[PDR]

Am in the middle of building a dedicated room for my V-1s.

They will sit about 6' off the back wall....3' from side walls....about 7'-6'' apart

I have read some on room treatments, but figure you guys have more experience and
could give me some good input. I am looking for DIY suggestions....I can build almost anything and
have access to hot knife for foam forming, and access to almost all insulations.

The total room is 13'-6"x 26'.......19' from front wall to ponywall, behind is stairs down.

All advice is welcome,
Thanks

[corndog71]

ATS Acoustics makes really nice and effective room treatments.  What's even better is that they sell the raw materials so you can diy.  At the very least you'll know what materials to get. 

http://www.atsacoustics.com/cat--DIY-Acoustic-Materials--102.html

At the bare minimum you want to cover the first reflection points.  Have someone hold a mirror on each side wall while you sit in the sweet spot.  When you can see the tweeter (or the center of the coax) in the mirror then you have located the first reflection point.  Pretty simple.  Cover that and it should make a dramatic difference in midrange clarity as well as soundstaging.  Since the V-1's are open baffle the back wall should be treated too.  There's tons of ways to be creative about it.    

[Guy 13]

ATS Acoustics makes really nice and effective room treatments.  What's even better is that they sell the raw materials so you can diy.  At the very least you'll know what materials to get. 

http://www.atsacoustics.com/cat--DIY-Acoustic-Materials--102.html

At the bare minimum you want to cover the first reflection points.  Have someone hold a mirror on each side wall while you sit in the sweet spot.  When you can see the tweeter (or the center of the coax) in the mirror then you have located the first reflection point.  Pretty simple.  Cover that and it should make a dramatic difference in midrange clarity as well as soundstaging.  Since the V-1's are open baffle the back wall should be treated too.  There's tons of ways to be creative about it.   

Hi Corndog.
(Another funny and original name...)
The mirroir trick will be very useful for me when next year I build my new listening room that will welcome my V1.
Since everything here in Vietnam is built with concrete and ceramic tiles, (In Vietnam concrete and ceramic is not yet on the thermite menu...) I will get all the corners and walls/ceilings rounded. Do you agree or do you have any suggestions. If I ask it's because you sound knowledgeable in room treatment.
Thanks.
Guy 13

[lonewolfny42]

I am looking for DIY suggestions....I can build almost anything and
have access to hot knife for foam forming, and access to almost all insulations.

PeteG did a nice job with these....

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=17771.0

[jdbrian]

Hi

  Your room looks great. I also have a dedicated room and it is a bonus to be able to move equipment and experiment with acoustic treatments without having to take into account other factors.
  Your V1's, being dipole, will not be as sensitive to sidewall reflections as conventional speakers. This is a good thing in a long narrow room IME.
  The amount of absorption, diffusion and reflection in the area behind the speakers can be used to fine tune the sound. You are starting off on the right track IME by having them 6ft. from the rear wall. Once I got my OB7's 5ft.+ out from the rear wall the sound stage depth and overall clarity improved significantly. It is a lot of work to make a dedicated room but in the end it is one of the most important components of a sound system and certainly one of the most expensive if you look at the total cost of the square footage in your home. An audiophile friend recently visited my place to listen to a couple of DAC's. His system sounds wonderful and is much more expensive than mine but he was lamenting the fact that he could not have a dedicated room like mine. I am sure you will have a good time listening and tweaking your sound in the new room.

Happy listening
Brian

[ebag4]

Hi Perry,
Congrats on the new room! With regard to room treatments for the V1s, while I am not finished working on mine I have found that diffusion on the front wall added clarity, a better soundstage and better height to the performance.  I am currently using a large DIY polycylindrical diffusor made of 5mm 3 ply plywood on the front wall between the speakers.  The diffusor is from floor to ceiling and I was able to add 4 sheets of 3" 8lb rockwool behind the bottom section of the diffusor, this improved the bass quite a bit in my room even though I already had a couple of large bass traps in the front wall corners.




Ignore the karate belt,that was a joke for a member on another board.

Best,
Ed

[sl_1800]

I have had open baffle speakers for 6 years now and I have found diffusion on the wall behind the speakers as Guy13 suggest is great for soundstage.  On my side walls I have some absorption panels and complete absorption on the rear wall of the room.  The complete absorption really helped a lot in my room as I sit only 4 feet or so from that wall.

