Stands for bass traps

[SPACEMANRICK]

I am looking at buying 4 bass traps for each of the corners of my listening room but do not want to screw them into the wall and also want the option of taking them out of the room when company comes. The bass traps are 24" wide and 48" high, does anyone have an idea of what I could sit them on so that they are about 24" off the ground. I need something that is reasonably priced and attractive that will pass the wife test :lol:

Here is a link to the bass traps I am considering buying (they are local so I could pick them up directly from the factory).

http://www.primacoustic.com/maxtrap.htm

Thanks for any ideas anyone can come up with!

[cug]

I'd rather listen to less impressive sound than hanging these in your beautiful room ... My wife would kill me, if I came with that idea.

[twitch54]

I'd rather listen to less impressive sound than hanging these in your beautiful room ... My wife would kill me, if I came with that idea.

Thanks for letting us know who wears the pants in your household !! LOL !

Now back to the original question......why do you want them 24" of the floor to start with ? The ideal corner bass trap would begin at the floor and go to the ceiling. If you are using but one 48" tall section then mount it as close to the floor as possible with the top of it being at least a foot above your ear level at your listing position height. In other words 6-8" off the floor should suffice.

[SPACEMANRICK]

"My wife would kill me, if I came with that idea.".........the answer is very simple, once she leaves the house the bass traps come out of the closet and into the corners.........as soon as I hear the garage door opening up I run over and quickly put them back in the closet.....she doesn't even have to know that I bought them :lol:

"If you are using but one 48" tall section then mount it as close to the floor as possible with the top of it being at least a foot above your ear level at your listing position height. In other words 6-8" off the floor should suffice.".........I measured the height of my ears at my listening position and thy are at 42". Perhaps I don't even need stands at all for the 48" bass traps. Do you think they would be effective if I just left them on the floor or do you think that 6"-8" lift would make a big difference? Alternatively, Real Traps sells mondo corner bass traps that are 57" high so they would need no stand but these are $350 each plus shipping. I do like the idea of simplicity with these bass traps so I can quickly remove them when company is coming over :T

Here are some photos of the room I am considering putting the corner bass traps in. The ceiling is 16' high and the room is about 14' wide and 22' long. Do you think the bass traps will make my bass more solid and reduce some of the reverb and clean up the sound on my B&W 804S speakers.

[cug]

Thanks for letting us know who wears the pants in your household !! LOL !

Should I mention that she would be right in that case? I love great sounding music but I also love a good looking living room. Bass traps are plain ugly in my opinion. I'd rather have less good sound. YMMV.

[cug]

"My wife would kill me, if I came with that idea.".........the answer is very simple, once she leaves the house the bass traps come out of the closet and into the corners.........as soon as I hear the garage door opening up I run over and quickly put them back in the closet.....she doesn't even have to know that I bought them :lol:

:B

I see. Na, not for me. I like a great looking room. And yours is beautiful!

[Briz vegas]

Cug cug cug.................... :rofl: Oh........Its not pronounced "Chug" is it?

Ok, now that I have stopped thinking about the little engine that could, how about the interior designer that couldn't.

I actually agree with you to a degree. Sticking stuff on the wall is kinda naff. On the other hand dragging things out for a listening session is a pain after a while, particularly if you listen alot. I do it regularly, partly because I use a motley assortment of thrown together treatments and partly because I share a house with two house bound siamese.

These guys make Sir Edmund Hillary look like an amateur. If I had carpet on the wall like some audiophiles I would come home to find cats scaling the walls like some half crazed furry geckos. Only the speakers are immune as the cats know when their lives are threatened. Its just part of the joy of owning a breed that should be classed as an arboreal species.

[twitch54]

Spaceman, regardless of what cuggy says, your room needs attention !

Corner traps, indow treatment, first point of reflection for starters !

You have ALOT of corner there, the more you can treat it the better.

I suggest you contact Glenn @ GIK and Ethan @Real Traps for their imput as well.

[twitch54]

:B

I see. Na, not for me. I like a great looking room. And yours is beautiful!

cug, what you don't understand is that it can still be beautifull and accoustically well balanced as well....... if you know what your doing !

[dknightd]

Some people want a pretty room, some want good sound, some want both

You can just set the corner bass traps on the floor. They will work fine.
Maybe put a plant, or piece of art, on each one and pretend they were for that purpose.

You have high ceilings, you could easily stack two in each corner

[zmanbands]

Does your wife know these are coming? Can you demo them? You may not hear much difference. Not all bass traps are created equal. Ask your wife what she would like to see under or on top of them/ BTW how much do they cost?

[cug]

cug, what you don't understand is that it can still be beautifull and accoustically well balanced as well....... if you know what your doing !

You can hardly make room treatments to a square room that I would like. If you build it from the beginning in the right way - yes, agreed. But putting crap in the corners ruins every room. I have not seen any aftermarket room treatment I ever liked ...

