Have you considered putting up a curtain to acoustically close of this part of the room? I ask this question because it could remove a lot of the source of the problem. The shelves behind your sofa appear to be very good for dispersal. I’m wondering if dispersal, rather than absorption or reflection would be more appropriate.
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I wrote that in post No.11 - it sems logical, doesn’t it?
Well, I would say so, yes.
Yes GIK recommended bass traps but I’ve yet to purchase them. Realistically placing these into room will be difficult, but I’ll keep this in mind.
Yes the curtain in front of the bar area is a solution I will likely seek out.
That Cardas room setup guide looks fantastic at first glance and I will dig into it.
At this point I want to put up some more treatments and send sound sample back to GIK for their feedback. Thanks everyone you’ve been really helpful.
Unfortunately, to work effectively to remove any resonance a curtain has to be 1/10th of a wavelength thick for the longest wavelength you want to stop.
As the wavelength of the resonance of the alcove is twice it’s width, to be effective in removing that resonance the curtain here will have to have a thickness equal to 1/5th of the length of the bar! A curtain here may improve things, but if it does, then it’s noting to do with the resonance of the alcove!
Here’s the predicted response of your room with your speakers and sofa approximately in their current positions…
Using the Room simulation of REW to work out candidate speaker / listener arrangements will probably give a better overall result than relying on a ‘generic’ solution such as the Cardas method.
Yes. I want to treat the upper section of alcove with three of the square panels. Also want to mount a few other panels in the front half of room, and then set up microphone to record more samples for GIK.
The curtain idea is something I would do a long ways down the road.
How important is it that I spike the speakers before recording more sound samples for GIK?
I contacted GIK and am going to play around with all these wall treatments & experiment a bit with placement before mounting them to see if one placement is better than another, then send off another room recording. GIK said that apart from critical areas like reflection points on the side walls & ceiling, performance will be more about the total # of panels in the room than where each one is located. The amount of bass in the front portion (25%) of the room is overwhelming compared to the rest of the room, and GIK thinks at this point it’s just how bass behaves in a room. They recommend I get as many thick bass traps as I can into the room in general, and esp in that front area where the build up is, and that will help flatten things out. Problem is, I have very limited space for corner bass traps.
Anyone recommend good, thick bass traps?
With all those bass traps the room is going to look pretty awful. Do you not think it might be time to try some different speakers that work first time without all this messing around? If you had tried the speakers at home before buying (this is not a criticism - you have done what you have done and cannot change that) you’d have concluded that they didn’t work well in your room and rejected them. It really isn’t worth all this hassle.
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I think GIK’s corner types are as good as anybody’s conventional absorbers (NB foam ones are not as good).
RPG make a panel ‘plate’ trap which from everything I read including reviews seems to be a more effective solution - quite a bit more expensive but fewer needed (though likely still several).
And there’s another type I only came across a few days ago (via the PMC 5.24 goodness thread), namely the PSI Audio AVAA C20 active traps, which are much smaller and so less intrusive - but a lot more expensive (~€2k), and you still likely need at least two.
(N.B. I don’t have personal experience of any of these.)
As the o/p said the room is primarily a listening room , adding panels for bass treatment need not spoil the look of the room. With planning its possible to make them blend into the room and appear to be part of its design.
If corner traps are not possible , then GIK make a Monster bass panel that can be fitted with a range limiting membrane for better bass treatment. I can attest that these work well , and I think they can be made with an image of your choice if required.
I know not everyone can accommodate room treatment in a general purpose living room , but in a room more dedicated to listening, room treatment can make one of the biggest improvements possible.
That is of course true; the issue is more about how much you spend and how much angst you put up with in order to get some speakers sounding decent when there were very likely better options out there. AFAIK the OP still has speakers that are way too good for the electronics and all the bass traps in the world won’t compensate for an initial inappropriate choice. It’s a bit like the Concorde Falacy where more and more money and effort are thrown at the problem, when changing course is probably the better way.
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I feel I’ve done a good job matching speakers with electronics, and I knew from the beginning of this investment that my speaker choice was probably a bit much for the room. The Focal Scala V2 are being powered by Naim NAP500-DR, and I have the Naim n272 with a 555 PS DR. I know the n272 is not the best choice of streamers for my setup, but it is what it is. This is my first system, and first time setting up this room. I believe treatments are absolutely necessary in this room, and I don’t feel I’m throwing money away aimlessly. Seems every “serious” listening room I’ve ever visited have room treatments and bass traps.
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I wouldn’t call your room small , its virtually the same size as my room , and im using PMC MB2se very successfully driven by a Rega Osiris. In fact spec and cost wise there is not a lot of difference between my speakers and yours.
Difference is In my room I have a total of 20 GIK panels , at less than £3000 these cannot be considered expensive compared to the rest of the equipment.
So if at all possible I would say do the room treatment , and I do realise that is not always the case.
Room treatment is unfortunately looked on as a last resort fix for problems , where as it should be regarded as a starting point for a good sounding room. Take the sound of the room out of the equation and you are left with the actual sound of the music/equipment.
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Hi Folkman. Yes, before I purchased my equipment I knew I wanted to add room treatments. It’s only logical that they can improve the sound. I’m not throwing money trying to fix a mess of problems in the room.
I posted this project on the old forums, but will rehash here. My first step in this journey was to add a dedicated 20 amp circuit to this room. I had an electrician add a new ground rod for the home, run new wiring from panel to the room, and install the dedicated circuit with Hubbell receptacles. Then I replaced the 4 hollow core doors in the room with solid MDF doors. I traveled to NYC to audition speakers I thought I liked, and then invested in my equipment. I set it up about 8 months ago, and am just getting around to adding room treatments.
It’s been fun so far. I appreciate everyone’s input. I’d ask my wife for help but she has her own problems on the other side of the house 
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I seem to remember you had a 272 and 250 or 500 (?), and then added a 555DR.
For what it’s worth too much bass can be because of other things than the speakers/room. When I swapped 252/300 DR for unDRed 553/500 the bass loudness just turned into exquisite sounds and textures.
Phil
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