[PDR]

Thanks for all the input guys.
You guys really do remarkable work.
I will have to try diffusion on the wall between my speaks as you guys have done, I hope my efforts
turn out half as nice as yours. After seeing both Eds and sl efforts I am thinking maybe sonotubes with laminate and stuffed. I could half them top and bottom of the window and use heavy curtains.....thoughts? If this would work do you think I should alternate this system and panels along the side walls?

I have seen bass traps in the corners built as triangle units that run floor to ceiling, and also flat panels...I assume the triangles are a better way to go?

I get back from out of town next week....then back to the project, spraying, painting and if I'm lucky baseboards and laminate floors.

Thanks for all the input....please keep it coming.

[fsimms]

I have been playing with my Salk SoundScape open baffle speakers.  The most important thing that I have found is that I have to control the first reflection behind the speakers if the speakers are close to the back wall.  If the open baffle speaker is close to the back wall then that first reflection is not delayed very much from the direct sound coming from the speakers.  The ear doesn’t separate it as ambiance.   The sound is just distortion of the direct sound of the speakers.  That back wall reflection can be controlled by absorbing it or diffusing it.  That reflection can also be controlled by moving the speakers away from the wall.   Moving the speakers away makes the first back reflection level much reduced and also creates a delay so the ear can distinguish it as ambiance.   Of course all the methods can be combined.

The other thing that I found is that the amount of ambiance is important too.   If you have too much ambiance, then the sound is sloppy.  If you have too little ambiance then the image loses width and depth.  Also, you lose a lot of the beautiful ambient bloom.

Good Luck!

Bob

[HT cOz]

I can second ATS as a good source for material.  They also have a calculator for calculating how much absorbtion is needed. 

http://www.atsacoustics.com/page--Free-Online-Room-Acoustics-Analysis--ora.html

[PDR]

Ok.....I have finished the room.....need window treatments.
Think I have have the wall treatments figured out.....will get on those right after X-mass.
Have to work on new rack of some kind also.....

New question..... how do you guys have your V series set up??

Mine are about 7' apart and I sit about 7' back....slightly toed in....maybe an inch.

I am quite surprised how well these sound in this untreated room.....
I was expecting chaos.....its really not that bad......

[corndog71]

Looks great.  I'm envious.

[Guy 13]

Hi PDR.
Nice work!
I hope your little dog (Spotty) wont mess up the place.
May I add a comment?
For live music, the best sound I ever heard was a band playing in a tent during a summer festival, a huge tent for 200 people. The sound was perfect, not shoutty, no screamming highs. I think it was because of all the soft absorbing surfaces of the tent. I think all the walls, the ceiling and even the people acted as bass traps.
What do you think?
Guy 13. 

[Rocket_Ronny]

Hey PDR:

Looks like I need to set up a time to visit my Alberta neighbor. Nice job on the speakers and room.

My suggestion, and I am heavily biased, is to pull your listening chair back to about 1 foot from the half wall, then pull the speakers as far forward as you can stand it. Hopefully that will give you another 3 feet off the back wall, so you would have about 9 feet. This will clear up your soundstage even more and enlarge it quite a bit.

I don't like a narrow soundstage. It's like shrinking a live performance down to a large screen t.v.    See how far you can go to the side walls and angle the speakers in accordingly. In narrow rooms I have had speakers right up to the side walls. Some dampening may be needed.

If this does not turn out to be Shock and Awe then I would be surprised.

BTW. what gear you running there? I see some tubes as well.


Rocket_Deep and Wide_Ronny

[PDR]

Thanks Corndog!

Hey Guy.....looks like my Jack Russel is eyeing up my guitars....If he goes for it, will be his last...
The best sound I ever heard was in two bars believe it or not. Both were pros.....Long John Baldry was one the other was George Thorogood....both had about 250 people seated. I just put it down to professionals, knowing their business. The worst I heard was also in a bar......many times.

Rocket Ronny......thanks......thats what I need some suggestions. I would of thought 6' back from the rear wall would be enough.....but as soon as I get back in town I will try your shock and awe
Theres a few people from a few forums that have asked to come down and take a listen...I tell them all ......absolutely!  Nothing better than getting other peeps opinions on sound and set up.
I work out of town on a 10 and four schedule, so just let me when is good for you.

The gear is a Grant Fidelity A-88 and my Sunfire TG 5400 and TGP-5......I brought the HT up to give SACD another go....thats why the center channel is there...but not its not placed yet.
I still have to bring both sets of arrays up for that.
The CDP is a Raysonic 128....my Denon 2930ci will have to be brought up for the 5 ch stuff.



Perry