baffles, diffusion (QRD and Skylines) and absorption.  Below are some of my learnings:

Measurements first: You can't manage what you can't measure plays a role here. At the very least measure frequency response (ideally a flat response is better) and reverb time (to avoid over dampening the room with things that absorb too much sound). I use Dayton Audio OmniMic which allows me to see the troubling frequencies so speaker placement and acoustic treatment placement experimentation can begin and note its affect. Often solving one problem frequency creates a new problem so it'll take patience to try and optimize speaker and acoustical treatment placement.

Treatment strategy: for most domestic sized rooms absorption of low frequencies and reflection and or diffusion of mid to high frequencies works well. This avoids over dampening. The transition frequency range for most home rooms where sound waves transition to "beams" due to smaller wavelengths is about 300-500Hz so you'll need bass traps to work below this range and diffusion to work above it.

Thickness matters: Too often manufacturers sell absorbers and diffusers that are too thin. And the reason you want them thick (at least 6") is so they don't act like a low-pass filter and only operate on some of the frequencies hitting it. You want the absorber or diffuser to work as broadband as possible so as not to skew the frequency range of its reflections and reflections of those reflections. For a diffuser, the depth of its slots or wells (for a QRD or Skyline type) determines its lowest frequency, so for example a 6.75" depth will work down to 500Hz as it is one-quarter of a 500Hz wavelength.

Sitting distance from treatments: Normally you can sit much closer to an absorber than a diffuser which needs more space for the scattering to occur so the sound coalesces by the time you hear it. If you need to be close to a diffuser - say on the ceiling or side walls which are near your listening position - then choose a 2-dimensional one (diffuses both horizontally and vertically) so that only about half of the reflections are coming your way.
More to discover