I’m trying to determine what the best diffusion solution would be for a dipole speaker in my room, whether something a relatively short distance on the wall behind the listener or something near the corners behind the speaker.
The 13.5’ wall behind my listening position is 6ft of wall then 4.5ft opening then 3ft of wall. If the wall extended across without an opening, it would be 40” behind my head, but the intended treatment spot on the walls diagonally behind me are about 5ft, and my dipole speakers are pretty much pointed diagonally across to those treatment spots.
I’ve tried 50mm absorption panels which don’t seem to do much there, and large woven rattan baskets seem to scatter the sound to good effect. Without treatment I sometimes get the sense of a bit too much pressure in the room and sometimes an upper-mid ‘hardness’. With the rattan baskets, the sounds seems louder and more dynamic and yet not as pressurised, the percussion has more depth and complexity to it, and there is better separation of instruments. But I don’t have room for 16” deep baskets!
I’d read that QRD diffusors prefer at least 6 feet of space from the listener. So I could put a full length QRD behind the dipole speakers or could put cylindrical diffusors or panels with scatter plates behind my listening position diagonally -- knowing that they are combination of absorption and a different kind of diffusion.
So I’m not sure what’s really relevant to my context here and which would be best for me.
I’m using dipole speakers (Magnepan) in a nearly square room 14’x13.5’ open to a similar room and the speakers are about 3’ from the back wall with heavy curtains, bass traps in the corners fronted by absorption panels. Also this is our family’s main lounge so options are somewhat limited and aesthetics are important too.
20220112_123134 by
Bruce Warren, on Flickr
20220112_123622 by
Bruce Warren, on Flickr
