[mresseguie]

This won't come as news for those of you who have bass traps in the corners of your listening rooms, but I just placed my newly purchased bass traps in the front corners and heard an immediate difference!

Yup. It took me THIS LONG to finally buy a pair of corner bass traps and set them in place. Those of you with significant others may understand why it took me years to finally get permission to further 'ruin' our living room's esthetics. I think I owe one of my wife's long time university friends (in Taiwan) a big thank you.

I'm struggling how to describe the change in sound. A certain forwardness has dissipated. A 'certain' energy or ??? has been reduced.  The musical presentation is warmer than before. I have yet to put on really dynamic or explosive music, but I'm willing to bet that the whole experience will be improved. I anticipate some boominess to recede or disappear.

Question: The 4' high traps are on the floor. Would there be any benefit to placing 6" stands <for example> underneath to raise the traps higher? I could place foam or denim on the floor to help absorb sound below the traps.

Interestingly, after all the energy and all the dramatic posturing over the years, my wife simply accepted the addition of these bass traps. There were no theatrics, no tears, no yelling - just acceptance.

[Tyson]

Congrats man!  I find in my own audiophile journey that the speakers are the most important purchase, and room treatments are the 2nd most important purchase.  Otherwise the room will mask a lot of gains from elsewhere in the chain.

[Jan_Mc]

I'm with you.  I finally put room treatment in this year and it definitely smoothed things out some.  I still want to put some diffraction on the rear wall but it was a significant improvement.

[mresseguie]

I'm with you.  I finally put room treatment in this year and it definitely smoothed things out some.  I still want to put some diffraction on the rear wall but it was a significant improvement.

Which treatments made the most dramatic improvements?

Michael

[twitch54]

Michael, ideally corner bass trapping should go floor to ceiling. Note mine behind my Revel's .....

[mresseguie]

Michael, ideally corner bass trapping should go floor to ceiling. Note mine behind my Revel's .....

I agree. However, my wife has wall/window ornaments approximately 2 1/2 feet above the tops of my traps. I've thought about placing a pillow atop each trap; raising the traps several inches like you have done, or placing a 2'x2' diffusion/absorption acoustic treatment on top - something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Pack-Absorption-Diffuse-19-7x19-7x4-Absorption-Reflection/dp/B07MD9DRZP/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=Cr0PA&pf_rd_p=29505bbf-38bd-47ef-8224-a5dd0cda2bae&pf_rd_r=B7K1Z6C150W3MFNZ68K6&pd_rd_r=aa35b741-c75a-425b-8881-59332ba64b75&pd_rd_wg=ORT57&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m

Nice looking amps you've got there! 

[timind]

Which treatments made the most dramatic improvements?

Michael

That's a good question. Years ago I had a small, square room with speakers set up diagonally. As reflections are minimized with this setup, I used corner bass traps. First behind the speakers and listening position. They really improved the bass in that room.

Now I have a large room so started the the bass traps in corners. Since I never heard the room without the bass traps, I can't say how they helped. No longer in the diagonal, I used absorption at reflection points, bur as the speakers are nearly 4 feet from the nearest boundary, they made a minimal difference. What did make a notable improvement was removing absorption from behind the speakers and installing diffusion there. Another noticeable improvement came with installing absorption on the ceiling at first reflection point.

These were all done in stages so I was able to hear each new installation individually. Which made the most improvement? In the small room the bass trapping made a significant difference. In the large room, toss up between diffusion behind speakers or ceiling treatment. Both were positive though.

Along the way though, moving the speakers out away from any boundary may have been the most significant improvement I've made. Speakers are now 5 feet out into room. Luckily WAF is not an issue in the basement.


 

[jtcf]

Generally the corners where the ceiling and walls meet are where the sound waves bounce around and will make a significant difference if treated. If you peruse websites (GIK for instance) there are diagrams that illustrate how different frequencies behave, standing waves,etc.All rooms are a little different of course and it takes some experimenting.
Recently I took a few of my bass traps to my brothers place to try in his 12 x 15 room.There's an 8 ft opening on one side of the long wall.The treatments had zero effect behind the speakers or in the top corners!But there was an obvious upper bass build up behind his listening chair in the right corner and along the wall about 4ft.The traps smoothed it right out.You never know!

