My new room acoustic treatment. More pics added.

sl_1800 · « **on:** 17 Sep 2009, 03:18 am »

My listening room as on the small side, 11'8" x 14'x8" x 8'. The room was always on the bright side since there is not much space in there for anything other than the gear and listening chair. Well I have had some ASC tube traps and flat panels for many years but never could really find a placement for them that made much difference. Lately I have spent many a late night reading info on room acoustics and have finally found a way to use the ASC units I had and to modify them for better performance and add to them with some home made solutions.

The stock ASC tube traps looked like crap with plastic caps on top and bottom which made them very unstable and the white plastic was turning yellow. So I removed the caps and went to work on a solution to upgrade their looks. Have a look:

Pitch the plastic and add some mdf and texture spray paint they look better than ever. These units have been placed in the corners of the room.

The ASC flat panels were 8" wide and 4' tall and I had a total of 8 of these. I tore them apart and found the fronts of the fiberglass was covered with a strip of cellophane, I'm sure that reflected sound which is not what I was after at the first reflection points on the side walls. So I removed the cellophane and removed the tin foil on the backs of them so the sound can pass through and be absorbed by the fiberglass. These units also had a very ugly white plastic frame.

These units were not all that effective by them selves so I built a wood frame which housed them and has a cavity behind them filled with loose fiberglass. Now it is very effective.

I use open baffle speakers and the approach I have chosen is some absorption and some reflection on the side walls with diffusion on the wall behind the speakers and heavy absorption on the wall behind the listener. The wall behind the listener is only 4 feet from my head so heavy absorption seems to working best to remove the bounce from that wall. At this point I only have 6" fiberglass hanging all over the wall with nothing pretty to dress it yet, ugly but effective.

On the wall behind the speakers I went with diffusion by using 5 ASC half round tube traps. These units have a tin foil stipe on the fronts of the curved surface which helps to diffuse the rear wave from the dipole speakers.

To my eye the looks is much improved over the stock ASC units and the sound is very much improved. The soundstage of my speakers has increased greatly and listener fatigue has been reduced. I even had a female non-audiophile friend over and she knew nothing of my audio system and nothing of my room acoustics but when she walked into the room she noticed right away the difference in the sound of the room even for conversation. I only have a couple of more things to try, ceiling treatment, and more corner bass traps. At this point this has been a major upgrade to my system and I wish I had done it years sooner.

arthurs · « **Reply #1 on:** 17 Sep 2009, 03:39 am »

Looks great Steve! I have some diy tubes I need to refinish as my room renovation gets further along...did you cut the MDF and attach it to the fiberglass the tube is made of?

bmckenney · « **Reply #2 on:** 17 Sep 2009, 03:51 am »

Interesting. For whatever reason, more ignorance than anything I imagine, I thought ASC products are the cream of the crop. Maybe that was true back in the day.

So did you listen with this configuration of devices stock, and then modified? You say the sound is much improved, as is the looks. I'm curious how much of the sound improvement is due to the mods, and how much just to your efforts in configuration/locations.

sl_1800 · « **Reply #3 on:** 19 Sep 2009, 12:45 pm »

Art thanks for the kind words. The stock ASC tube traps have a wood plate on top of the fiberglass tube so I just glued my new mdf tops to that wood plate but the stock wood plate is just glued on with hot glue or something like it.

Actually I only had 3 half rounds and one taller 10" tube trap. I cut the 10" trap in half, glued a plywood back on it with hot glue and recovered it with matching Gilfurd cloth to make the other 2 half rounds.

And Art, for what it's worth, I like the look of the tube traps you have now.

sl_1800 · « **Reply #4 on:** 19 Sep 2009, 12:51 pm »

bmckenney, my comments to sound improvement are compared to the untreated room as well as the mods to the side panels. The ASC stock side wall panels just did not due what I was after, which was to reduce first and second reflection points. The mod to these units and the added fiberglass behind them has made a very large improvement over the stock units. The mods to the tube traps was just for the looks, the white plastic caps on the stock units drove me nuts.

bpape · « **Reply #5 on:** 19 Sep 2009, 01:48 pm »

Very nicely done.

On the strips, you've extended the effectiveness on both ends of the spectrum which is usually a welcome thing.

