Room Treatment Suggestions

Hello. After fine tuning my vinyl system to a point where I'm mostly satisfied with it, I now to turn what some would argue is the most important component. The room. I am in the middle of planning phase and it would be wonderful if you guys helped me out with this.

My room measures 8.40m by 3.20 m by 2.05m but it's an L shape and so I only use one of the legs. (4.20 by 3.20m by 2.05m)

My current plan is to treat the first reflection points with broadband absorption and place some bass traps in the corners. I have really sorted out any specifics but I know for sure I'm using Primacoutic treatment since my dealer can get me a good deal on the stuff. Also, I'm willing to more pretty much anything in the room, so if you guys spot something out of line I can move it.

Finally, here's a photo: http://Imgur.com/e8WJuxG

 

I would suggest, hard as this seems, to listen to the room - a lot - before making any decisions or devising any strategy. For instance, in my room I have first and front wall reflections handled with broadband, OC703 DIY 2' x 4' panels, except for the right wall - that just has an absorber behind the speaker, not on the first reflection point.

The area behind the listener is quite important if you're cramped for space. I'm not qualified to explain the technical things at work, but I have a little 3 x 3 cube shelf hanging on the wall directly between the speakers. Behind my head I have some foam diffusers I bought on eBay. I have one bass trap (6" thick OC703) in the back-left corner. This setup has yielded very satisfying results but is only in place thanks to great reference material and hours of effort, experimentation, and so forth. And by "hours" I'm not talking 5, 10 hours. No no. Hundreds. Listening, tweaking, then listening again for weeks.

In the end, the result is very much worth the road travelled but I'm afraid there isn't an exact answer to every situation. And hey, through all of this I've been able to engage a wonderful hobby and learn so much in the process. That, to me, is almost as important as the music it was all intended to serve

 

Can you move the Cabinet and Record shelf to the other leg of the room? Or at least move the cabinet which has hard flat surfaces and set up another shelf like the one you have? I saw several rooms that had the center section of the front wall with cloth covering over fiberglass curving into the room. Your room has a recess, which may not be beneficial to the room acoustics. You may be able to build a cloth covered trap/diffuser into the recess.

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue16/lavigneroom.htm

Check out this thread for some suggestions and sources of info:

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/listening-room-plans.476751/

 

I'll see what I can do. Right now I'm trying to find a place/system that will still allow to access my records just as easily without massive cabinets and shelves.

Would you recommend installing a heavy bass trap in the recess?

 

Thanks for the suggestions!

Are you sure the back wall is that important in my case? It's a good 8.40m back with the back half of the room filled with furniture. Would adding treatment being still be beneficial?

 

Always.

 

Sorry, meant to say "behind the listener." It's probably a yes anyways

 

¨Behind the listener¨ is what I understood. It made a huge difference in my room; more focused soundstage and the upper midrange is not all over the place like it used to be.

 

Go to Lowes or Home Depot and pick up a package of Roxul Safe n Sound. Both stores stock the 15" x 48" size. The bag contains 12 - 3" panels and costs about $40. Experiment with that before laying out any serious money.

 

Back wall is extremely important. 8 Mtrs behind you should be fine, reflections will be very late. I'd still treat it however. I have a entire false back wall bass trap 2ft thick. Would have made it thicker if I could have. Diffusers as well so it's not too dead. Too dead is something you want to avoid and something you will get if you go crazy with absorption and complement it with nothing else.

 

Interesting suggestion. I wonder if they sell any in Canada or if I could use something similar to see what kind of a result I achieve.

 

What do you suggest I treat it with? Diffusion or absorption?

 

That's up to your ears really. I did absorption. But I deal with very agressive music.

 

They do sell it in Canada. I am not sure how to experiment with it though. They create mess when you handle them.

 

Ok, thank you. Maybe pillows would work for experimenting? Just throwing that out there.

 

That hasn't been my experience.

 

Roxul held up pretty well when I handled it for my room. But, it was enough of a PITA that I opted for OC703 even though it was more expensive and, for me, harder to get. It's one of those things, IMO, that if you are able to handle it very carefully (and OP, if you go this route, where long gloves when handling it) and don't disturb it's shape? It's pretty easy to work with. But, if it starts to come apart whatsoever, you're going to have a mess and an uncomfortable respiratory and skin situation quickly. I was putting it between joists in the ceiling so my use case may be a bit different from most as I had to tear it to get it to fit. But, it does work very well, wished I had used it more extensively and I will do so when I build the bigger room.

 

I mostly listen to classical and jazz so I think I mix of absorption and diffusion with work.

 

Diffusion will help. Mass absorption on its own = dead room.

 

If you want to do this properly it would be best to know the sort of problems that require solving.

What for example are the bass frequencies that interfere with the sound. This will depend on the room itself but also where your speakers and ears are positioned.

There are various ways to find out ranging from simple but not so accurate to complicated but pretty accurate. Simplest would be ears plus test tones, then sound pressure level meter plus test tones, then Room EQ Wizard and microphone.

Don't just look at Primacoustic. Check out GIK Acoustics and Real Traps too. Those sites have plenty of helpful advice.

There are three things that can help solve room problems: positioning (of speakers and ears), room treatment, and an equaliser or DSP (digital signal processing).

 

Send an email to Vicoustics- they will be very helpful.
Good luck,
Mark