[PaulHilgeman]

I am posting to see if there is any interest in the Furutech Room Diffusors, there have been quite a few good reviews of their products over the last few months, but it dosnt seem like there are any good places to purchase their products.  One of these products that looks really interesting is their Room Diffusor:



http://www.furutech.com/produ_2.asp?ProdNo=70

They have been recently given a once-over by Wes Phillips of Stereophile:

http://www.furutech.com/newneview/review-new2.asp?area=&country=USA&r1_no=41&r2_no=118

They are around 24 inches wide, 46 inches tall and around 4 inches thick.  These function as a combination absorber and diffusor.  They are very nice looking with a silk covering, and wood edging.  They come with small integrated 'feet' that help them to stand up, but they can easily be mounted on a wall.

In order to save on shipping costs on these large items, they could be shipped to meeting places of some of the regional circles.

For Example, a single piece shipped to SanFransisco is $30, two are $37, three are still $37 and at 4 ince one package it becomes cheaper to do multiple shipments of three.  Rates to more central areas of the country would obviously be cheaper.

MSRP is $460.00, but contact me through a private message or an e-mail paul@nomad-audio.com if you are interested at all. 

As a whole, Furutech's products are absolutely first rate.  I have been using and evaluating their connectors and wire for a few months now, and I can say that I am very impressed with everything about the company.

Paul Hilgeman
Nomad Audio
www.nomad-audio.com

[woodsyi]

Paul,

They look very nice but I am concerned about 4" thickness.  From my readings, I thought you needed about twice that depth to be useful.  Are there any technical papaers on the air foam polystyrene concave/convex dampers on how they work to diffract and absorb?  And what frequency range is it effective?  I like the silk touch. 

[PaulHilgeman]

From what I know about polystyrene, these are as advertised, more of a diffusor than absorber.

However, keep in mind that any material that flexes when influenced by sound wabes is going to absorb and turn them into heat.

I am sure that it absorbs as well, for certain it will be much less reflective than drywall, hardwood, brick, glass or others.  However, it will not absorb like some of the pure 'absorbers' out there. 

As far as thickness goes, many of the absorbtive pannels are just a few inches thick.  Placing a space of air between the pannel and the wall can be very effective in 'double damping' the waves. 

My gut is that this will do a tremendous job at breaking up waves in the midrange reigon, giving results like shown in the Stereophile article.  If you are looking for better bass performance and smoothness, think pure absorbers, but think BIG, not 2' by 4' in several locations.  True bass response smoothing takes quite a bit of work in tough rooms, think minimum of 10 tube traps 12 inches in diameter, and entire walls in 4-6 inch fiberglass/wool materials etc, but thats a whole new thread.

Hope this helps,
Regards,
Paul Hilgeman
Nomad Audio

[woodsyi]

Actually I was more interested in the mathmatic principle behind the alternating concave-convex dampers.  The quadratic well design needed 9" of well depth in a prime sequence.  Would they work as well at 4" like these?   

[bpape]

When you're doing diffusion like that, there is not only a bottom limit but also a top limit.  The deeper and larger you make them the lower they go, but also the lower the top end is where they start to function as basically a flat surface again - though obviously doing some shifting in the time domain as opposed to time and direction.

Bryan

[PaulHilgeman]

Exactly.  Just like different speakers/amplifiers etc, it is a mixed bag with the plusses and minuses of various types of diffraction as well!!!

Have a good one!

When you're doing diffusion like that, there is not only a bottom limit but also a top limit.  The deeper and larger you make them the lower they go, but also the lower the top end is where they start to function as basically a flat surface again - though obviously doing some shifting in the time domain as opposed to time and direction.

Bryan

[satfrat]

I've had 3 Furutech Room Diffuser Panels in my 11' x 17' x 7' room for 3 years now. I got them from a CES display after the show and have really enjoyed how they opened up my small room. I placed them on the first reflection walls & ceiling of my main Odyssey Lorelei's, guess being single pays off in this respect.  I also employ Eighth Nerve Adapt & Response Series Rectangles on all corner walls & wall/ceilings. You'd never know this was such a small room if you closed your eyes. Simply wide open dynamics.

Robin