Acoustic treatment for behind seating position

[markf31]

First of all, my apologies if this has been covered before but in my searching of older threads I could not find much information pertaining to my specific situation...its possible I just missed it.

 

I have a long rectilinear room (24 feet x 12 feet) and have my system setup in the middle of the long wall, its the only way it will work in my room. As a result my seating position is pushed up against the opposite long wall. The sound stage is ok but not great. If I sit at the very edge of my couch, or sit in a chair directly in front of my couch the sound stage opens up and sounds phenomenal.

 

What kind of a wall acoustic treatment should I consider placing behind the couch to help open the soundstage when sitting back in my couch?

[markf31]

I should also note that changing the distance between the speakers does not improve the soundstage, which has led me to the conclusion that its is the proximity to the wall behind my couch and the associated reflections that are effecting the soundstage. Although I could be wrong with this conclusion as well.

[r_w]

In my studio I have made circa 3 inch deep wood frames with photos printed on thin canvas, stapled around the back of the frame(s)... the frame is then filled with rockwool / fibreglass and a sheet is stapled to the back to prevent fibre leakage.

 

This makes a more picturesque way to treat walls. The more of the wall you treat the better the damping will be (deeper frames also = better damping), make sure the canvas isn't too thick or it will still reflect HF.

 

 

... or you can buy (less attractive) acoustic panels, but a lounge shouldn't look like a control room.

[Axiom05]

There is a lot of information to explore here...

 

RealTraps - Home

 

The products are very effective and look fairly good. If you call Jim at RealTraps, he can give you specific advice for your situation. Be warned, their products can be addictive.

[elcorso]

First of all, my apologies if this has been covered before but in my searching of older threads I could not find much information pertaining to my specific situation...its possible I just missed it.

 

I have a long rectilinear room (24 feet x 12 feet) and have my system setup in the middle of the long wall, its the only way it will work in my room. As a result my seating position is pushed up against the opposite long wall. The sound stage is ok but not great. If I sit at the very edge of my couch, or sit in a chair directly in front of my couch the sound stage opens up and sounds phenomenal.

 

What kind of a wall acoustic treatment should I consider placing behind the couch to help open the soundstage when sitting back in my couch?

 

It depends a lot of your speakers radiation pattern and building materials in your listening room, but as a rule of thumb:

 

A combination of hard and medium and soft wood is even better, if we are talking about wood, but the same with other materials:

 

Say side walls are hard wood, behind speaker wall is medium and behind listener is soft. Ceiling in pattern of wood coving. Use a real wool rug to partial cover plastic wood floor as tuning.

 

Roch

[JohnSwenson]

What you need to do is prevent that back wall from being a mirror. There are two options, absorb the sound, or diffuse it. I personally prefer the diffuse option. You can buy some very nice diffusers from the "traps" people, but you will spend a lot, or you can do it yourself, and spend very little and be a lot more involved in the process.

 

For doing it yourself you want to transform that flat wall into something that is irregular so sound bounces all over the place. A really easy way to do this is put a BIG bookcase behind you and fill it up with all kinds of different things. Art objects, figurines, bowls, vases, flower arrangements, even books, just don't line up the spines, have them at different depths from the wall. Its a great place for CD collections, just make sure that you have irregular patterns of depths. You are trying to create an irregular surface.

 

Be warned that if you like bass heavy music you may need to put the objects on a mat or something so they don't rattle on the shelf!

 

One nice thing about this type of diffusor is that you can tune it to get different results by adjusting how much stuff you have on it etc. And it doesn't LOOK like an industrial acoustic diffusor!

 

John S.

[SoundQcar]

I typically prefer diffusion behind the listener, but diffusers only tend to work well if there is sufficient distance between the listening position and the diffusion product. The lower the frequency the diffuser is designed for, the further you'll need to be from it to get its benefits and avoid potential comb filtering. Based on your post, it sounds like you have little to no room behind you. If there's no way you can get your listening position from the back wall at least 3ft or so, then absorption might be your only viable choice.

[Gonzbull]

All excellent advice so far. I might add to check speaker placement in relation to your listening position. If you have not already. Equilateral Triangle. Tweeters at ear level. In my studio I have a wooden diffusor sitting on top of a wide bookshelf. Works brilliantly.

[Elescher]

Evidenced by the varying responses, this isn't a one size fits all hobby. You gotta put in the work. Try different things to see what suits you best. Be creative. Good luck!