[twitch54]

I agree. However, my wife has wall/window ornaments approximately 2 1/2 feet above the tops of my traps. I've thought about placing a pillow atop each trap; raising the traps several inches like you have done, or placing a 2'x2' diffusion/absorption acoustic treatment on top - something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Pack-Absorption-Diffuse-19-7x19-7x4-Absorption-Reflection/dp/B07MD9DRZP/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=Cr0PA&pf_rd_p=29505bbf-38bd-47ef-8224-a5dd0cda2bae&pf_rd_r=B7K1Z6C150W3MFNZ68K6&pd_rd_r=aa35b741-c75a-425b-8881-59332ba64b75&pd_rd_wg=ORT57&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m

Nice looking amps you've got there! 

Yes that is another option as well. Tim's post spelled out some good advice on taking it one-step-at-a-time ! Another area, depending again how close your speakers are to side walls, is first point of reflection. 2" thick absorption is ideal for that application

[S Clark]

Which treatments made the most dramatic improvements?

Michael

For me, bass traps, followed by diffusers. 

[Bob2]

For me, bass traps, followed by diffusers. 

 S Clark, where did you place the diffusers, front wall, back wall, side wall, ceiling?
Thanks!

[Mariusz Uszynski]

Which treatments made the most dramatic improvements?

Michael

I felt significent improvement, when I started with bass traps and absorbers (walls and ceiling), then I added diffusers.If you really want hear difference, do not omit ceiling.

[Cheytak.408]

I read a statement on a site that has been inactive here for years that the room is the most important interconnect in a system.  I tend to agree.

For a low cost experiment, I bought 4 - 1' x 1' x 4' cardboard boxes.  I filled them with regular fiberglass insulation and sealed them up.  I placed them in the room's 4 corners and was frankly amazed at the improvement in low frequency pitch definition and mud elimination.  Then I raised them 2' off of the floor (8' ceilings) and there was further improvement.

At that time total expenditure was about $30.00 - part of which was some heavy felt to cover one of the faces.  I set the boxes at a 45 degree angle in the corners to eliminate the 90 degree angle that is the audio demon's playground.

[S Clark]

 S Clark, where did you place the diffusers, front wall, back wall, side wall, ceiling?
Thanks!

First, in front of a big screen TV between the speakers.  Secondly, in front of the corner bass traps (per Dave Elledge-and it helped a bunch), and thirdly, a couple of feet outside the speakers an a foot or two in front (expands the width of the sound stage).  In my room, placing them behind the listening position did little.  Placeing them at a halfway position did little.   I've not bothered with the ceiling since line source speakers tend to take them out of the equation. 




But my room is really odd and difficult. 

[Mariusz Uszynski]

First, in front of a big screen TV between the speakers.  Secondly, in front of the corner bass traps (per Dave Elledge-and it helped a bunch), and thirdly, a couple of feet outside the speakers an a foot or two in front (expands the width of the sound stage).  In my room, placing them behind the listening position did little.  Placeing them at a halfway position did little.   I've not bothered with the ceiling since line source speakers tend to take them out of the equation. 




But my room is really odd and difficult.

Mission Impossible.

[Tyson]

Mission Impossible.

Queue up the Mission Impossible theme song while Ethan Hunt parachutes in with large room treatments.

[Mariusz Uszynski]

 

Queue up the Mission Impossible theme song while Ethan Hunt parachutes in with large room treatments.

[Rob Babcock]

Nice!     I wish I could do more with the space I'm in now.

[JLM]

Have a nice well insulated listening room in the basement, 8ft x 13ft x 21ft (Fibonacci ratios), mid-field setup with loudspeakers 5ft from front wall.  Have six GIK 244 2ft x 4ft broadband panels that I've moved around in every logical setup and they made little difference, but make huge improvements in other rooms.  Added four GIK 244 2ft x 4ft bass traps that straddle the front corners which again made little difference in my room.  Tried a couple DSP's but preferred without.  I follow Floyd Toole's teachings and added three subwoofers, staggering them off the front corners and midway along a side wall to reduce inherent bass peaks/dips.  Also have three tall bookcases on the side walls that I can use as casual/adjustable diffusers. 

So my lesson is that the room (shape and insulation) is most important, after the loudspeakers.  Get the room right and the rest matters little.

[Bob2]

"But my room is really odd and difficult. "

I'm sure it is tough to get your room sounding it's best.
This thread has me thinking about adding some diffusion...

Thank you for the info and photos.