Sound improvement to my room. All input is welcome.

[Race Car Driver]

Hello all!
I will now finally be getting to painting and decorating the living room of mine.
Moved into this house about 5 months ago, and with winter upon me here in good ol Minnesota, I need something to do.

So with that, the following quick pics show my room, I spend ALOT of free time in it, on the computer/listening to music almost all the time im home, and watching movies at night.

With that, the room is about 13.5 feet long, 15.5 feet wide, with a 8ft ceiling.

I will be pealing off the nasty wallpaper boarder, and ceiling fan from the previous owner, and painting the walls and ceiling. Thinking burgandy walls, with some charcoal/grey accents and "things"

As you can see, my walls are quite bare, and would like to put some "decorative sound deadening" on the walls. Im all game for making the frames and covering them my self, if poss. it will give me something to do, and give me more satisfaction when its done.

Now with that, any suggestions on where to place the sound traps/etc.
As you can see in the pics, I do have quite a large entry way into the living room from the kitchen, So im thinking a heavy curtain of a sort there. Where the TV is now, I hope to have a nice widescreen replacement, hopefully on the wall sometime in the spring.

Now judging by the layout of my small but cozy room, and the ample number of windows and open entry way.. Throw some suggestions my way if youd like. Im looking to spend UP TO 500 on sound material, so i have something left over for everything else. Im not looking to re-construct the walls or anything of the sort, dont have the time or effort for that now. Id just like to improve what I have.

Whats everyone think? Feel free to throw out any ideas you have, hell thow out some color schemes if your bored, because I AM! And am open to anything right now. Im pretty interested in buying some material in bulk, cutting and shaping it myself, and covering properly with the color of my choice, and using it as purpose decor (id have to believe thats an option). But from that point im lost! Point me in the right direction. :T

Chris

[aud19]

First I'll suggest a "neutral" medium grey on the wall behind the TV. I have that in my room we painted in the summer and it works VERY well with the bias light :T :T Let me know if you'd like further details (paint colour codes etc )

Second, if possible I'd recommend an exterior grade door with full sealing between the room and kitchen. You could use something like an exterior french door if you would like to keep the "openess" between the rooms but the glass will cause some reflectance problems that will require curtains to dampen

[Shane Martin]

Thick curtains would do wonders for your windows as well as your sound. You would also do better if you could move the speakers out a bit more from the wall and tv. The TV is right in the middle of your soundstage. Now that poses a problem because your seating will be too close. How about flipping the room around where the speakers are where your other window is at?

[Race Car Driver]

I was planning on thick curtains for the windows also.
And did contemplate putting the speakers and TV by the other window, but when i moved the room around yesterday, where I have the TV now, is the only place for me to put a wall mount in the future.

Yes id like to move the 802s away from the walls, but as you can see.. only have so much space. And with the door to my bedroom behind the couch, I really cant move the further back.

As commented by someone else elsewhere, yes in the pics the 802s are towed in quite a bit, that was right after I moved the room around, they are outward quite a bit more now.

Thanks for the comments.

[Race Car Driver]

Well I found some 24x48 sheets of 1" thick acoustic wedge foam for a decent price. (also found 2" thick, but that may stick out a bit much.. dunno *shrug*)
Im thinking of building some light weight frames to the shape and size of my liking, and covering them with a thin, breathable cloth of a color to contrast the room when its done, and hang them on the walls where needed.

Anyone ever do anything like that? Seems like it could be a relativly cheap and easy project that could serve a purpose.

[RobP]

I built some coulumns for a friend using some quarter round bass trap wedges, I bulit a frame around them and just used speaker grille cloth to cover them. You can get speaker grille cloth from any autosound supply company like Select products Inc in large sizes or rolls.

You know another thing to do on the cheap is to buy some 2x4 acoustic ceiling tiles from your local hardware store and cover them. My audio dealer here does that for his walls, they seem to work well for side wall reflections.

Here is a pic of the room where they used the covered acoustic tiles on the walls, you can make them look however you want. This color scheme wouldnt look too bad in your room as well.

[aphexist]

And did contemplate putting the speakers and TV by the other window, but when i moved the room around yesterday, where I have the TV now, is the only place for me to put a wall mount in the future.

What are you wall mounting? a plasma? When are you planning to mount? Do you want your soundstage to suck until that time?

I think your choice of speaker placement is the most glaring problem. The 802s are practically near-field. If you are unwilling to reposition your speakers to the short wall, I think your acoustics (and feng-shui) will suffer. If you plan on living in this house for a while, I would flip the 802s for a profit and buy something that suits your living space better.

[Race Car Driver]

Ill give it a shot, im willing to do anything, its not alot of work.
The sectional I have now is just a bit big for this house, my living room in my last house was twice the size.

Well, ill play around with the speaker placement, and if I need a sofa or something... so be it!

[PewterTA]

Keep the 802s, they are fine where they are at...

Just don't toe them in so much. My rule of thumb and it's been hugely successful is to sit on each side of where you normally sit (ie as if three people were sitting close together.... Aim the speaker at each of the outside people. So left goes to the left most person. Right to the right most person. This does a very good job of giving you the best imaging and largest front stage for whatever position you "want" the speakers in. Even if they aren't necessarily the farthest apart and not in the best position.

[Race Car Driver]

Ya, im keeping them! they are not goin anywhere.. trust me , and they are not toed in at all like that..
I think they were moved within minutes of powering the amp up.
And the way you described it.. is how they are set right now, as if i had a person on each side of me...

[Armand]

I'm sure this doesn't apply to your situation, but if anyone is interested in going full tilt with Tube Traps (very effective devices in my experience), read this. The material was written a while back but still applies.

http://www.acousticsciences.com/articles/iar89.htm

[RobP]

Thanks for that tasty tidbit of information, That was food for me right now as I am in the design stages of my home theatre. Thanks!

