[Kinger]

Hi Bryan,

Have a question about what would be the better option in terms of sound benefit in my family room listening space.  If you notice in the below photo, my LP is right up against the back wall of the room and I have a window behind me.  This drapes are always closed during listening sessions, but I wouldn't say they are anything super thick.  After playing around a little bit with my LP, I'm finding that by pulling the couch about 2 feet off the back wall my listening experience improves by experiencing additional clarity.  My question is this, would I benefit at all by trying to put 2 244 panels laid horizontally along the window sill  (which is over 8' long) during extended (read wife and kids are gone) listening sessions or would I be better off trying to put a single 244 in that rear corner on a stand?  I guess I'm looking for things that will improve the sound of the room while still being portable and easy to put away for when the family room is not being used as a listening space.  More pictures and a layout of the room are available for viewing in my gallery.  The front right corner of the room already has one of your bass pillar traps.

Thanks!

[bpape]

I think you'll have more success with 244's in the window behind you.  I would recommend that you try to do 2 vertically though centered behind you to get as much coverage as possible rather than horizontal along the sill. 

What's happening now is that when you move away from the boundary, you're getting farther away from the muddy bass build up that will mask a lot of detail.

Bryan

[Big Red Machine]

You are too close to a boundary and as you experienced, pulling out the couch makes an improvement.  Why not pull it out every time you listen?

I know that a combination of absorption and diffusion behind me has really helped as I am only a few feet from the rear half wall.

How about a pair of 703 absorbers with legs that you could lay flat behind the couch when not in use and then stand up and squish against the back wall when listening?  The legs could overlap when laying down and take up less space.

[Kinger]

Wow, that was fast!  Thanks for the recommendation Bryan.  The next question will be whether or not I can balance the 244's on my 4" window ledge   Will the panels still absorb bass even with the curtains closed over them or do they need to be directly exposed to the sound waves?

Hey BRM!  After trying the couch pull out last night, there's no question I'll be pulling it away from the back wall for every chance I get to listen as it's not hard to move and the wife doesn't get all bent out of shape as long as I put it back when I'm done.  The bigger question was more about the panels I suppose.  Help me out here.......what is a "pair of 703 absorbers"?

[bpape]

I'm not 100% sure that once you stand them up behind you you'll need to close the curtains.  Regardless, the curtains will do nothing to stop the 244's from functioning.  The bass will pass right through them like they're not even there.

Setting the back edge of the bottom of the panel say 1" from the front of the ledge should allow them to lean back enough to stay in the window vertically.

Bryan

[Big Red Machine]

How tall is that window opening?

If your rod is secured nicely you could hang two or three panels with hooks right over the curtain rod.

Owens Corning 703 is typically used in the absorbers.  I happen to have 3 sitting idle you could try.  You and Darth Audio (Cincy area) need to road trip up here some day.  Once you see this stuff in action the light will go off.

[Kinger]

Taller than 4'.  I just don't know if the curtain rod is solid enough to support hanging the panels, but I like that idea as it would be quick and simple.

Thanks for the offer on the road trip and I certainly would like to take you up on that offer sometime.  Actually, I just did a little trip out to Oregon to visit with my buddy mchuckp and his room was what got me thinking about more room treatments again.  Just sounded fantastic.  He's got quite a bit of open space behind the LP and the rear wall is treated with 2 244 panels.  Made me think I should attempt to do something similar if I could.

[firedog]

I have a similar situation and put 2 244s directly behind me as Bryan suggested. The difference was immediately noticeable. Before the panels there was a noticeable echo (muddiness) coming back from the wall; after installation it isn't there anymore. The panels really don't look bad; have your wife pick the color and she may not think they need to be moved at all.

[rw@cn]

Just two questions. 1. What is an LP and 2. Do you consider the back wall the wall behind you or behind the equipment rack? 

[Big Red Machine]

Just two questions. 1. What is an LP and 2. Do you consider the back wall the wall behind you or behind the equipment rack? 

Listening Position

In this case his back wall is behind him.  I use that term, but not everybody does.

[rw@cn]

  I finally dawned on me. I use the "back wall" term that way also, but I wasn't sure he was. Thanks.

I too have 244's on the back wall and they helped quite a bit.

[Big Red Machine]

A lesson learned for me years ago: my room was set up on the long wall originally and that put my head directly on the wall behind me.  I tried diffusors and then some absorption behind that but it just wasn't to be.  So I rotated the entire room layout 90 degrees and with a narrower speaker placement now I get about 3 feet from my ears to a wall on my left ear and an alcove on my right ear.

Major improvement.  I took Bryan's advice and set my seat at 62% of the room length and offset the entire triangle 6 inches to the right to avoid a null spot in the center of side to side spacing.  Then I made all my treatments as symmetrical as I could along the sides and front wall as I could.  Behind me I have 6 inches of 703 in a 7 inch deep housing with the 1 inch air space at the wall.  This is covered with GIK Gridfusors.  So this chews up over a foot of space but does the job nicely.

[Kinger]

I would agree that a room flip of 90 degrees is probably best from an audio standpoint, but the significant other is not hot on the idea so for now the room stays as is.  Just trying to get it to sound as best I can given my restrictions.

[Big Red Machine]

I wasn't promoting a rotate, just that the proximity to the rear wall is causing you loss of aural happiness if left untreated.