[jk@home]

I'm adding some diy bass traps to my Magnepan listening room. 2' x 7' x 6" wood frames, w/OC703, placed diagonally in the corners. Because of the room size and layout, the rear wave of the speakers (especially the tweeters) shoot into the corners of the room. The speakers will be 5' out from the traps.

What kind of light weight diffusor can I place in front of, or hang on to the front face of the bass trap, without effecting the trap's performance? Or in lieu of that, maybe a diy "room lense", made out of PVC pipe, placed in front? Thanks, John.

[bpape]

PVC is going to be pretty dense to allow the bass waved to pass effectively into the absorption.  A couple of options are EPS diffusers pinned to the front.  Most of the bass energy will pass through and the entire thing will act somewhat like a membrane to enhance absorption - the drawback is you have no idea of what frequency the membrane effect is going to happen at.

Another option is to use something like a section of Sonotube as an arc type diffuser.  If you use a large diameter and keep it out from the absorber and from the side and front walls a bit, the bass waves can still enter easily through the sides by the boundary but most of the mid and high frequency rear wave will be scattered.  I would not recommend multiple smaller arcs though.

Bryan

[jk@home]

I like the sonotube idea, simple! I could cover the front of it with the same material that I use on the trap.