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P.I. Audio Group (Read 6728 times)
Ace-Tone
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P.I. Audio Group
02/04/15 at 22:57:40
 
Has anyone had any experience with this company our of Albuquerque NM?  Diffusors other sound treatments?
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #1 - 02/06/15 at 16:19:32
 
I'm not familiar with them, but I gave their product line a look.

http://www.piaudiogroup.com/Sound_Diffusors.html

That first diffuser set on the page, the AQD:

Sound Diffusors
AQD diffusers by PI AUDIO GROUP.
The price for two pairs of unpainted 2'x 4' AQD panels cost $160.00.
Price does not include shipping.

Two pairs of diffusers the benefit of two matched pairs is very beneficial when treating a room acoustically.
At least one matched pair can be used in the front center to create a front center image. The second pair and be used at the rear wall,behind and slightly angled when using open baffle speakers,or on the side walls combined with absorption panels.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



They don't look very deep, which means they don't dip down into the mids much. They look like they have many fine steps, which is great for high frequency. The only thing that detracts from them is that they don't have "wells". What the wells give you a time delay that helps your ears define the original source from your diffused reflection.

These would be great for breaking up flutter reverberations, but I don't think they are as good as a proper QRD diffuser.

Then again, any diffuser is better than none!

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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #2 - 02/06/15 at 16:22:36
 
Their other diffusers appear to have praise from RMAF, but they look even worse than the ones above. I can't imagine how they could be better - the one above looks much more effective.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #3 - 02/06/15 at 21:55:46
 
I spoke to the owner Dave. Sent him pics of my room with details of my current equipment and treatments.  He did not recommend the SBB1 ? Said his sound treatment guy (Greg) would review and get back to me. He did mention than more Bass Traps in corners would be needed during our phone conversation. I will advise what's up...when I have more info.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #4 - 02/12/15 at 20:58:36
 
Specs on the:  P.I. Audio  AQD diffusers  2' x 4' pairs:  $160 /pr + s/h.
Range of diffusion is ~1KHz to 8KHz it is absorbent above that range to beyond audibility and reactive below that range down to ~200Hz. It will work below 200Hz by spacing it out from the wall and adding cardboard, masonite or light plywood to the back.
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Ace-Tone
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #5 - 02/12/15 at 21:00:26
 
Note $160 is price to 2 pair.
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Ace-Tone
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #6 - 02/14/15 at 00:10:31
 
I hear you LR. Room treatments so far have made a giant impact on the sound in my room. I will try the AQD's out soon on front and back walls first, side walls as well. Will see how it goes...the price is certainly not our of reach!
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #7 - 02/14/15 at 22:10:59
 
No the price is actually great! I know I sound like a nay sayer, it's just that I expect more from companies than clever marketing. These do look good for the money, so I'm interested in what you think.

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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #8 - 02/20/15 at 14:12:23
 
Acetone, did you make a move on these at all?

I've been chatting with Greg from P.I. Audio for about a week now, and I'm going to try out some of these devices and see if they will hold me over till I can find time, money, and the method of building my 12" deep diffusers I've designed.

It will be about two weeks before these make it into my room - I'm eager to try them out - the latest OS update on my DirectStream has me pushing to get my soundstage sorted out!
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #9 - 02/20/15 at 16:09:03
 
Hey LR,  Yes I also spoke to Greg this week. I am waiting until they have their triangular corner bass traps available that I will use in upper ceiling corners. Also, will be buying the QRD diffusors to try out. Gregs partner Dave is on a blues cruise out of Miami...Joe Bonnamassa is on the cruise. I am envious! I asked Greg if any trouble to cut the 2 x 4 diffusors to 2' x 2' he said they would do it at no xtra cost. You'll probably have yours first so let me know your impressions.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #10 - 02/20/15 at 20:14:33
 

I'm surprised Greg didn't get us confused at all, we had pretty much the same disucssions with the Blues Cruise and cutting the panels to 2X2 format. Apparently it doesn't save at all on the shipping, so I just went with stock 2 X 4.

I'm going to create a GoBo out of mine - something like this, but using PI's foam "QRD" diffusers instead. Diffuser on one side, absorber on the other - much more light weight and better looking, but you get the idea.




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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #11 - 02/23/15 at 20:57:51
 
LR,  are these pics of your gobos?  They look like they weight 150# or more! But, in a recording environment probably not too much in the way!
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #12 - 02/24/15 at 16:50:13
 
Not mine, just some images I grabbed from the GearSlutz recording studio forum for an example.

