Acoustic treatment of rooms

Posted by: DIL on 18 October 2001

Hi,

Room acoustics cannot be ignored. There have been a few posts in recent months about various commerical as well as home grown solutions to various ills. My impression, based upon the number and style of the posts/replies, was that most of the folks in Hi-Fi Corner land go as far as fiddling with speaker placement and that is about it.

Am I wrong ? How many people actually use things such as tube traps, rpg (?) panels etc. How many of you have 'dedicated' listening rooms and the like. Maybe a poll is in order - never done one of those before ;-)

I chanced upon an acoustics book which was quite insightful and thought the Schroeder diffusers (aka RPG in commercial form ?) very interesting. Is diffusion a good thing ? All over, behind the speakers, on the wall facing the speakers ? What about absorbtion ? Anyone with personal experience on this ?

A bitty post, I know, but I think you get the gist.

/david

Posted on: 18 October 2001 by Thomas K

Hi David,

I use 4 bass absorbers in the corners of my room and 2 mid/treble absorber panels on the walls. I find especially the bass absorbers can be great value for money in good sized rooms with little furniture. I find the stuff expensive for what it is (foam), but it works a treat.

Apparently some rooms benefit from a mixture of absorption and diffusion - Alex S. I believe has done this in a very large room.

What kills me are guys who spend thousands over thousands on electronics before ever giving room acoustics a second thought.

Thomas

Posted on: 18 October 2001 by Tony L

quote:
Am I wrong ? How many people actually use things such as tube traps, rpg (?) panels etc. How many of you have 'dedicated' listening rooms and the like.

I have given quite a bit of thought to the acoustic properties of my living room, though have used no commercial products. I have attempted to minimise opposing bare walls, on each opposing pair I have one that is either damped or has some form of defuser.

I have a large quantity of records and CDs, both make good defusers, plus I have a quite large rug over the wooden floor. I also own a couple of quite large oil paintings on canvas (Mick P would hate 'em) all which work very well acoustically. For the troublesome corners of the room on the speaker wall I have a couple of large house plants, a 4' Yucca and a 5' rubber plant, these also work really well.

When shopping for stuff for the room I try to think acoustically as well as cosmetically, for example when buying light shades I chose huge big paper globe things as they get in the way of the sound a bit and noticeably improve matters on the ceiling. I really like my plants and paintings, and its great that they have a secondary use from a sonic perspective. Music storage can be a chore, but it can also be great from an acoustic perspective, all those who keep their CD collection in Case Logic folders or whatever are just missing out on a free sound defuser!

When I moved in the room had a really bad echo and was incredibly live sounding, though with the addition of all this stuff it now sounds really good. Its not over dead but does not have any really bad reflections or booms anymore.

Tony.

Posted on: 06 December 2001 by Alex S.

I don't know how I missed this before.

I use rpg foam panels on rear and side reflection areas with 6 'Skyline' diffusors behind me.

Room corners are full of cardboard boxes.

Foam works wonders.

My room is dedicated to listening although I also have to work in it.

Best,

Alex