But I have to admit: I like my rooms clean, square and with white walls, some pictures a nice couch, a table ... that's it. No carpeting either on the floor or the walls, no big things standing around in the corners and so on.

And believe me: I like good sound but I go only so far demolishing my living room for it. That might have to do with the fact, that we have no "home theater", not even a TV at all, just a CD player, an amplifier, two speakers in the living room.

[SPACEMANRICK]

"Can you demo them?"....unfortunately not, so I will not be able to hear the degree of sound improvement until I have made the purchase. Someone else recommended that I go to home depot and buy some bales of fiberglass insulation and put them in the corners of the room and then return them after testing them out.

I agree Cug that it will be hard to fit those bass traps into a room and still have it look like a normal living room instead of a decorating disaster. That is why I like the idea of being able to easily remove them if we are having company over.

"Corner traps, window treatment, first point of reflection for starters".....would not closing my cloth blinds offer some window treatment when listening to music (I know this is not ideal but I have to compromise with the wife and room aesthetics). Besides the front window is about 13 feet high so that would take a huge and expensive thick curtain to cover up.

"first point of reflection for starters"......Do you mean putting an acoustic panel in the rear of the room above the piano? Or I was perhaps thinking of putting these scatter blocks above the piano

http://www.primacoustic.com/scandia.htm

Without knowing how much improvement to expect I am considering putting removable bass traps in each of the four corners (perhaps on the floor) and a large acoustic panel (either sitting it on the piano so it is removable or fastening it to the wall so it is more premanent) above the piano in the back of the room. I work out of my house so I could set up the room treatments when the kids are at school and my wife is at work and I could put them away when everyone comes back home. My major concern is what if I buy all this stuff and find out there is little improvement in the sound quality :E

[zmanbands]

First reflection points are on the side walls, opposite each other. You will get real tired fast moving these in and out every day. I did, the wife caved, the company doesn't care that much. They go home, but of course they think your nuts. My eight traps are now there all the time. You need more education and research on room treatments. Sorry, but I think it's so. Just trying to help.

[SPACEMANRICK]

Thanks zmanbands, I agree I need more education that is why I asked the question on here. I am not totally sold on buying the treatment and I enjoy my music now but I think I am like everyone else on here and I am always looking for that bump up in quality of music.

I don't think my wife will cave and allow me to have the room treatments up all the time. I tend to have a good 1 to 2 hour listening session once or twice a week so I will not be moving the treatments in and out every day. How much difference did your room treatments make in the sound of your music? Eight traps, what did you have to do for your wife to get her to agree to that :lol:

[zmanbands]

I can't put the traps in the best places in the room nor have I done any measurements to even know where the best places are. So they are in the omly places. They improve the sound noticeably but not a big improvement. Six of them are stacked so it would be like you stacked 2 each and had 8 instead of 4. My guess is your sound would be better, but I don't know by how much, If you stacked 8. Try 4 and If it really helps perhaps get 4 more to stack. You have a nice high ceiling of 16'. Is that flat on top or vaulted. Vaulted is better. A room can be sized to get minimum nodes [think thats the right term] by chosing dimensions. Worst case is a cube where all sides are equal---brutal. In your case the 16'' if not vaulted' is close to the 15' so you will have a some of this problem. I bought these traps 25 years ago and this is their 3rd house. They cost a bundle then and stiil do today. I think the name is ASC or close to that. The design and construction has not changed. Music and my system is a center point in my life and my wife loves me. I do a lot for her and love her. How I am getting away with it is in there somewhere. I did start with the best positions which were the most ugly and moved them to lesser places per wifes suggestions. She stll hates them tho.

[twitch54]

You can hardly make room treatments to a square room that I would like. If you build it from the beginning in the right way - yes, agreed. But putting crap in the corners ruins every room. I have not seen any aftermarket room treatment I ever liked ...

But I have to admit: I like my rooms clean, square and with white walls, some pictures a nice couch, a table ... that's it. No carpeting either on the floor or the walls, no big things standing around in the corners and so on.

And believe me: I like good sound but I go only so far demolishing my living room for it. That might have to do with the fact, that we have no "home theater", not even a TV at all, just a CD player, an amplifier, two speakers in the living room.

Cug, Please , for the sake of the OP, don't continue with your, obvious lack of knowledge with respect to "good sound" ! first off a square room is a NO-NO ! and an untreated square room !! OMG !

It's a fair assumption that you are young, lucky you, and new to the world of audio, hopefully in time you will have the opportunity to discover REALLY good sound.

[cug]

Cug, Please , for the sake of the OP, don't continue with your, obvious lack of knowledge with respect to "good sound" ! first off a square room is a NO-NO ! and an untreated square room !! OMG !

It's a fair assumption that you are young, lucky you, and new to the world of audio, hopefully in time you will have the opportunity to discover REALLY good sound.

You should never assume ... and it's obvious that you have no idea what I know and what I don't know. I have probably heard more good and bad sound in my life than you ever will (only maybe not if your a sales person for audio gear).

