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AUDIO FORUMS >> Room Treatment >> Room Plan. Where/What to place?
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Message started by DowdyPrime on 10/26/23 at 17:28:44

Title: Room Plan. Where/What to place?
Post by DowdyPrime on 10/26/23 at 17:28:44

Hi All,
I wonder if I can get your sage advice about how to start a room treatment journey.

I've included a diagram of my listening room. The Blue rectangle is where a couch is placed (although it takes up about 2/3 of the space, not the entire width that is shown), the Green rectangles are where speaker normally sit. When I listen critically, I pull the about 2 feet from the wall, and angle them to the the line from the listening post to the speaker align with the door opening to the left and right of the speaker's original position. The glass door and windows are covered with medium thickness curtains. The stereo cabinet sits between the speakers, and above it is a piece of 'real' artwork, meaning that it isn't an entirely flat surface, but a painted canvas. The ceilings are 9ft tall.

What would you add? This is the living room of the house, so I've got to keep things pretty visually neutral.

The only audible characteristic of the room that I am certain about is that there is a bass bump for certain notes, but I haven't checked the exact frequency. Otherwise, I have no idea how to check whether it is live/dead/etc. Would the precise bass frequency matter for the treatment? Are there other simple checks that can help me determine what would be beneficial?

Thanks!

Title: Re: Room Plan. Where/What to place?
Post by GroovySauce on 10/26/23 at 21:02:24

Quote:

The only audible characteristic of the room that I am certain about is that there is a bass bump for certain notes, but I haven't checked the exact frequency.

Diaphragmatic absorption will fix this issue.

I’m sure some people are sick and tired of me saying the same thing over and over again… However, in all my experience I've never experienced a more amazing transformation than adding diaphragmatic absorption to a room. 4 rooms now I've experienced it and it is a life changer.

That said, all treatment there is a critical mass point where the effect is realized.

I’ve been in a living room with 24 cu ft of diaphragmatic absorption and it’s a nice step up in performance.

As it’s a shared living and use area it really comes down to budget and what is workable for your situation.

Diaphragmatic absorbers are heavy and take up a significant amount of volume in the room.

Looks like you can hide 16 cu ft of treatment behind the couch, maybe more.

Think of the rest of the diaphragmatic absorbers as furniture. They can be a shelf to place things on or have it just sit there.

Getting the DA near the speakers is an ideal location. Behind the speakers would be great placement.

Diaphragmatic absorbers are broader-band absorption compared to something like a Helmholtz resonator which is an extremely narrow band absorber.

Quote:

Are there other simple checks that can help me determine what would be beneficial?

Yes. However, you have spotted the worse issue and identified it. Bass is the most difficult to get right also the most rewarding. Bass is the foundation of music and when it’s right it’s incredible.

Room is 60% of the sound you hear from your system so it's worth while to take your time, do research and make the investment.

Room acoustics is my favorite thing to talk about in audio lately.

I wrote a lot about my experience putting together a dedicated room here https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl?num=1662491252 While you're not looking for a dedicated room, hopefully you get some ideas that you can apply to your situation.

Title: Re: Room Plan. Where/What to place?
Post by DowdyPrime on 10/27/23 at 14:53:26

Thanks, GroovySauce. That's quite a project you undertook!! Impressive. I'm pretty limited in positioning of absorbers/diffusers, I think that will be the main issue. But I might be able to place some things that go up to around coffee table height on the two side of the couch, and then they can be quite deep. Everything else will have to stay no more than 2" deep, I'm afraid.... Another rabbit hole to go down!!

Title: Re: Room Plan. Where/What to place?
Post by GroovySauce on 10/27/23 at 18:26:57

Yes, it's a deep rabbit hole. I keep doing research. I'm confident you can find a solution that is stealth and gives good results.

Title: Re: Room Plan. Where/What to place?
Post by 1stwattlife on 03/13/24 at 16:29:10

If you are willing to move the speakers when you are about to critically listen, then maybe it would not be to much to maybe move a diffusion panel on legs to the glass door/window. I think that would mimic the opening on the opposite side of the room. As far as bass goes, in a stealthy way... I have been thinking of how bass traps, diaphragmic or otherwise could be constructed to fit in spaces like under a couch, behind a bookcase across a corner in a room, or behind some other furniture like a console or some such. I have also pondered mass loading closets or adding absorbing materials behind all the coats and such. I think about this stuff a lot. It would make me like the Bond, James Bond, of room treatments... I am probably way off base, but figured I would add my 2 cents to get my post count up! ;)