[terry j]

I would like to see a central repository of beautiful listening rooms. I guess I should be a bit more specific.

Having just finished my speaker build, next (and final stop) is room treatment.

How to do it so it looks great too, ah that is the trick is it not??

So inspiration is the key concept here, and what better way than to see how others have achieved that goal?

I am a diyer (as suggested by 'I built my speakers'), but part of the challenge is not just a successfully treated room, but a beautiful treated room!

Have you got any bookmarked?? or know where they are? If so, post them here (with links of course) and let us all have a look.

Is it only to me, or others as well, that in the main the best looking rooms have a majority of diffusion rather than absorption?? interesting question that one.

Anyway, enough of the audio porn involving equipment, let's have some porn of the things that really matter, the room!!

DIY or professionally designed and built, does not matter.

[Big Red Machine]

Like this?  Or do you mean really pretty ones?

[McTwins]

Hi
See my gallery, there is a lot of diffusion

or follow this link. http://www.performanceacousticslabs.com/PAL/Home-Acoustics_Listening_Rooms.html

Thanks

[terry j]

Like this?  Or do you mean really pretty ones?

Of course I do, please don't denigrate your room!

Can't do multi quotes??

thanks mctwin...yeah really diffusion does seem to work best in the looks department, bit hard to tame the bass easily with only diffusion tho???

Side question, have you ever listened in a heavily diffused room, or heavily trapped (f/g etc) room for that matter. Is the difference something you can describe? Will have a browse later, but do you personally know much about diffusion? and the technical side of it (you know, for diy porpoises... and dolphins)

The room is too overlooked in audiophile land, so let's redress that!

The uber expensive fantastic looking rooms (as listed by mctwin for example) are certainly awe inspiring and makes one envious (so keep 'em coming), but equally like the $350 000 speakers we like to ogle over, they are really beyond the reach of most of us. So whilst keeping the expensive end pics coming, it's great to see the more realistic normal ones that we can all aim for.

[mgalusha]

Not particularly beautiful but it sounds very nice.





It's changed some since the photos were taken, curtains for the window, two of the rear tri traps removed, less cluttered up front (I tinker a lot, it's often cluttered..) and the panels there were laying on the floor are now on the wall where they should be.

[ted_b]

Did you say something beautiful in your listening room?   



I use diffusion on the back wall (Realtraps Diffusors) HF absorption at all the first reflection points (Realtraps RFZ's on sides, slope and ceiling), and bass traps anywhere I can (about 18 of them, Realtraps Corner Mondos and their Minitraps on slope and ceiling).  The GIK art panels double as addtl bass trapping, too.

[BobM]

Probably could be a whole lot prettier if I spent some extra $$$ and got the GIK picture panels instead of the plain off-white ones. You can see on hanging in the corner, but there are 2 more at the 2st reflection points. There's also a home made bass trap in that bottom front corner as well as some DIY absorption/diffuser tubes hanging in the corners and behind the rack to help break things up (i.e. dark blue fabric). That quilt my wife made that is hanging behind the couch also hides a GIK panel.

Yes, room treatments are essential to optomizing your system.

Bob

[zybar]

Below are a few shots of my music room.

Like ted_b, I am a big proponent of room treatments and feel that they make a substantial difference in the quality of your system (regardless of how much money is spent on gear).

All of my room treatments come from Ethan at Realtraps.com

In the front of the room (first picture) I have a mixture of MondoTraps, MiniTraps, and Tri-Corner Traps to handle the mid-range and bass.  While I use RFZ panels at the side wall first reflection points and MicroTraps in front of my two windows behind the speakers.

In the back of the room (second, slightly outdated picture), I have the same mixture of products from Realtraps for the mid-range and bass, while adding diffusion via three Diffusors mounted on the center of the rear wall.

Equally important as the room treatments is the listening chair (last picture).  You want a chair, couch, etc... that is comfortable enough (and provides enough support) to allow for long listening sessions.  I just added an Ekornes Jazz recliner (in their top of the line black leather) and I love it!!

