I have three 67mm art panels for the wall behind my listening position. Very wife friendly, I have mine as photos of places we have visted. My thinking is even if they are not very effective as sound modifiers, they still look good on the wall and are a great reminder of old adventures.
I am considering two more for behind (ish) the speakers, probably setup as monster traps with diffusion. I believe GIK can do these, but they emphasized textare not particularly cheap.
I think your right about getting the speaker and listening positions right. I have moved my speakers well away from the walls and the sound is now rather anemic, I am beginning to think Iād rather have a bit more wooly bass than none at all.
I agree the art panels certainly have more WAF. That is my next project as well as making a couple more DIY panels. I often hide them away behind the sofa or TV when not in use and set them up for listening.
It is strange as I am the only person to use the lounge but as with all things itās about comprise. However everyone else has their own room in the house .
Can you listen in a different position?
This may reduce the effect of the room modes but without losing the low frequencies. Worth taking some measurements.
Well Peter you have certainly piqued my interest in the Podiums. I didnāt realise they were available in 5 sizes.
Whilst I am very pleased with the measured improvements with a change in listening position I canāt help feeling that I can still eek out some more improvement in my system .
In terms of bass performance adding enough bass traps to make significant changes isnāt really feasible. Which leaves a couple of alternative options.
The first are the podiums and the second (a bit more costly) would be consider trying the AVVAs. Given my room size I suspect I would require 2 which will require some patience ie saving.
I am tempted to try the podiums first and see where that leads me? They seem to make mechanical sense and have some good reviews. I had a read through your thread Podiums/Facts.
Well Stu we are clearly equally afflicted, so I think it would be a great idea to at least try them. I believe you can return them with full refund within a month. As you know from my thread it was a no brainer from the word GO
Would be great to hear how you get on, Best Peter
( also feel free to contact me via Richard Dane, if you feel the need)
I have worked out that I can move my speakers and listening position by 90 degrees, but that means longer cables. I have a longer set in the loft, but I do not think they are quite long enough, probably enough to test but for a permanent solution I will need new cables.
I have played around with moving my sofa and speakers forwards and backwards and I have found a sweet spot from the waterfall / frequency response. Things are ever so slightly better in this position. Basically a long way forward (90cm) and as far as I can get them from the side walls. So a lot less bass re-enforcement and the L/R plots are much closer together. However this isnt helping what is clearly a room mode at 45hz.
I have generated 45 hz using REW and moved around the room and there is a peak in the corners, all along my listening position and right behind the speakers.
Assuming I dont change the whole lounge around then my treatment plan would involve absorbtion.
I tried moving one of my art panels to be right behind my ears and this does really help the frequency response in the mids/highs so I will probably put a new one there.
I will most likely get some more panels behind my speakers which I think will help the mid/upper bass. The 45hz peak is more tricky. I am not sure about the active compensation approach, so if you do try it, please report back on how it goes. I think my concern is whether it will act quick enough to synchronise with the music as if its even slightly out from a timing perspective I suspect it will cause some un-desireable effects.
Changing listening and speaker position seems to make the biggest difference if this is possible. I tried mine in 4 or 5 different positions before settling on current location. Just needed some fine tuning and change of listening position.
Do you think you would get away with some soffit traps in the corners and monster traps behind you and the speakers? This would probably work better and improve but not fully resolve 45hz mode. Itās sometimes a big domestic ask if the room has multiple uses.
In terms of active treatment I think I may try the podiums first and see how things sound. My budget was wiped out somewhat last year with 555dr and ATC SCM40s and I have a Fraim incoming at some point in next couple of months. AVAAs if tried will be a bit of a wait but will post my findings if and when they arrive.
Iām could definitely put monsters behind the speakers and possibly another one behind my listening position. Corner / soffit traps wont work on the front wall (and maintain domestic harmony) but they might work in the corners close to my listening position.
GIK do a resonator panel which I have space for and which can target the 45hz resonance, that might be effective. But I think Iāll start with the monsters for now.
At this rate I will have spent so much on panels the active system may prove to be a more attractive solution.
True but the AVVAS donāt work much above 100hz from what I have seen on some reviews so you would still benefit from some broad band absorption to keep things balanced.
Some other business to attend to.
The room acoustics arenāt great and trying to get the bass player to eq his amp to the roomā¦
Maybe a huge seismic podium and a supersized soffit would do it?!
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