How am I going to explain this one....

Rocket · « **on:** 14 Feb 2004, 07:06 am »

Hi,

Just thought i'd post a quick message on the forum.

I know i've read previously about room treatments on this forum but i've never tried any before.

Anyway Dsk suggested i try the old doona test between the speakers. After following his suggestions this is what i wrote to him:

Hi Darren,

Okay you've got my attention!

My wife is out and i thought i'd try your doona test and it has worked wonderfully. Just bought the norah jones new cd and it sounded quite good. In fact the improvement in my system was as you suggested.

I next tried my toughest test. I have a sarah k cd called 'What Matters' and i've heard it sound pretty good on other systems ie war audio (hifi store). Anyway at home it is my torture test cd as it usually sounds quite flat and un - 3 dimensional in my system.

Anyway using your suggestion on this cd it provides a Huge improvement. I would say the soundstage is Almost a metre deeper than what is was before. It is wider and the high's are less aggressive. Certainly an improvement worth thousands of dollars. Why doesn't this get mentioned as a higher priority?

Thankx for the suggestion.

I'll buy a rug asap.

Hehe, Now all i have to figure out is what to say when my wife comes home and sees a doona and a blanket on the wall being held up by 4 brooms

.

regards

rod

bubba966 · « **Reply #1 on:** 14 Feb 2004, 07:10 am »

Somebody's gonna ask, so it might as well be me.

What's a doona?

TG · « **Reply #2 on:** 14 Feb 2004, 07:17 am »

Like a quilt - usually filled with down and/or feathers, sometimes cotton or wool.

Terrible Aussie joke from a few years ago:
Q. What lies on the bed, writhing and singing?
A. Madoona

warnerwh · « **Reply #3 on:** 14 Feb 2004, 07:32 am »

You are right that room acoustics aren't discussed enough. The improvement is substantial and far more important than any electronics in your system. Then again it doesn't seem as exciting. Those who try it though will never go back. Maybe your wife will like the doona there.

Rocket · « **Reply #4 on:** 14 Feb 2004, 09:46 am »

Hi Guys,

Okay it didn't go as bad as i expected, she did however parade the kids into the loungeroom and show them what their mad father was up.

The doonah=quilt didn't look too bad but the 4 brooms that i was using to hold it up didn't look very good. Also my daughter wanted her Quilt back

.

Anyway i've taken it down now and immediately the sound is much more 2 dimensional, so it looks like i will be buying a wall rug and trying this out.

For those people who haven't tried it, you should it is an easy inexpensive tweak which brings significant improvements to the sound. It's much easier to hear than new cables imo.

My wife has Made me promise that the Rug has to look nice or it won't be going on the wall.

regards

rocket

Tonto Yoder · « **Reply #5 on:** 14 Feb 2004, 12:19 pm »

Why not actually use a quilt/doona on some sort of display rack????
Some of the American quilts are works of art and there are appropriate ways of displaying them:
http://www.displayaway.com/

Seems like the thickness of a stuffed quilt could be a good thing, even if you just hang it from a heavy curtain rod on brackets projecting out from the wall.

warnerwh · « **Reply #6 on:** 14 Feb 2004, 05:24 pm »

If the wall is open there you can get some acoustic foam and a can of spray adhesive. This will most likely work better than a doona and isn't very expensive. If you do the whole wall behind your system you'll have a huge improvement. This costs a few hundred american dollars but is well worth the upgrade, actually a bargain compared to electronics and cables don't even come close. Anybody with expensive cables that don't have quality room treatment is wasting their money. Room treatments definitely come first. High end isn't high without good acoustics imo.

Rocket · « **Reply #7 on:** 15 Feb 2004, 01:22 am »

Hi,

Thankx for the suggestions i'll check them out.

The idea of acoustic foam is quite good, i could just put it in place when i
wanted to listen to my system. This way i wouldn't upset the asthetics of the room and my wife. She's already annoyed i've taken over the loungeroom.

Regards

rocket

rosconey · « **Reply #8 on:** 15 Feb 2004, 01:26 am »

frame the foam -all you have to leave up is the hanger pin when your not using them

TG · « **Reply #9 on:** 16 Feb 2004, 02:27 am »

Rocket - before you rush off to buy foam, nick your daughter's doona for a few more hours and try mounting it slightly differently. Instead of touching the wall see if you can rig it so it is a few inches away from the wall. An acoustically semi-transparent membrane will work much more efficiently if there is no physical contact between it and the reflective surface it is dampening.

If you do hear further improvement using this approach you'll probably find that a decorative hanging, tapestry or rug mounted slightly away from the wall works just as well as a thick doona - let your wife choose the hanging and gain substantial WAF points

brj · « **Reply #10 on:** 16 Feb 2004, 03:22 am »

After looking up some of those rug/quilt/etc. mounting racks, it looks like they hold the rug out from the wall a couple of inches. Does anyone have any idea how feasible/effective it would be to mount some accoustic foam on the wall _behind_ a rug/quilt/etc? Seems like it would a more eye-friendly way of treating a room....

-Brian

warnerwh · « **Reply #11 on:** 16 Feb 2004, 04:05 am »

Adding some treatment behind a rug is a good idea. I've been going to put some curtains up over mine. It's a project in process...

TG · « **Reply #12 on:** 17 Feb 2004, 01:01 am »

Quote from: brj

After looking up some of those rug/quilt/etc. mounting racks, it looks like they hold the rug out from the wall a couple of inches. Does anyone have any idea how feasible/effective it would be to mount some accoustic foam on the wall _behind_ a rug/quilt/etc? Seems like it would a more eye-friendly way of treating a room....
-Brian

A lot of studios used to be dampened using a similar method - heavy curtains in front of zinc-lined walls, usually with acoustic foam panels as well. That makes a very dry recording space.

This works well to tame an overly live listening room: Fix cork tiles to the wall directly facing the speakers, and loosely attach some thick, rough cloth to the cork. Loosely is the key here - don't glue it on, just tack it up with pins. Then add a rug mounted on a rail a few inches from the wall. It will make the room sound larger without making it lifeless and you'll hear the primary signal more clearly. In a very live room add the treatment to the side walls as well.

Basically it's a derivation of standard auditorium treatment, but on a small scale. Don't treat a listening room with materials or methods that are intended for anechoic chambers or recording studios. It will kill the music.