I wish I had space to make something that big and useful. The PI Audio GOBO I plan on making are going to be thin and easy to move - probably only 6" deep at most. My goal is to be able to quickly deploy a "false wall" out of diffusers to help make my L shaped room less of an issue, as well as hide my projection screen during critical listening. Ultimately I'll have some nice, 6" and 12" deep diffusers of my own design, but the PI Audio look like a good budget solution to hold me over till then.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #13 - 02/24/15 at 18:14:28
 
LR,  got it.  I plan to buy 2 pr of PI's  AQD diffusors. Greg quoted $160 + $61.64 S/H to So. Calif.  Am awaiting PI's pricing for ceiling corner bass traps - triangular  1'  x  6" thick if I am not mistaken.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #14 - 02/25/15 at 06:22:31
 

He didn't mention those to me, but then I'm set as I built my own.

I'm eager to get mine in! I've been playing with my current absorbers, and some EPS foam sheets in my room, simulating walls and stuff - and it's amazing how much you can shift the tone of a room just with moving around some absorbers and flat panels. It will be so much nicer to have diffusers to play with instead.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #15 - 02/25/15 at 16:25:33
 
Pulling the plug on diffusors 2 pair today! corner traps a few weeks before they will have this new item ready to ship!
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #16 - 03/13/15 at 04:33:51
 

I got my diffusers today. Three got a little roughed up in shipping, dents, rounded off corners, and one with 6" of thin fin broken off. Not huge issues, but will certainly impact resale if I decide to sell them.

That said, I don't think I'm selling them. The sound I'm getting just throwing them in different places in the room is pretty impressive. There is a clear sharpening of micro-details and micro-dynamics. And I swear they lower my noise floor! (which you have to understand is funny because I live with a constant noise floor of about 45db with 2 dogs, 3 cats, traffic going by and a furnace that has enough torque to start little tornado of dog fur in the room).

Just haphazardly placing 4 pair of these diffusers in the room has made as much of an improvement as my Zen Mystery Amp, and my PS Audio DirectStream DAC!

I was hoping I would get some improvement, but worried my livingroom/meida room/listening room was going to be too much to tame with just absorbers and diffusers. I honestly have hope that with some careful placement, careful listening, and probably some measurement I could dial this in much better. Not as well as a dedicated room for sure, but still, this is going to rock.  :)
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #17 - 03/13/15 at 12:40:56
 
Lonely Raven,

That is great news. I love having diffusers in my room.  My friends all think I'm insane when I move them, cup my ears, move them some more, lean in, out etc.  Can't wait to get out of work and try a couple new placements for my absorption panels.  Because I have diffuser panels on one side wall that is closer than the other I hear louder volume from that side(I think).  
This journey certainly keeps us on our toes.

JD
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #18 - 03/13/15 at 17:18:50
 

I listened till about 1am last night. Some tracks really surprised me with how much more was going on in micro-detail. CS&N Helplessly Hoping has so much vocal detail and much more separation than I  originally thought. That was the biggest shocker as I'd pretty much exhausted this track as one of my demo tracks. It made The Wailin' Jennys - Summertime sound almost boring by comparison.

This morning I'm not getting into it as much as I did last night - some albums are sounding more fatiguing. I think I need to look at adjusting the amount of treble energy in my room by bringing in some more sound traps.

Either way, this was a great bang for the buck improvement. It does however unfortunately make me wish I had a dedicated room again.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #19 - 03/13/15 at 18:42:08
 
Hi Raven, I've been looking at those diffusors as well.  Still searching for the perfect material to place at the first reflection points!  Hmmm...
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #20 - 03/14/15 at 06:38:29
 
PI Audio recommends absorbers at the first reflection points, and diffusers at second and on front wall. My room sounds a bit specular right now since I've got diffusers pretty much all around. I'm going to try absorber at first reflection, and/or alternating ab/diff.

Unfortunately the big dog already broke some fins off of one diffuser. I'm going to have to glue the broken fins back on, and get it up on a tall stand so I don't lose any more!

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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #21 - 03/16/15 at 16:33:07
 

Small update -

So as I mentioned above - I pretty much just tossed the diffusers in anywhere and it sounded pretty good. The improved micro detail and dynamics was very, very pleasing.

