Room with No Side Wall

vintagebob · « **on:** 27 May 2009, 03:09 am »

Do you just put treatments on the wall side of this room or do you rotate the entire setup 45* to take the sidewalls out of play?

http://www.floorplanner.com//projects/18596511/floors/18629668/designs/19924703?guest_pass=ahh4dm

bpape · « **Reply #1 on:** 27 May 2009, 04:45 am »

Give us a little more info and we'll be more than happy to help

vintagebob · « **Reply #2 on:** 27 May 2009, 05:44 am »

Thanks! If you can see my floorplan with the link you will notice that one side of my space is completely open. All of the guides I have looked at show enclosed spaces so I'm unsure how to proceed. Should I keep this setup and just put traps in the two corners (three with the fireplace) and then address the one hard wall?

I can work with the entire space (except I can't block the sliding glass door...I mean my grill is out there!) so I'm open to suggestions. I was wondering if I should rotate the entire setup so that the sofa is parallel with the bar and effectively take out the side walls?

Photon46 · « **Reply #3 on:** 27 May 2009, 10:06 am »

I have a similar setup (& problem.) In my case, the stereo is situated in the middle of the long wall. My right side is a wall & a large 8' square sliding glass door with heavy drapes. The left side is approximately 50% solid wall. There are two large openings, one to the kitchen & a walk through. The left first reflection point is solid wall to a height of about 40", then a 5' tall opening, then more wall to an 11' ceiling. To deal with the dissimilarity, I use a pair of DIY Room Lenses I made from Chris VenHaus' recipe. With my largish floorstanding dynamic speakers, they really do help center & focus the soundstage. Of course, to placate my wife, I had to make a well finished second pair with careful painting and veneer work. In the end, we're both happy with the results.

bpape · « **Reply #4 on:** 27 May 2009, 01:14 pm »

I'd rotate it 90 degrees to face the bottom wall of the plan. That'll also give you a lot better surround field.

Bryan

BobM · « **Reply #5 on:** 27 May 2009, 01:23 pm »

I had a similar situation - wall on my right and no wall on my left. Unfortunatley I didn't have the option of turning it all 90 degrees and making it even. The solution that worked for me was to put a GIK trap at the first reflection point on the right and a matching GIK trap free standing on the left, where the first reflection point would be if there was a wall there.

That balanced it all out and gave me a really nice soundstage. Removing that left side trap totally erases that soundfield and ruins the imaging.

Good luck,
Bob

vintagebob · « **Reply #6 on:** 27 May 2009, 02:50 pm »

Quote from: bpape on 27 May 2009, 01:14 pm

I'd rotate it 90 degrees to face the bottom wall of the plan. That'll also give you a lot better surround field.

Bryan

Something like this? Could you please explain why you like this orientation better? Just the expanded field for the front speakers?

http://www.floorplanner.com//projects/18596511/floors/18629668/designs/19925735?guest_pass=ahh4dm

bpape · « **Reply #7 on:** 27 May 2009, 02:56 pm »

Yes. That's exactly it.

This orientation provides you with much better symmetry left to right even though it's only a half wall. Your bass/lower mid response from the 2 speakers will be much more even and your imaging will be much better. You also have much more room behind you for better bass response and better surround field development.

Bryan

vintagebob · « **Reply #8 on:** 27 May 2009, 03:07 pm »

Quote from: bpape on 27 May 2009, 02:56 pm

Yes. That's exactly it.

This orientation provides you with much better symmetry left to right even though it's only a half wall. Your bass/lower mid response from the 2 speakers will be much more even and your imaging will be much better. You also have much more room behind you for better bass response and better surround field development.

Bryan

Thanks! I'll give it a try. Placing the surrounds may be interesting...

bpape · « **Reply #9 on:** 27 May 2009, 03:13 pm »

They can actually go at the other end of the room and just reset the delay for distance in your processor.

Bryan

vintagebob · « **Reply #10 on:** 27 May 2009, 05:32 pm »

Quote from: bpape on 27 May 2009, 03:13 pm

They can actually go at the other end of the room and just reset the delay for distance in your processor.

