[TJHUB]

I am going to start the process of treating my room and I need some advice.  I've played with some couch cushions and pillows and did some measuring with a friend.

The room is my living room and I do not intend to add a lot of acoustic panels.  I'm open to any ideas, but the room has to remain looking like a living room and not a sound studio.  My wife is pretty open to ideas and she is hoping my first go 'round will actually make the room look nicer as it's a little bland on the front wall. 

The room is 18' wide by 25' long not including the foyer area or where the french doors are at a 45 degree angle.  The side walls are 9' high and he cathedral ceiling is just over 14' high in the peak. 

Overall the room sounds really good.  Far better than any other non-treated room I've ever been in.  I actually feel VERY lucky about this as some rooms I've been in sound terrible.  The measured frequency response of my speakers is really pretty flat with one suck out at around 85Hz caused by the left speaker and a bass peak from both speakers at 35Hz (room mode I guess) that is +10db.

I added pictures of my room in my gallery, but the following pictures show how I intend to start treating the room:



I have some ideas to use (3) 2'x2' panels arranged together in a pattern on each side of the TV where the yellow boxes are located. 



I'm not certain what I'm going to do to the rear wall, but I am planning to put something in the yellow box area.  The yellow arrow shows my listening position.

I'm going to start by just treating the front wall with those (6) 2'x2' panels.  I want to see how they look in the room and I want to play with them on the rear wall to try and figure out a pattern I could use.  Once I figure something out, I'll treat the rear wall. 

One thing to note is the location of my couch to the rear wall.  I pulled the couch out about 14" which is all I'm really willing to do.  This really helped the bass sound more articulate.  I know I'm too close, but there is not anything more I'm willing to do with moving my listening position. 

What I'm wondering right now is if I should go 2" or 4" for the front wall.  For the record, I intend to go with 4" thick panels for the rear wall.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks.

[oneinthepipe]

TJ:

If you intend to use absorption panels at those locations, I suggest going 6" everywhere.  The cost difference might be minimal, especially if you DIY, and you will have more flexibility if you decide later to move the panels to different locations.

Your room looks large enough to benefit from diffusion (or a combination of diffusion and absorption) behind the speakers and behind your listening position and bass traps elsewhere. 

1 INTHEPIPE

[jaxwired]

Hi TJ,

Since this is your living room and appearance is important, I'd recommend the panels I have.  The company I used allowed me to pick from giant database of images to cover the acoustic panels.  I selected an audio theme since mine is a dedicated hifi room, but you could pick anything that fits your decor or even just a nice fabric.  They also offer custom fabric selections.  The company is audimute.  Just google them.  Here's a pic of my 2x2s...

[TJHUB]

TJ:

If you intend to use absorption panels at those locations, I suggest going 6" everywhere.  The cost difference might be minimal, especially if you DIY, and you will have more flexibility if you decide later to move the panels to different locations.

Your room looks large enough to benefit from diffusion (or a combination of diffusion and absorption) behind the speakers and behind your listening position and bass traps elsewhere. 

1 INTHEPIPE

6" seems a bit thick.  Is that thick really necessary?  I think I can live with around 4", but 6" would seem to jump off the wall a bit too much.

Diffusion could be interesting as I've seen some pretty artful diffusers in my internet searches.  I wouldn't know how to go about it, but I could look around for some ideas.  Would I want to use diffusion vs. absorption if I don't find my room "bright" sounding?

One note, the test absorption I did on the front wall didn't really do much.  It was the rear wall that made the biggest difference in the measurements we did.   

Jaxwired:

Thanks for the pictures.  Interesting choices in photos.  I really like them in your room.  I have considered art panels and may just end up in that direction for the rear wall.  I may replace the existing paintings with (3) 2'x4' panels with a similar picture.

I'll check out that company.  Thanks.

[Jeffrey Hedback]

acoustically...a big +1 to the combined 6" graphic panel.  However, 4" will do.

One idea that may be most cost-effective is to DIY 4" panels and face them with 1" commercial graphic panels.

I think doing those two areas (based on images) would certainly help.  Sometimes partial treatments only expose other flaws.  But as you have the openings to other areas (secondary space)...those two areas should be very good targets.

Look forward to your progress!

[TJHUB]

Thanks for the feedback Jeffrey.  I appreciate it a lot.

