[davejcb]

Just for shits and giggles, I grabbed the comforter and blanket off my bed and thumbtacked them to the front wall (behind speakers) to see the effect, and holy sheep shit!

Everything just opened up, feels a lot more like sound is envelopping me. I'm also hearing hi-hat parts on a shitty Sting record I had never heard before.

I guess I better get off my ass and order fiberglass to absorp my first reflections on side and ceiling, and front wall!

[Rocket]

Hi,

I am in the process of buying a nice thick wall rug which i will be hanging between my speakers, as it looks a lot nicer than fibreglass.

I tried the doonah test and it worked wonderfully.  The sound was more pinpoint, transparent and it sounded more intimate.

Good luck.

regards

Rod

[JohnR]

G'day Rod, warming up over there? Been nice here, bar the occasional thunderstorm   I was thinking of trying to source some acoustic foam for the front wall in my "vintage room" (Quad ESL 57s) as even just four 60 cm square pieces made a difference. Let us know how the rug works out

(I've given up on my living room, too big, too complicated...)

[Lost81]

Hi guys,

I hung a 1" thick, 4' wide, 5.2' long, wool rug between my speakers, and it really made a lot of difference. There is about 1" of free space between the rug and the wall.

Treating the 1st reflection points on the side wall helps substantially.
Be sure to do that to the ceiling as well.

I placed acoustic foam wedges at the midpoints of the side-wall-to-ceiling points, as well as the mid-points of the corner seams of to the room, to take care of pressure-regions.

Taking care of the corners with absorbers/deflectors help a lot.

The bang for the buck for these is incredible...
Your listening pleasure will be transformed.

Be sure not to overdo the high-frequency absorption on the ceiling though. Too much and the music will sound muffled and "dead."

Good luck!


-Lost81

[Rocket]

Hi,

The weather is getting warmer here and luckily i am installing a concrete pool which will be finished in 2 weeks time.

I have convinced my wife to let me place a rug on the wall but i think she wouldn't be impressed if i installed sound absorbing tiles all over the place.

Regards

Rod

[PhilNYC]

Hi,

I am in the process of buying a nice thick wall rug which i will be hanging between my speakers, as it looks a lot nicer than fibreglass.

Rod

You might also want to try putting a piece of fiberclass behind the rug for additional absorption.  Not sure if you need it, but it wouldn't hurt to try...

[John Casler]

Just for shits and giggles, I grabbed the comforter and blanket off my bed and thumbtacked them to the front wall (behind speakers) to see the effect, and holy sheep shit!

Everything just opened up, feels a lot more like sound is envelopping me. I'm also hearing hi-hat parts on a shitty Sting record I had never heard before.

I guess I better get off my ass and order fiberglass to absorp my first reflections on side and ceiling, and front wall!

Hi Dave,

I was just commenting on this type of improvement in another thread.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=14298

The front wall and space between the speakers can have a "huge" affect on the sound at the sweet spot.

The amount of reflected sound coming from that area will ultimatly affect the amount of detail, depth, dynamic contrast, and resolution.

Your observation that you can now hear the "hi-hat" more clearly is quite correct, and a direct result of absorbing and or blocking direct and diffused frequencies that would normally "obscure" or "soften" those details.

"All" reflected sound has negative impact on overall reproduction accuracy in the sweet seat.

I find it interesting that we spend pretty large dollars for low distortion, low noise, highly detailed components and speakers and then let the room add in an incredible amount of reflected distortion back into the mix.

You're on the right road and your "comforter" is probably only the begining.

Generally the areas to focus on initially are:

1) First Reflection points
2) Tri Intersecting room areas that create "tri-corners" (where three room surfaces meet) like the ceiling and the right and rear walls.
3) Dual Intersecting room areas like wall/ceiling, wall/wall, and wall/floor

Generally mids and highs can be blocked/absorbed and low frequncies can be "trapped" (which is also a blocking absorbtion)

The key is to keep them from coming back into the room and degrading what you hear "directly" from the speakers.

And as I mentioned in the "other" thread.  It is important that if you speak or use a company or product that the philosophy is to treat the room for "reproduction".  Too many sound engineers use the same applications for "reproduction audio" that they use for treating a "venue" like a church or concert hall.

While they physics are the same, a venue "uses" the room and all its anomalies to create a sound to be listened to or recorded.  Generally the focus is to make the whole hall (as many seats as possible) sound as good as it can considering its acoustic problems.  This means actually "harvesting" some room sounds (for example ambience) and taming others.

In an audio application, we don't want to use "any" of the the room to add to or reinforce the "recorded performance", but to get out of the way of the recorded performance.