So I took a couple hours and tried to reconfigure the room. I cleaned up some of the mess (boxes of cables and tubes and CDs and stuff everywhere), then I measured the speaker distances from the back wall and to the side wall on the left and the virtual side wall on the right (made by leading some absorbers and diffusers on boxes in the big opening on the right side), and I attempted to use the mirror trick to get absorption at first reflection point and diffusers around the absorbers as the second reflection points....

And it all went to hell. I just completely lost my soundstage and the micro details and dynamics were only somewhat enhanced.

So I futzed with it for another hour, moving things around, using the laser pointer to adjust speaker toe in, moving furniture; anything I could think of to improve the sound in a logical and reproducible way.  Nada - flat and boring. I just completely lost what I had.

So in a fit of depression I packed up most of the room treatment and brought a couple armfuls of stuff over to Palamino's house. He had his pair of QRD 13 that we designed together, plus his normal absorption, and it sounded GREAT. Then we added 4 of my PI Audio Group diffusers and BAM! Micro Detail and Dynamics. It was stunning how much it improved the music just by adding two pair of diffusers to the front and back; especially to an already well treated (mostly absorbers) room.

I need to take a break from this, so I left my diffusers over at Palo's house to play with. His more balanced room it's easier to dial in. I'll come back to my room with a fresh head in a week or two and see what I can do without mucking up my living room too much.  :)

One thing I will add, I think I agree with Dennis at Acoustic Fields when he says that sound picks up something from the material it bounces off of. I think the wood diffusers that Palo build sound better than the PI Audio, but mostly because the PI Audio stuff seems to add some high end...something to the sound. I'm going to damp my panels when I get them back and see if that helps some. But this also pushes me to stick with my original plan and build some mind-blowing QRD 29 diffusers.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #22 - 03/16/15 at 19:24:07
 
LR,

I feel your pain, I've had a few (actually a lot more than I'd like to admit) where I tried to move/change my diffusers etc and the results backfired big time.  This has gone on for a solid year (on and off) but I'm now at a place where I think the sound is awesome and will try to stay content.

JD
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #23 - 03/16/15 at 22:18:31
 
Threw 3 of my PI AQD's on front wall behind speakers and one sitting between speakers. last diffusor is sitting horizontally on back wall on top of pair of absorb panels. sound has tightened up a bit...but, soundstage has shrunk a bit. will be playing with placement when I get time in the next week or 2. I will be putting 3pcs between the speakers on the front wall next. If all goes well I will buy more for side walls/back wall.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #24 - 03/16/15 at 23:50:40
 

What's nice about diffusers, is they help each other out. Sound reflecting on one diffuser gets re-reflected off another diffuser on other walls. So if/when you do get them on front/back and side to side, the room just disappears and you'll hear way deeper into the recording.

Unfortunately it does take more than just a couple room treatments to really make a big impact.

Try on the side walls only, just behind (toward you) from the first reflection point. See if that makes the side walls disappear. I really felt I needed all four walls to get the best effect, but side walls allowed me to hear what they were doing better. Keep in mind, I've got some old DIY diffusers on the back wall already, so I've been ahead of the game since day one - with at least breaking flutter echo in my room (front to back)
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #25 - 03/17/15 at 16:08:08
 
Hey LR,  took 1 AQD from the center front wall and put in on my right side wall even with my sitting position. Wow! a big difference. wider sound stage than in the past while listening to my reference LP. Your right! I do need to put more of these around the room. And, I really do need to try aborbtion on ceiling 1st reflection.  So far I am very happy with the diffusers and their potential.  I was hearing much more detail in the music...very enjoyable! Greg at PI audio says corner triangular-bass traps will be available in a few weeks. I will be putting them up in ceiling corners.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #26 - 03/17/15 at 17:04:37
 
I'm glad that worked out for you! I left a few of mine at Palomino's house to see if he can suss out placement a little more. We'll learn how to deploy them well.

I just wish they weren't so fragile. And I wish they had a bit more mass. I'm pretty sure they are doing something to the treble frequencies that I don't like.

I'm going to mount mine on stands with absorbers on the backside. hopefully that will help damp them and make them easier to deploy in my non-dedicated room.

Also, I've not heard back from the guy who designed these at PI Audio. I had some technical questions, and wanted to see some measurements. Greg doesn't know any of this stuff I'm asking about.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #27 - 03/17/15 at 18:06:29
 
I am also considering putting 1" foam on the back of 2 or 3 AQD's that will go on front wall between speakers. There are some Decware 1324's on US Audio Mart selling for a very fair price that I am considering for side wall placement....decisions, decisions!!!!
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #28 - 03/27/15 at 18:18:18
 
I am impressed with these diffusers - for what they cost, for sure.