[dyazdani]

Well I found some 24x48 sheets of 1" thick acoustic wedge foam for a decent price. (also found 2" thick, but that may stick out a bit much.. dunno *shrug*)
Im thinking of building some light weight frames to the shape and size of my liking, and covering them with a thin, breathable cloth of a color to contrast the room when its done, and hang them on the walls where needed.

Anyone ever do anything like that? Seems like it could be a relativly cheap and easy project that could serve a purpose.

I make room treatments from rigid fiberglass, aka "ductboard." They are built for broadband absorption. Some are designed for bass "trapping" and others are used for reflection points.

See my post (3rd one down) on this thread from the DIY section. Acoustic panels

What you see in these pics (9 panels - 5 reflection type and 4 lower freq type) can easily be built for under $500.

[ThomasW]

I'm working on a resource article for the forum. One of the pages deals with various acoustic treatments. HERE's a link, please note that the page is still under construction.

[dyazdani]

Awesome! That's a great page.

[ThomasW]

Thanks....

[RobP]

Would it be better to use diffusors on your first reflection points rather than absortion panels?

[Armand]

I'm working on a resource article for the forum. One of the pages deals with various acoustic treatments. HERE's a link, please note that the page is still under construction.

Great stuff Tom. Thanks.

[Armand]

Would it be better to use diffusors on your first reflection points rather than absortion panels?

I would always choose diffusors over absorption to keep the room lively. Just two Sonex sheets over-damps my 21'x15' room. Here's an interesting article:

http://www.decware.com/achowto.htm

[Race Car Driver]

Thanks for the info!
Didnt know this thread came back to life.
Some of you may have seen this in another thread.
Heres a quick snapshot of before and after. Still finishing up the room, then its on to acoustic treatment.

[Armand]

RCD: Nice speakers! If I were you, I'd experiment with speaker placement then attack the room. First thing I'd do is pull those 802's out from the rear wall to see if you get a better sound stage with more depth using a recording with lots of depth built in like Telarc symphonic pieces and vocals like Holly Cole's first CD. (She should take on a more 3-dimensional quality with the speakers pulled out). The rear reflections are coming off that rear wall wall/ceiling so fast as to mix with the direct sound. Mark the current speaker placement before experimenting. Your second interest should then be to diffuse first reflections on the side walls.

If you have slap echo, always suspect the ceiling corners up behind the speakers. Try pillows with a reflective cover material mounted there. It worked for me. (Sonex worked too but deadened the room too much). This is the basis behind Room Tunes.

Too really do it up, add ASC Bass Traps to the corners behind the speakers reflective side out towards the listening area. You can literally rotate them a slight fraction of an inch and improve or worsen the soundstage. They're amazing devices.

Oh, and a dedicated 20 amp power circuit works wonders.

Good luck and have fun.

[Race Car Driver]

Yea, they are pulled forward about another foot, and in about 6 inches already. The pics were taken right after i put the equipment back in the room.. at about 4am. :Z
I will be getting something for the corners probably mid jan. Gotta take care of some bills and look at all the options out there.
The gray paint on the side walls was a "granite" textured paint. Not that im counting on it really doing anything for the sound, but it took 5 gallons and is a rougher surface, not smooth. Im sure it didnt hurt.

I deff want to treat the room as best I can, as I spend alot of my free time in the winter relaxing, hell listening to BB King as I type.

Music is always playing over here.

[dyazdani]

Too really do it up, add ASC Bass Traps to the corners behind the speakers reflective side out towards the listening area. You can literally rotate them a slight fraction of an inch and improve or worsen the soundstage. They're amazing devices.

The ASC traps are great, only downside is the cost, yikes! You can build DIY versions quite reasonably, I think ThomasW posted a GREAT link in the DIY section here. There are a couple of other designs that aren't quite as tricky to make as the ASC variety.

[aud19]

Well I don't know how it sounds but it sure looks a lot better :T

[Race Car Driver]

Hehe, thanks, it does sound much better, ive "adjusted" the 802s 3 times now. Each time it seems to get better, They are about 2.5 feet fromt he side walls and about 3 from the back walls.
Watched Batman Begins the other night, and yes... deff. liking the setup.

I read over all the links posted above, and it was very informative. Funny, it was just about what I had in mind for. Was planning on making 4-6 2'x4' panels.

Ill update when that happens.

[dyazdani]

I read over all the links posted above, and it was very informative. Funny, it was just about what I had in mind for. Was planning on making 4-6 2'x4' panels.

I ended up with four 2'x4'x5" panels and five 2'x4'x2" panels. Happened to work out perfectly with a case of 4'x10' rigid fiberglass.

[RobP]

Hey Danish, have you seen these panels?http://www.rpginc.com/products/badpanel/index.htm

They are expensive, but I know they could be cloned. I would like to have a combo panel like this for my first reflection points that offer absorption and diffusion. What do you think?

[dyazdani]

I wonder how much the "digital" pattern really matters...

It appears to be simple and therefore easy to do DIY. Build a standard rigid fiberglass absorber and put a reflective material on the outside with holes drilled in it. I'm not sure what would be best to use.

You could try just leaving the kraft facing on one part of the panel but cut some holes in it. You could also get a thin sheet of luaun or something.

[RobP]

I have been thinking of buying one of the BAD panels, taking it apart and make a few off of the original. Another one that would be easy to clone would be the low profile Skyline diffusor. I am wanting to put in a coffer type celing(example below) in with the skylines and absorption panels in alternating array, mostly with the diffusors in the reflection areas of the ceiling.If my room was just a dedicated theatre it would be alot easier to setup, but it also doubles as my 2 channel are as well, so I have to create some sort of balance here.