Post by ferrofluid on Jul 15, 2021 19:12:03 GMT
Fortunately, because my room is dedicated, I can experiment with acoustics without regard for the appearance of the room—for now. I will make it attractive later. For now, it’s an “audio lab”.
I have made such gains in SQ by changing the position of my pair of speakers (including height), my seat position and adding objects to the room to address problems, that I am curious as to why some things have helped so much. Perhaps others can weigh in as to what mechanisms are at play. The improvement has been so great, it’s frankly hard to believe. And of course, being a greedy audiophile, it fuels my desire for even greater gains.
Room is 9’ 10.5”H by 18’ 8” L, by 10’ 2”W. Tweeters are 74” apart and I sit very close to an equilateral triangle now.
1. On a whim, I placed 3/4” oak boards across the corners behind my speakers. Boards sitting on the carpeted floor, are 16.5W by 54 H. Made a very nice improvement. In several parameters. Can someone tell me why? What did I effectively do here? A guy told me I created a helmholtz resonator. Even if true, I’d like to know more about what it is doing.
2. I placed two upholstered ottomans in the corners behind the speakers. They are 17.5” cubes on 2” feet (so there is an air gap between their underside and the carpet). They pretty much look like smallish subs covered in upholstery. I presume there is only a wooden box or frame inside (no stuffing). Between the box and exterior cloth, there is stuffing, of course. Oak Boards sitting on top of ottomans now. BENEFIT: smoothed LF, gave front-back image depth (which I never had much of before) of about 4 feet, improved everything. Transparency, vocal clarity, inner detail, etc….
BTW, I first placed them fairly close together on the front wall between the speakers and the effect was outstanding. Then it was suggested the corners would be even better. Correct.
—A couple of folks I consider pretty experienced say that some deleterious standing waves must have been broken up by the ottomans. Not necessarily bass trapping going on, they say.
3. I placed 16” wide by 80”H bifold door slabs across one of the rear corners of the room and an inside corner formed by an HVAC chase that bumps out 15”. The improvement was easily noticeable. Smoother sound, more transparency, more space between everything.
4. I paced a bifold door slab on top of the ottomans in front of the oak boards. So, my corner coverage increased by 26 inches (80-54) vertically. There remains about 10 inches of corner above the door slabs not yet bridged. I plan to extend my coverage to the ceiling, thus covering the tri-corners. I’ve not taken the time to see if the oak behind the door slabs makes a difference v door slabs alone. Thoughts?
Folks talks about it being a waste of time to put triangles of fiberglass in corners unless they are deep enough (at least 13”, I believe) and 24” wide. So, how in the heck am I getting such a great result with 16” boards and just air behind them?
Later, I can share some other things I’ve done. One in particular corrected and asymmetry. I am perplexed by those who say symmetry is bad. They say audio likes asymmetry. Not what I am finding in my room.
Thank you.
I have made such gains in SQ by changing the position of my pair of speakers (including height), my seat position and adding objects to the room to address problems, that I am curious as to why some things have helped so much. Perhaps others can weigh in as to what mechanisms are at play. The improvement has been so great, it’s frankly hard to believe. And of course, being a greedy audiophile, it fuels my desire for even greater gains.
Room is 9’ 10.5”H by 18’ 8” L, by 10’ 2”W. Tweeters are 74” apart and I sit very close to an equilateral triangle now.
1. On a whim, I placed 3/4” oak boards across the corners behind my speakers. Boards sitting on the carpeted floor, are 16.5W by 54 H. Made a very nice improvement. In several parameters. Can someone tell me why? What did I effectively do here? A guy told me I created a helmholtz resonator. Even if true, I’d like to know more about what it is doing.
2. I placed two upholstered ottomans in the corners behind the speakers. They are 17.5” cubes on 2” feet (so there is an air gap between their underside and the carpet). They pretty much look like smallish subs covered in upholstery. I presume there is only a wooden box or frame inside (no stuffing). Between the box and exterior cloth, there is stuffing, of course. Oak Boards sitting on top of ottomans now. BENEFIT: smoothed LF, gave front-back image depth (which I never had much of before) of about 4 feet, improved everything. Transparency, vocal clarity, inner detail, etc….
BTW, I first placed them fairly close together on the front wall between the speakers and the effect was outstanding. Then it was suggested the corners would be even better. Correct.
—A couple of folks I consider pretty experienced say that some deleterious standing waves must have been broken up by the ottomans. Not necessarily bass trapping going on, they say.
3. I placed 16” wide by 80”H bifold door slabs across one of the rear corners of the room and an inside corner formed by an HVAC chase that bumps out 15”. The improvement was easily noticeable. Smoother sound, more transparency, more space between everything.
4. I paced a bifold door slab on top of the ottomans in front of the oak boards. So, my corner coverage increased by 26 inches (80-54) vertically. There remains about 10 inches of corner above the door slabs not yet bridged. I plan to extend my coverage to the ceiling, thus covering the tri-corners. I’ve not taken the time to see if the oak behind the door slabs makes a difference v door slabs alone. Thoughts?
Folks talks about it being a waste of time to put triangles of fiberglass in corners unless they are deep enough (at least 13”, I believe) and 24” wide. So, how in the heck am I getting such a great result with 16” boards and just air behind them?
Later, I can share some other things I’ve done. One in particular corrected and asymmetry. I am perplexed by those who say symmetry is bad. They say audio likes asymmetry. Not what I am finding in my room.
Thank you.