I have two in front ( but an absorber in dead center) and two in the back.

On the sides I have absorbers at the 1st reflection points and the wooden QRD13s at the second reflection point.

I still have some experimenting to do, but this arrangement seems to give me the best soundstage/detail combo.  

I don't know why, but when I had either the wooden or the foam diffusers dead center in the front, I felt it messed with the focus a little too much and there was less detail.

I will probably buy a set if I can get them to do the black paint like Raven got.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #29 - 03/28/15 at 03:06:22
 

I've got a busy weekend, but I'm still going to try and find some time to glue some 2" OC703 to the backs of these, and maybe make a hardwood stand for them. The dogs and cats keep knocking them off the walls. I've already super glued a few pieces back on. LOL

I also have an idea to try adding some mass to these by painting them with some rubber undercoating. I'm just not sure how much this stuff off-gasses and for how long. I don't want my living-room to smell like a tire fire. but I really want to try and add some mass to these and get them a little higher off the floor. I'm still really liking them.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #30 - 11/05/16 at 16:59:52
 
Raven did you get your room set up back to how you liked it? Is your room L shaped or one wall just open to another room? Acetone did you finalize your diffuser/absorbtion placement? I am asking since I am always curious how others solve their acoustic issues. I also bought a pair of the diffusers from PI along with an Uberbuss. I settled on the thicker pair on the rear wall and the more open pair side wall first reflection.  I do have absorbtion from the first reflection diffuser forward to just past my speaker. I have my speakers close to the side walls and I have found in my case anyway absorbing that distance accentuated the detail of the music while keeping depth and pin point center vocals. Let me know what you guys experienced so i can give it a try.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #31 - 11/07/16 at 16:17:43
 

Since I have my house all to myself now (no cats, dogs, or girlfriend/fiance), I've deployed *all* my diffusers to the living room. It's kind of chaotic, but an improvement. I'm still working on building some nice, deep wood diffusers, and that's what I've been working on as I have time...made some progress late last night in fact.

Yes, my living room/theater is L shaped. It's about 15' wide, 25' long, and opens on the right side to the dining room...I also cut a large opening in the wall to the right (into the kitchen) to build a breakfast bar. Back when I had movie nights with friends almost weekly, I've had anywhere from 5 to 25 people come over, and all seating and room design was geared towards that. I wasn't really thinking about an audiophile room - hoping that maybe the barely 8' tall ceiling in the basement, and odd shaped walls wouldn't hinder an audio room...but that's a long ways away as I just don't have the money to gut the whole basement and drywall and carpet like it really needs.

I'll take photos of my current setup later this week. The foam diffusers are working well, but I'm hoping larger wood ones blocking off the opening to the dining room might be enough to fake having a wall there. Getting rid of a couch and balancing the room out as best as I could left/right really helped a bunch...but it's still not nearly as holographic at Palomino's small basement room.

If these two new diffuser designs work out well, I hope to start mass producing them as I can afford them. It costs about $100-$150 each depending on how big I make them, and what I really want to do is have about 22 of these big, deep diffusers scattered around the living room.  So yeah, it's going to take a while to get to where I want to be.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #32 - 02/25/17 at 17:44:32
 
Received 8 pcs 2' sq PI Audio AQD diffusers. Front Wall: Put 1 in window-centered, and 2 on floor below current 2'x 4' AQD's.
Side Walls: 1 at first reflection right and left on top of absorbers (AQD's go up to the ceiling here).
Back Wall: Last 3 on top of current absorb panels and diffusers. Jockey'd them around for awhile.
Listened to a few go to LP's and a definite improvement was had...wider sound stage...better detail....Nice!
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #33 - 02/25/17 at 22:28:25
 

You have photos of that listening room? I'd love to see that setup!
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #34 - 02/26/17 at 17:23:54
 
Hey LR, Will try to get that done soon!
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #35 - 02/27/17 at 18:00:45
 

I'm really looking forward to that!