Here is the idea I think I'm going to start with:



I plan to get (6) 2'x2' panels, (4) in camel microsuede and (2) in black microsuede.  I'll arrange them as the picture shows.  I think I'll be ordering them tomorrow in the 4" thickness.

[Jeffrey Hedback]

Nice pattern!  I would expect the transition from upper bass to lower mid to clean up quite a bit and a good deal of flutter between from and back wall to do the same.  Very solid place to start.  The back will is still a target.  Again, nice thinking.

[TJHUB]

Nice pattern!  I would expect the transition from upper bass to lower mid to clean up quite a bit and a good deal of flutter between from and back wall to do the same.  Very solid place to start.  The back will is still a target.  Again, nice thinking.

Thank you sir.  You are making placing my order today much easier. 

From the measurements my friend and I did a few weeks ago, the rear wall is much more important.  I'm just starting with the front wall for aesthetics and to get a few panels in to play with for the back wall pattern. 

[TJHUB]

Update:  phase 1 complete.

I received my first 6 panels about a week and a half ago.  I needed to figure out a good way to hang the panels without adding too many holes to my front wall.  I came up with an idea that got all 6 panels hung with 4 nails in the wall. 

Here is the result:



The change in room acoustics is unbelievable.  I did some testing and measurements using couch cushions and pillows as test panels.  One thing for certain is that these panels absorb a LOT more than couch cushions and pillows. 

I need to get accustomed to the change in sound and try to decide what is "better" and what is not. 

My next phase is the rear wall.  I'm playing with some ideas and I'm not sure what direction I want to go.  I have some thinking to do.

   

[oneinthepipe]

TJ,

The panels look terrific.   Very tasteful, yet manly.      Glad you are pleased with the improvement in the sound.

[Vulcan00]

If you have a corner that needs bass treatment.

I used the GIK tri-traps  http://www.gikacoustics.com/gik_tri_trap.html

I have black but I have seen them in white. In white they are not noticeable.

Harrison

[Jeffrey Hedback]

Very nice...with those panels and the resulting cleaner 100Hz-400Hz response, you can likely play around with small changes in speaker position and "toe" to get a much better "sweet spot".

I look forward to your progress on the rear wall.

Nice job.

[Nuance]

Those look great, TJ.  Much congrats man!  I'd love to hear more impressions after you've put some quality listening time in.

Enjoy!

[TJHUB]

Thanks for the comments guys, I appreciate it.

I took some better pics this evening:





They still look better in person, but the new pictures show the colors much better. 

As for listening impressions, all I can honestly say is that I hear less room and more speakers.  I seem to be able to listen louder with less distortion, but it's not a huge change.  I also seem to have lost some depth to my sound stage.  Does any of this add up to "better"?  I'd say no.  However, I think the rear wall treatments are more necessary and I have a plan I'm implementing.

[K Shep]

I hope they improved the room! 

[bigred7078]

Looks awesome! Great job buddy! Everything seems to be coming together nicely!

[TJHUB]

I finally decided what to do with the rear wall.  I hope it sounds good!



The tan panels are standard 2'x2' and the black will be custom 18"x18".  My wife really likes the idea, so I'm going to implement it.

I also decided to bring the multi-sized panel idea to the front wall as well by adding custom 12"x12" panels to my existing pattern. 


 

[oneinthepipe]

Very nice.

[TJHUB]

Update:

I received my second batch of panels from ATS Acoustics and I finished hanging them this morning:

The completed rear wall:





I also changed the front wall:







I really like the look and the microsuede looks classy.  I also really like the beveled edges on the ATS panels.  It just adds that little something extra to the look.  My wife actually likes the way the room looks with the panels.  Now I just need to vacuum and brush out the suede. 

The addition of the panels on the rear wall made a much bigger difference than the panels on the front wall.  What's funny is that I sold the pictures on my rear wall last week and when I took them down, I could hear a difference.  It turns out that even having pictures on my rear wall was altering the room's acoustics. 

Now I have to spend some time just listening to my new room.  I can really hear a difference and it's for the better.  I always had a nice sounding room, but the panels seems to have removed some obvious echo I had.  I'll post my listening impressions after I get used to the changes. 

Big  to ATS for a great product at great prices.  Even my custom ordered sizes shipped quickly and the build quality is good.  I would not hesitate to continue buying from them.

[Nuance]

Congratulations, Terry - they look very nice!  I actually like what you changed about the wall behind the speakers too; just looks better.

Enjoy!