[ajzepp]

Hey all...

I love room treatments with boxes. But with Maggies, I've typically found that less is more. I definitely don't want to treat the front wall, by my couch is right up against the rear wall. I'm a GIK guy, and I was thinking about adding some of their new combination (scatter/diffusion/absorption) panels since they have a design that would also add to the decor. Usually I wouldn't care that much about aesthetics, but in the living room I'm trying to keep it from looking like a man cave.

My speakers are the 3.6r's.

I think since it's a very open room, I'm already getting surprisingly good sound. Just want to tweak a little bit more out of it.
Any and all feedback is appreciated.

If you reference the image, what Im considering are a couple of square panels on the far side of the couch running beneath the projector, and then in the more open area I'd add a couple of the rectangles.

[ajzepp]

PS. These are the panels I'm consideringhttp:

www.gikacoustics.com/product/impression-2inch-acoustic-panel-diffusor-absorber/

[Speedskater]

Floyd Toole writes about the problems with too much rear wall (behind the listener) diffusion in his new book.

[ajzepp]

Floyd Toole writes about the problems with too much rear wall (behind the listener) diffusion in his new book.

Does he prefer absorption? Or nothing?

[johnto]

I know Wendell told me he favors diffusion behind the speakers not a big fan if absorption there. Not sure what he would say in your case, give Magnepan a call I sure they will help

[ajzepp]

When I first got my Maggies, I had a treated room, and I definitely agree with Wendell...absorption behind the speakers (on the front wall) kills them.

I'll definitely give him a buzz this week and see what he thinks

[Pryso]

Since Wendell is not likely to reply here I'll relate a conversation with him yesterday.  He and his wife were in town as part of their tour demoing the new MG-30.7.

I ask him about the Bell Labs finding for at least a 10 ms delay between direct sound and reflected sounds for maximum clarity and detail resolution.  He agreed with that saying that at least 5' distance (sound travels nearly 1' in 1 ms, which makes calculations easy) from the front wall was necessary for "optimum performance" just for that reason.  His 30.7 demo was set up just over 5' from the front wall.  But he admitted many Maggie owners are not able to do that and good performance can still be obtained with less distance.

To the point of ajzepp's question, Wendell said in his current home he is constrained to go with a lesser distance.  So I ask if he utilized diffusion on the front wall behind them?  He said he does not utilize any special treatments and finds the results acceptable.  So read into that what you will. 

[ajzepp]

Thanks Pryso

[ajzepp]

Love me some GIK...the center speaker dialogue has already improved in clarity after installing these.

[josh358]

They certainly look cool!

I'm in a similar situation -- up against the wall, so to speak. Conventional wisdom says absorption if you're too close -- diffusers need some distance to do their thing (but not sure about scatter plates like you have). I just ordered some 703 from GIK, plan to play with that . . .

[ajzepp]

They certainly look cool!

I'm in a similar situation -- up against the wall, so to speak. Conventional wisdom says absorption if you're too close -- diffusers need some distance to do their thing (but not sure about scatter plates like you have). I just ordered some 703 from GIK, plan to play with that . . .

Thanks man, I love all the options and creativity GIK allows...I thought about putting some more art panels behind me, but the hybrid option became more attractive when I saw the new designs.

At first I thought I was going to have to re-run ARC, because it really altered the sound I already had dialed in. But after some experimenting (and I still may re-run ARC, just because it's awesome), I found that after changing the toe-in angle, it was like fine tuning the FM dial on those old radios...all of a sudden the sweet spot kicked in and it sounded great. The center sounded improved right off the bat, which was what I was hoping. But I feared I screwed the 2-channel playback after first installing them. All is good now, though.

Hope your GIK additions go well! Pics are always welcome 

[josh358]

Thanks man, I love all the options and creativity GIK allows...I thought about putting some more art panels behind me, but the hybrid option became more attractive when I saw the new designs.

At first I thought I was going to have to re-run ARC, because it really altered the sound I already had dialed in. But after some experimenting (and I still may re-run ARC, just because it's awesome), I found that after changing the toe-in angle, it was like fine tuning the FM dial on those old radios...all of a sudden the sweet spot kicked in and it sounded great. The center sounded improved right off the bat, which was what I was hoping. But I feared I screwed the 2-channel playback after first installing them. All is good now, though.

Hope your GIK additions go well! Pics are always welcome 

That's great.

I'm wondering now if I should use scatter plates on the bass traps in the front wall corners -- I was planning to use 703 FRK . . . I'm sure it would work, but the scatter plates might be better . . .