I have a lot going on at home this week - but hope to get back to projects and (re)deploying my diffusers again. I'll have some photos as well.  :)
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #36 - 03/01/17 at 06:05:26
 
Hey all you room treatment wizards, I have a hypothetical for you:

Let's say that you were building a listening room from scratch - and you didn't care what it looks like, only how it sounds. You do normal drywall on the walls with treatments - diffusers, bass traps in the corners, etc. The floor has area rugs or carpet. Would you consider just leaving exposed fiberglass batts in the ceiling for absorption, or would that eat up too much sound?

Any opinions are welcome, as I don't have any experience with room treatment. Anyone ever try this?

Thanks.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #37 - 03/01/17 at 16:37:00
 

Lots of variables - IMHO it would depend on how tall your ceilings are going to be. You want to have something like 10-20ms of time between the direct sound of your speakers, and the reflected sound off the ceiling. So something like 11' height is a good start. If that's not possible, then having a dead zone (your insulation idea) can help make the ceiling disappear, and work back from the dead zone by adding diffusers in clever ways.

http://www.acousticfields.com/ideal-room-size-ratios-apply-bonello-graph/

http://www.acousticfields.com/what-are-floor-and-ceiling-reflections/

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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #38 - 03/01/17 at 21:10:46
 
Hey LR,

Thanks for responding, and for sending the links. I had seen videos by the Acoustic Fields guy before, and they are always very informative. I was thinking that the dimensions of the room that I would build would be in the 20Wx30Lx10H range. Using the Bonello proportions, that would be 17Wx23LX10H. If I went to a 12ft ceiling height, it would be 20.4Wx27.6Lx12H. 12ft is a lot of depth when you are thinking about digging out a basement, but I can see from the frequency table why it would be advantageous. I would not consider an odd number like 9ft or 11ft, as there is too much labor and material wasted. You have to buy 10ft or 12ft studs and pay the carpenters to cut them all off (and listen to them bitch about it the whole time). Or you have to go to the saw mill and get them to do a custom run of odd-length studs. Been there, done that, wouldn't want to do it again. Also, it sounds like leaving some batts in the ceiling exposed and others closed would be best. Maybe alternating open bays with bays covered with acoustic ceiling tiles? Lots to think about. (Including the "Randy's gone 'round the bend" looks that I'll get from my builder friends when I tell them that I want a 12ft basement ceiling height. Oh well, they already think I'm nuts, anyway). Thanks again for moving my understanding a little farther down the road.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #39 - 03/01/17 at 22:12:21
 
Hey LR,
My Room as requested...Sorry, this took me awhile to figure out how to do it. But now I can
post on system pics as well.



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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #40 - 03/02/17 at 17:33:41
 

Quote:
Hey LR,

Thanks for responding, and for sending the links. I had seen videos by the Acoustic Fields guy before, and they are always very informative. I was thinking that the dimensions of the room that I would build would be in the 20Wx30Lx10H range. Using the Bonello proportions, that would be 17Wx23LX10H. If I went to a 12ft ceiling height, it would be 20.4Wx27.6Lx12H. 12ft is a lot of depth when you are thinking about digging out a basement, but I can see from the frequency table why it would be advantageous. I would not consider an odd number like 9ft or 11ft, as there is too much labor and material wasted. You have to buy 10ft or 12ft studs and pay the carpenters to cut them all off (and listen to them bitch about it the whole time). Or you have to go to the saw mill and get them to do a custom run of odd-length studs. Been there, done that, wouldn't want to do it again. Also, it sounds like leaving some batts in the ceiling exposed and others closed would be best. Maybe alternating open bays with bays covered with acoustic ceiling tiles? Lots to think about. (Including the "Randy's gone 'round the bend" looks that I'll get from my builder friends when I tell them that I want a 12ft basement ceiling height. Oh well, they already think I'm nuts, anyway). Thanks again for moving my understanding a little farther down the road.


I'm glad that made sense and helped out! Taller is always better. And yeah, I've gotten those sideways looks from the trademen before. Last time was when I asked an electrician to measure the impedance to ground - install two more ground rods, then measure again to show that it lowered the impedance.  He literally finished up installing the new breaker panel and left without even responding (sigh).  