Overall, I am extremely happy with my room and system.  I am a lucky man to have a wife who allows me to have a great dedicated space and associated gear in it.   

George

[terry j]

this is great guys, thanks and keep them coming.

I am testing the effects of room treatments myself. One of those things you know about, but till you try you don't know, if you follow.

As I said, whatever I do needs to look fantastic for various reasons, even if only for the mood it can surely set you in??

But really the main problem I have is the aesthetic and historic nature of my house...hence the need for me to get ideas on looks I might not have otherwise gotten.

But, it is easy to test absorption, and I will post a pic of my quick slapdash test. Will be great for a hoot, but more belongs in a thread entitled 'ugliest treated rooms you have ever seen' ha ha

So, how do you test for the results of proper diffusion?? THAT is the problem! You simply cannot pick up the diffusor you just happen to have laying around to try can you?

Easy with batts.

To whit..



Ha ha, the advice often is 'throw an unopened bag of f/glass in the corner to see', So I did, and then some!







The ceilings are 17 feet high, but the very decorative cornice means that thing like tri traps etc are not acceptable. We all work with the limitations we have.

I have since added a few more batts in the empty space on the wall behind the speakers.

The biggest problem I feel is the vast open space way up high.

Big big improvements already, but equally I now get the feel that you can have too much absorption. Am tending towards diffusors in those high wall regions (poly type perhaps up there) with more of the sexy looking 2 d type behind me.

So, keep the pics coming please, spose I should not have introduced this tangent in a thread with that title, but hey forgive that ok?

I agree about the importance of a great chair, is on my list.

I however will be tending towards one that is NOT broad behind my head/ears, in an attempt to avoid reflections off the chair. I guess a bit like a dentists chair (but not of course)

[JoshK]

slight tangent.  What speakers are those?  They look interesting.

[mgalusha]

slight tangent.  What speakers are those?  They look interesting.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

[terry j]

slight tangent? no worries.

I tangectify, you tangectify, as far as I am concerned tangentimification is great in a thread!

They are my diy speakers, just finished them last weekend...after a year long build!..and am onto room treatments already. It helped that it is easy to throw (almost literally) batts around the place.

Let's see, bass driver is a phl 18 (7030), mid is a phl 1360 and the tweeter is a morel, forget the model number.

The setup is tri amped using deqx.

Cabs are made of concrete, the baffle is veneered mdf and on the rear of the box (not seen in the photo??) it is covered first with dense foam, then covered with vinyl.



Base showing speaker spikes and holders...the spikes are 16 mm threaded rod





On the way in, no drivers fitted yet, stop for pics in the daylight







A shot from the back showing shape and vinyl, and I use speakons for the amp connections





A shot showing the top plate



You can see (?) from some of the room pics the extensive (and old, over 100 years) cedar paneling and architrave etc, one of the aesthetic consideration I must bear in mind with room treatments.

However, the final finish on the box (even tho it was mahogany veneer) after staining etc looks so damn close to the cedar..well I could not have gotten a better match if I had tried, which I didn't actually!!





that shot is a bit blanched as I had to lighten it after taking it in a darkish room.

The whole goal of the speaker build was overcoming an aesthetic one...HOW do I get a box with an 18 inch driver in it looking half way decent??

I am happy with the results of that particular constraint, and am very pleasantly surprised at the sonic improvements as well.

Just for final giggles, and to show where it started from and what I lived with for years, here is the box in which all the testing and driver selection was done in. It bears the scares of many patch jobs that indicate different drivers being tested at different times.



Indeed, that particular shot shows a phl 1660 as the mid, and a cabasse dom 40 as the tweeter.

A final nice shot from the back



It has an extremely tactile feel actually, the foam under the vinyl, it just makes you want to touch it you know? strange really. guess the shape is kinda 'comely' too, in a big momma kind of way! it makes the thing huggable if you follow.