Enjoy the new way to "make it even better"

[davejcb]

Thanks for the tips, John. I may try and jack some blankets tonight and duct-tape them to the ceiling or something, and make my room look even more welfare.

[davejcb]

Tried with the front, sides and celing "blanketed" the other night, think I got a good feel for the sort of difference it can make. Things were really coming along that way.

With decent foam up top, and fiberglass on the front and side, it should really make a good difference.

[John Casler]

Tried with the front, sides and celing "blanketed" the other night, think I got a good feel for the sort of difference it can make. Things were really coming along that way.

With decent foam up top, and fiberglass on the front and side, it should really make a good difference.

You might want to also try another method (tweak) I just posted on the VMPS Circle.

It is easier and cheaper (but uglier) with a good percentage of the end result.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=14447&highlight=

[davejcb]

Interesting... I'll give the "speaker hood" a try.

[Red Dragon Audio]

Dave here is a quick one I just tried with my king size down comforter.



The sound is much more focused, relaxed and easy to listen to.  I'm going to try putting some planter hooks in the ceiling, get some large clamps for more blankets and them in front of the whole back wall.

[Jose Garcia]

Are you married ?  

If I do that to my system, wow!!! I could end sleeping with my dog  

No, seriously. You can really benefit from these tweaks and by using different kinds of reflective/absorving materials. I use foam panels behind my listening chair, use a floor rug on the floor between the system and my chair, DIY Room Lenses at the center and sides, a devise I maid with PVC and Foam isolators ( refrigeration and plumbing covers) and are between the speakers and central RL, and last, a device which is like a wood frame with industrial foam and absorve bass at the corners of the room.

My wife knows what are those for but she don't like them much...althought my listening room is mine and I'm the KING in that particular place    

Working with the room acoustics isn't easy but it is very gratifying once you start reaching some benefits contolling the sound.

Keep the great job and enjoy it.

Jose.

[nathanm]

It's all about contrast.  If that back wall was made of down comforter and there were some white bricks in front of the TV she'd hate that too.  That's why I think you should just go whole hog while she's gone and cover the entire wall floor to ceiling.  (not necessarily with blankets of course) Now the treatment IS the wall (less contrast=Good) and not spots of treatment against an exisiting wall - (more contrast=Bad).

[Red Dragon Audio]

That comforter came down almost as soon as I put it up.  I listened to a couple CD's real quick but that has to go back on the bed.  

More than anything I just wanted to illustrate what daveJCB was talking about.

Our house is being built and is just 40 days from being done.  I get the large basement room to do as I please.  I'm going to do a warm moroccan feel to the room; lots of rich fabrics, pillows, warm lighting and comfy seating.  That room will be treated properly for both absorbtion of high and low frequencies yet will look purty ta' boot.

I just won't have time (read money) to do it just yet...probably next summer.

[djbnh]

Dave here is a quick one I just tried with my king size down comforter.



The sound is much more focused, relaxed and easy to listen to.  I'm going to try putting some planter hooks in the ceiling, get some large clamps for more blankets and them in front of the whole back wall.

I especially like the multicolor spiral sound absorber-diffuser-percolator-clarifier seen in the left foreground, seemingly placed to make the chair/sofa immediately to the right of the right speaker the optimum listening position! Talk about Bending It Like Beckham! What will they think of next?

[Jose Garcia]

"Our house is being built and is just 40 days from being done"

   The house need some break-in before it start to sounds coupled with your system.....

 "That comforter came down almost as soon as I put it up. I listened to a couple CD's real quick but that has to go back on the bed."

     Take your wife to a JC Penney Sales Day and buy some new comforters and then tell that they are for your system but you needed her proffesional advise

Jose.

[PhilNYC]

The sound is much more focused, relaxed and easy to listen to.  I'm going to try putting some planter hooks in the ceiling, get some large clamps for more blankets and them in front of the whole back wall.

Yes, but it has a terrible effect on the picture quality of your TV...very muted, like someone threw a blanket over it...

 

[BrunoB]

Just for shits and giggles, I grabbed the comforter and blanket off my bed and thumbtacked them to the front wall (behind speakers) to see the effect, and holy sheep shit!

Everything just opened up, feels a lot more like sound is envelopping me. I'm also hearing hi-hat parts on a shitty Sting record I had never heard before.

I guess I better get off my ass and order fiberglass to absorp my first reflections on side and ceiling, and front wall!

This reminds me, when three years ago I placed  a foam pad between the two front speakers (not behind, between!). Big WHOA too!  Since then, I added more and more foam and ended building what I called a "Sound Cocoon". So,  unless you have total control on your room, be careful, you don't know where  your journey for better sound  will end  ...  

[djbnh]

No doubt that "sound cocoon" will keep the music, and you, from hurting yourself when bouncing off the walls!