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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #41 - 03/02/17 at 17:35:08
 

Thanks for the photos, Acetone. How's the left right balance sound with all the diffusers in the room? It looks like there is lots of "stuff" that could change how the sound reflects.  Looks like a great start!
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #42 - 03/03/17 at 17:01:15
 
It seems sound stage extents wider on my right than the left. Voice, bass centered. Height of sound can extent like a rainbow stretched over my head and slightly forward. There are 2 PI diffusers on the floor behind the speakers (no seen in photo) that I am going to bring into play on the side walls. I also just picked up a 2" and 4" thick sound panel that I plan to use to address 1st ceiling relections. The musical quest continues!
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #43 - 03/03/17 at 18:30:43
 

That sounds awesome! It really sounds like you're following a similiar journey that Palomino did once he got started. Once you hear the improvement, and how easy it is to change the sound quality and sound field just by moving a few panels around...it almost seems silly to spend big bucks elsewhere!
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #44 - 03/03/17 at 18:43:45
 
Exactly! When I read Steve's papers on room treatments I knew it was something worthy of doing. If that's not possible then some treatment is better than none! I love it when there are details in the music you've never heard, a riff or bass line, or some backing vocal you never heard distinctly but can now hear. In some ways all the detail can be distracting. But, they can be an awesome listening experience. I love a nice kick drum - bass guitar balanced attack with the other instruments filling out the 3D sound stage. Well that said I am off to start on the ceiling panels and diffuser position tweaks!
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #45 - 03/03/17 at 20:58:18
 
It's a worthy adventure and should pay you back many times over.
Keep us updated.

JD
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #46 - 03/13/17 at 17:29:31
 
Your right JD.
In the last month I purchased the PI diffusers (8 pcs 2' sq) and 2 absorb panels 2' x 4' x 4".  Since then I put 2 absorb panels on ceiling 1st reflection then listening for a few days before moving things around. Very happy with the latest configuration of all my 8 -2' x 4'absorb panels, 2 corner traps and 8 - 2' x 4' diffusers. Putting 2 diffusers centered on front wall (covering a window with absortion) and the ceiling panels have made a distinct difference (for the better) on the sound stage width and depth...Had an awesome listen yesterday! Think I will leave well enough alone for awhile. Putting the 50's RCA 5R4YGT back in the Zen also helped. I should have just left it in since I was happy with the sound as it was....but, tweaks can always be removed too!
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #47 - 03/15/17 at 16:35:19
 

Ooh! I should go through my guitar amp rectifier collection and see what they do for my little (souped up) Zen amp. I haven't turned my ZMA on in a couple weeks now the Zen is sounding so good...and I currently have almost no room treatment in the living room. Hopefully finding time to finish up the screen and stuff and get the room set back up.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #48 - 04/06/17 at 09:05:32
 
Hi all, I just received my aqd diffusers and played with them a little. A little confused so far as I placed one or two panels center on front wall, sound seems to be a tap more focus but the sound stage had shrunk quite a bit similar to Acetone's initial founding. I feel instead of diffusing sound, the panels actually absorbed more than diffuse. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong but will keep playing with them.
Also, should I assume the more "opened" panel diffuses lower frequency sound, and  the more "closed" (dense) panel diffuses higher frequency sound?
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #49 - 04/07/17 at 17:43:44
 
The diffusers should be a mirror image of each other, and therefore run in about the same frequency range.

How many did you order? Just two pair, or more?

What's your room look like? Speaker placement, seating position etc.

If the sound stage changed, that's good, that shows you that they are doing *something*. Now you just need to see how to best use them in *your* setup.

They aren't magic bullets that fix everything - but with a little thought and some testing, you can do a lot!

Without knowing more about your setup, my first suggestion (assuming speakers are placed correctly, and you have equidistance between speakers and walls, and speakers and yourself) I would say to try throwing a blanket up between your speakers - just as a test - just tack it to a wall or whatever you have in the center - lets use that as some deadening.  Then take your diffusers, and put them on the left and right wall first reflection points. Maybe even get them a foot or so off the floor to cover more of the middle of the wall where your reflections will meet your ears.

Try that out and see how it sounds - that will give you an idea of how much change you can effect with so little.
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #50 - 11/05/17 at 20:16:09
 
Bringing back an older thread, just wanted to say that I have been talking/working with Dave @ PI Audio Group and man is he a fantastic guy!

I ended up getting an UberBUSS for my setup, should be arriving within a week or two. Once I receive it I will report back on the improvements/changes that are made.

As far as pre-sale, I would highly recommend working with PI Audio Group.

-Ron
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Re: P.I. Audio Group
Reply #51 - 11/06/17 at 16:55:14
 

That looks like a great piece of kit!

I'm still loving their diffusers. Good stuff once you get several layers of paint on them and get them in a position where they won't be bumped or broken. Nothing beats wood, but these foam diffusers are pretty awesome.
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