Bryan

sl_1800 · « **Reply #6 on:** 19 Sep 2009, 07:44 pm »

Thanks Bryan, I'll take that as a real compliment coming from a professional like yourself. Thanks.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #7 on:** 21 Sep 2009, 12:16 am »

Wow, much improved over the stock pieces!

sl_1800 · « **Reply #8 on:** 21 Sep 2009, 03:03 pm »

Rob, thanks. Now I'm working on the rear wall. I have normal insulation hanging all over that wall now to kill the rear wall bounce. It works but sure is ugly so I have an idea for covering it and making it look like the side wall panels including the beveled edges. I'll post pics as it comes along.

Here are some pics of the rear wall insulation.

I worked this afternoon on a solution to pretty that up a bit. It took a few complicated cuts but it's coming together nicely. I like the look of my side wall panels with the beveled edge fiber glass panels from ASC but I don't want to purchase anymore as they are expensive. I have created a wood frame work that is covered in matching cloth to mimic the look of the beveled fiber glass. The following pic is of that frame laying on my work bench.

After covering it with Gilford cloth and adding a wood frame around it you have this.

I ran short on wood so off to the lumber yard for one more piece which goes in the middle between the two panels. I brought the unit in the listening room to get a feel for it's size. Not finished yet but close.

Glenn Kuras · « **Reply #9 on:** 22 Sep 2009, 12:58 pm »

Looks great! One idea you could do is build a wall of fabric in front of it. But then again you seem pretty darn good with wood so................................

sl_1800 · « **Reply #10 on:** 22 Sep 2009, 04:12 pm »

Glenn, thanks for the kind words. It has been a little harder than I had envisioned but it is worth it. Here is a pic of the completed unit, now I just need to build another one for the other side of the projector.

Browntrout · « **Reply #11 on:** 22 Sep 2009, 05:41 pm »

Really nice man, can't help think DIY tailor made acoustic treatment is the best option (second only to money no object pro install). What are you using in those panels? Is it insulation or the acoustic fibreglass?

sl_1800 · « **Reply #12 on:** 22 Sep 2009, 07:45 pm »

Browntrout, The unit on the rear wall is regular insulation. The side wall pieces use the rigid fiber glass board from ASC then the cavity behind is stuffed with insulation.

And I agree, DIY is the way to go if you want something special and have the time to put into it.

Glenn Kuras · « **Reply #13 on:** 23 Sep 2009, 12:38 pm »

You are a wood working MAD MAN!!!!!!!!! You want a job??

TomW16 · « **Reply #14 on:** 23 Sep 2009, 04:01 pm »

That DIY job looks professional. Great job!

sl_1800 · « **Reply #15 on:** 24 Sep 2009, 02:53 am »

Thanks for the kind words guys. Glenn I sure wish I could make a living doing wood work as I love it. I have been giving a lot of thought to buying a CNC for the fun of it, or at least a cheaper one.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #16 on:** 24 Sep 2009, 06:52 am »

Coming along very nicely!

Glenn Kuras · « **Reply #17 on:** 24 Sep 2009, 11:37 am »

Quote from: sl_1800 on 24 Sep 2009, 02:53 am

Thanks for the kind words guys. Glenn I sure wish I could make a living doing wood work as I love it. I have been giving a lot of thought to buying a CNC for the fun of it, or at least a cheaper one.

As we get closer and closer to opening our custom shop I have my eye on a CNC also. My girlfriend thinks I am nuts as when she asks "Why do you need a CNC" I just reply "It is SUPER COOL". Now everyone knows how I make my business decisions.

sl_1800 · « **Reply #18 on:** 26 Sep 2009, 11:43 pm »

One more panel made. This panel is on the back wall to the right of the projector. The problem is a closet door on that wall, in the closet are my cd's, dvd's, and lp's, so I need easy access to the closet. It really was not all that hard just had to think about it a while. I made the unit just big enough to cover the door and the small amount of wall between the door and the projector. Removed the door knob and fasted the absorption unit to the door with metal brackets. Just pull on the edge of the absorption unit and it swings open with the door.

K Shep · « **Reply #19 on:** 28 Sep 2009, 09:19 pm »

sl,

Great project. The photo of the rough insulation hanging from the wall had me scratching my head, but it is a great way to get an idea of what the room will sound like once completed. I love your dedication. I would imagine the room actually sounds better with the end result. It sure looks great. Kudos.

Kirk