Bryan

OK, so something like this? Would you also put tri-traps in the back corners?

http://www.floorplanner.com//projects/18596511/floors/18629668/designs/19925735?guest_pass=ahh4dm

bpape · « **Reply #11 on:** 27 May 2009, 05:48 pm »

That would work for placement. It's not great but it's about as good as you'll get. Tri Traps in the back would work if budget allows. I'd consider another 242 panel on each side for reflections though and potentially 1 behind each main speaker.

Bryan

poseidonsvoice · « **Reply #12 on:** 28 May 2009, 10:50 pm »

Quote from: bpape on 27 May 2009, 05:48 pm

That would work for placement. It's not great but it's about as good as you'll get. Tri Traps in the back would work if budget allows. I'd consider another 242 panel on each side for reflections though and potentially 1 behind each main speaker.

Bryan

You mention one 242 behind each main speaker...why? Is it because this is also a video room instead of a dedicated audio room? Or is it due to the length of the room being 25 feet long and this may absorb some reflections coming of the rear wall?

Anand.

bpape · « **Reply #13 on:** 28 May 2009, 11:16 pm »

It's a combination of being a video room as well as dealing with SBIR issues.

Bryan

vintagebob · « **Reply #14 on:** 19 Jun 2009, 03:52 pm »

OK, I've ordered four of the GIK Tri-Traps and one Monster Bass Trap for now and will place them as indicated below. I may put photographs on some of my 242 panels so I'm holding off on them for now.

I was going to place the 242 on the half wall, and bar wall, in a horizontal placement. I assume that is ok?

I also have two 4ft oak stands that are open on two sides and filled with CDs. How can I integrate these into my listening space? I assume they act as diffusers?

http://www.floorplanner.com//projects/18596511/floors/18629668/designs/19925735?guest_pass=ahh4dm

bpape · « **Reply #15 on:** 19 Jun 2009, 05:17 pm »

Placement looks OK. I'd still like to see things a bit more symmetric up front if possible for best performance.

The CD racks would likely be best in the rear half of the room along the sides.

Bryan

vintagebob · « **Reply #16 on:** 19 Jun 2009, 06:24 pm »

Quote from: bpape on 19 Jun 2009, 05:17 pm

Placement looks OK. I'd still like to see things a bit more symmetric up front if possible for best performance.

The CD racks would likely be best in the rear half of the room along the sides.

Bryan

Thank you for your feedback and good catch on the symmetry. I was trying to take the fireplace out of play but I can center everything to the front wall.

What can I do to soften the front of the oak coffee table or is that really not an issue? Lean a 242 panel in front?

bpape · « **Reply #17 on:** 19 Jun 2009, 06:54 pm »

Ummmm. Take it out of the room?

Most of the reflections from that will be upper mids and highs where it's noticeable. I'd just use something on top of the table when listening seriously. Some sort of pad with a cloth over it. Can be decorative.

Bryan

vintagebob · « **Reply #18 on:** 20 Jun 2009, 06:15 am »

Quote from: bpape on 19 Jun 2009, 06:54 pm

Ummmm. Take it out of the room?

Bryan

LOL, I can't really argue with you there. I'll see what I can come up with.

vintagebob · « **Reply #19 on:** 19 Aug 2009, 03:10 pm »

So here is what I ended up with. I put a double stack of Tri-Traps in each of the 5 corners and one Monster Bass Trap in the rear. I added 242 panels at the reflection points and behind the speakers. The 242 on the left side is rotated 90 degrees on the half wall. The one on the right side is on a stand and is next to a double stack of Tri-Traps. The 242s behind the speakers are elevated a little to help with the aesthetics but still cover the tweeter plane. The speakers are well within the room anyway.

GIK did a great job of putting the pictures on the 242 panels! Thanks Frank.

I chose to put nothing on the ceiling since the Salk HT2-TLs that will eventually go into this system have ribbon tweeters (not much vertical dispersion) and my ceiling is 9ft tall. I'm guessing that I don't really need treatment there. I have one more 242 that needs a home in this setup though.

http://www.floorplanner.com//projects/18596511/floors/18629668/designs/19925735?guest_pass=ahh4dm