[elcorso]

Some artistic canvas make the work, like those made from Llama wool from Peru.

 

 

Roch

 

PS/ This is not my room but a pic from the internet.

[r_w]

This pic is from the realtraps website, it looks exactly what I was explaining (did in my studio)... you could do this yourself for peanuts.

 

:-)

 

[firedog]

I used rectangular bass traps (GIK 244 panels) in a similar situation and it made a huge improvement. Before the panels, I could literally hear the echo coming off the wall behind me. After, it is gone. 2-3 panels aren't very expensive.

 

I suggest you write RealTraps or GIK and request a recommendation for your situation. They have pros that can give you the best advice in what to do.

 

BTW, GIK just came out with this: 4A Alpha Panel Diffusor / Absorber

which is both a diffusor and an absorber. Looks decent, too. I haven't used it, just mentioning it b/c I think it is interesting.

[mordante]

I am thinking about buying a GIK room kit 4 with two extra 242 panels.

 

I would like to hang 4 panels on the ceiling at the first reflection point, and 2 on each wall at the first reflection point. One tri-trap in each corner behind the speakers and maybe 2 at the opposite corner.

 

My living room is 4*6.5meter

 

My goal would be to dampen early reflections and to lower overall RT60 as well as some bass dampening

[firedog]

I am thinking about buying a GIK room kit 4 with two extra 242 panels.

 

I would like to hang 4 panels on the ceiling at the first reflection point, and 2 on each wall at the first reflection point. One tri-trap in each corner behind the speakers and maybe 2 at the opposite corner.

 

My living room is 4*6.5meter

 

My goal would be to dampen early reflections and to lower overall RT60 as well as some bass dampening

 

I did something similar. Again, I'd encourage people thinking of installing panels to get in touch with a couple of the companies and getting advice/price quotes.

 

When I worked wth GIK, I sent them room measurements and photos. I asked fro 3 recommendations:

minimal: just taming bass

medium: add in first reflection points

extensive: full room acoustics solution

 

They gave me the info I asked for, and I ended up buying the medium solution. No hard sell or pressure from them.

[LBob]

I did something similar. Again, I'd encourage people thinking of installing panels to get in touch with a couple of the companies and getting advice/price quotes.

 

When I worked wth GIK, I sent them room measurements and photos. I asked fro 3 recommendations:

minimal: just taming bass

medium: add in first reflection points

extensive: full room acoustics solution

 

They gave me the info I asked for, and I ended up buying the medium solution. No hard sell or pressure from them.

 

I would second firedog. I also contacted GIK and was happy with the advice and the service. Given that you are on the long wall, first reflection from side wall may not be a problem.

[Doak]

I used rectangular bass traps (GIK 244 panels) in a similar situation and it made a huge improvement. Before the panels, I could literally hear the echo coming off the wall behind me. After, it is gone. 2-3 panels aren't very expensive.

 

I suggest you write RealTraps or GIK and request a recommendation for your situation. They have pros that can give you the best advice in what to do.

 

BTW, GIK just came out with this: 4A Alpha Panel Diffusor / Absorber

which is both a diffusor and an absorber. Looks decent, too. I haven't used it, just mentioning it b/c I think it is interesting.

 

This looks like just the thing for my new listening room - attractive, not too expensive, hopefully effective. Thanks.

[mordante]

Those new 4A panels look interesting. Not sure if my girlfriend would accept them in my living room

[Doak]

Those new 4A panels look interesting. Not sure if my girlfriend would accept them in my living room

 

You're kidding, right?

 

I suppose we all have our crosses to bear. ;-)

[mordante]

You're kidding, right?

 

I suppose we all have our crosses to bear. ;-)

 

No kidding, she has seen GIK 242 panels. She's fine with a couple of them in the living room. Maybe even a tray trap. But the A4 panels are a lot more visible.

 

My living room:

 

[Elescher]

[Doak]

No kidding, she has seen GIK 242 panels. She's fine with a couple of them in the living room. Maybe even a tray trap. But the A4 panels are a lot more visible.

 

My living room:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21676[/ATTACH]

 

Where in the room do you want/need to place sound treatment panels?

[Doak]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21678[/ATTACH]

 

Very interesting and probably quite effective.

[Foggie]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21678[/ATTACH]

 

How about a pic from the other direction? Interesting space.

[firedog]

Some of the companies will custom print photos/artwork to panel(s). It costs more, but then you get "artwork" of your choice to hang on the wall that just happens to also be an acoustic panel.

[Elescher]