[JoshK]

Wow, those look awesome!  PHL drivers are suppose to really be something.  I've never had opportunity to hear them.  I too have a DEQX and am using hi-eff drivers.  Making large enclosures look attractive is no small feat and I think you did a splendid job!

[terry j]

Wow, those look awesome!  PHL drivers are suppose to really be something.  I've never had opportunity to hear them.  I too have a DEQX and am using hi-eff drivers.  Making large enclosures look attractive is no small feat and I think you did a splendid job!

Hey thanks. Having said that I do love the look too. No doubt (like many things) it could be a love it or loathe it reaction, and that is totally fine too.

All I can say about the PHLs is that I love them. Does that translate to all people? Of course not.

I guess they would have a house sound, and being pro drivers some of that house sound would be speed, attack, dynamics. That is what shocks most people when they hear this system for the first time. It is a 'new world' for most. The most common (independent) comment about my system is 'It is NOT your hi fi sound'.

I take that as a badge of pride...funny thing is we can never seem to pin down what exactly it IS, only what it isn't!

I did have the vague idea you used a deqx, must have seen some of your posts at some time. Whilst we are still off topicmacating (and please, let's not forget to keep posting treated room pics!), can I ask if you are able to use REW??

If so, would you be willing to test a new little deqx trick I have been developing? I find it incredibly useful and valuable, but honestly, a 'survey of one' is pretty close to useless.

PM if you are willing/interested yeah? (can we load graphs etc in the pm's here, or do we need to use email?)

[McTwins]

thanks mctwin...yeah really diffusion does seem to work best in the looks department, bit hard to tame the bass easily with only diffusion tho???

Side question, have you ever listened in a heavily diffused room, or heavily trapped (f/g etc) room for that matter. Is the difference something you can describe? Will have a browse later, but do you personally know much about diffusion? and the technical side of it (you know, for diy porpoises... and dolphins)
[/quote]

terry j.....
I have Helmholtz resonators tunable from 40-100 Hz and diffusers with integral mid-bass absorbtion between 100-300 Hz that works like broad-band Helmholtz cavities.
Then the diffusion panels and golden horn takes the high freq.
I have listening to heavily trapped room but i prefere diffusion instead of full absorbtion and I prefere Helmholtz resonators instead of corner traps or panel traps. As I understand it, the panel trap don't go under 100 Hz dosen't matter where you put them in the room unless you have a really big depth, have been trying that and it's unpractible and unefficient. As for diffusion I think it has to do with prim numbers and it requers a good knowledge in mathematics  , not much help from me here. I leave it to people who knows these things. But one thing I know about diffusion is that it dosen't kill high freq.
The stuff I have may look expensive but it dosen't cost more than the rest on the market.
But it works great.

[Bob in St. Louis]

HERE'S a thread with some room photos. There are several pages with lots of pictures, not all of them are treated, but there are some good one's in there.

Bob

[Browntrout]

 

[KeithR]

never seen so many untreated, unappealing rooms as that one in the home theater circle!

begs the question as to how people care so much about cables and power conditioners when they don't put a single treatment into the room.

[ted_b]

never seen so many untreated, unappealing rooms as that one in the home theater circle!

begs the question as to how people care so much about cables and power conditioners when they don't put a single treatment into the room.

 ??  Dunno about others, but I have 25 in my pictured room.  Four huge Corner Mondos, Four RFZ's at sloped and side wall first reflection points, two large diffusors on back wall, two addtl art panels on back wall, three high frequency-versioned MiniTraps on ceiling, and then ten Mini Traps (8 large, 2 2x2's) adorning ceiling and slope areas around the room.  I'd say that was enough for now.  Room sounds glorious. 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Very true Keith.
Admittedly, I was very late to "the show". It took me a long time to realize just how important treatments are. The photos of my room are old, I've since installed some panels. The result is far and above the financial cost.

But you've got to admit, the photos of Ted's room made you drool like a rabid animal.
Didn't they?  aa

Bob

EDIT: whoops.......There's Ted.