A square room is what I like as my living room (not really square but with normal corners ...), and I do, what can be done without ruining the look of the room for the sake of a little bit better sound. I'm just not the person who goes to the basement to listen to music ... music is part of my life and therefore has to be part of my living room - without taking it over.

[SPACEMANRICK]

"Is that flat on top or vaulted. Vaulted is better"......unfortunately my roof is flat and not vaulted. It sounds like you have two of the best things in life, a great wife and great music :T

I think Cug makes a good point. Most of us are constrained by the physical limitations of our own living space and must balance that with the aesthetic concerns by those that we live with. I even considered moving my sound system into the basement with a complete set of room treatments but that would force me down into the basement which would take me away from where I like to relax and spend most of my time.

I called the prime acoustics retailer today and their bass traps are $375 each + tax and the Scandia scatter blocks are $195. As a starting point, after tax I am looking at about $2,000 for the four corners and the scatter blocks in the rear:E

Thanks for all the input so far guys. I will probably hold off on this upgrade at least for now......

[twitch54]

... and it's obvious that you have no idea what I know and what I don't know. I have probably heard more good and bad sound in my life than you ever will (only maybe not if your a sales person for audio gear).

A square room is what I like as my living room (not really square but with normal corners ...), and I do, what can be done without ruining the look of the room for the sake of a little bit better sound. I'm just not the person who goes to the basement to listen to music ... music is part of my life and therefore has to be part of my living room - without taking it over.

"not really square, but with normal corners" ??? what in Gods Green Earth does that mean ??

To further clairify what I posted prior....... A square room is an acoustical NO-NO. Again if you think for one minute that an untreated square room makes for good listening / acoustics...you have a long way to go in understanding our hobby. If you doubt what saying ....fine, go check yourself with anybody knowledgeable in the field of acoustics and report back !!

I'm not trying to pick a fight with you as to how you like your music, merely point out the fact that there are basic principals relative sound / acoustics.

[zmanbands]

I interpret twitch to mean a room with square corners not a square room. Space, I would contact about 3 other suppliers and get the pros on their products and cons on competitors for the traps you might be interested in. ASC "is" the name of my traps. I think they were first to offer these and they call them "TUBE TRAPS". They are about twice the cost of what you are looking at if you pick the fat 16"x48" traps. Smaller diameters are less. They have the advantage of being able to rotate them and get max bass trapping or max reflection or partially some of each. They stack much easier and really don' look that bad. I tell company they are speakers, but then I confess what they are. Would contact real traps as well. http://www.acousticsciences.com/tubetrap.htm

[Gump]

SPACEMANRICK,

Start with the thick curtain suggestion on that huge window. Even if you just get side drapes to hang on each side of the window it'll help with some absorption.
Let the wife pick em and she should be ok with it and it'll be less money initially

[SPACEMANRICK]

"Start with the thick curtain suggestion on that huge window" Well I wish you told me that about 8 months ago :cry: ........we just bought those blinds behind the speakers about 8 months ago. My wife actually wanted to buy some thick curtains, but I told her that I thought they were too expensive.

Those ASC tube traps are interesting looking.........unfortunately they are out of my budget and maybe a little too imposing for my room.

[zmanbands]

Consider the 11" rather than the 16". They are not imposing and $428 ea for 48" high. I have four of these. They would be less imposing than what you have in mind. I think they have a fabric to complement your paint. Also consider DIY. Much cheaper. Several DIY's to choose from. Lot of work to make nice ones.

[SPACEMANRICK]

Here is a controversial topic I will throw out for discussion. Right now I am running my B&W 804S speakers and B&W ASWCM subwoofer on a Denon 3805 AV receiver and a Denon 380 CD player.

Would I get a better bang for the buck in noticeable sound improvement spending $2,500 on a Krell KAV 400XI integrated amp or $2,000-$2,500 on the 4 bass corner traps and scatter blocks in the back of the room? I am still worried about changing the look of my room with all of the room treatment and I know the wife would be more receptive to a new amp as opposed to the room treatments.

I have also attached another photo of the room before room treatments.

[zmanbands]

Why not start another thread and ask your new Q? My guess is some component change ,receiver and /or Cd player would be better. Wife would be perhaps happier. Does she listen. If yes, she won't hear the stowed bass traps.

[wettou]

You know I have been debating to put up acoustic treatment as well for a long time they all look ugly and are obnoxiously expensive for what they are: FIBERGLASS!!

So I came up with a solution, really nice furnishing, heavy drapes on the windows, nice rug with underneath padding and tapestries on two walls. I actually install 4" fiberglass panels covered with linen fabric (cost $60) behind the tapestry and it works nicely.

Now I would love to have bass traps but they are repulsive esthetically so I live with what I have an enjoye it, if and when I can build a custom house then I will have it designed by an acoustic engeneer to be a room with in a room with no parallel walls and to avoid wall treatments.

[zmanbands]

Audio Asylum amp/pre amp

Space, you might ask your Q on the amps here as well!!! http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/etv.mpl?forum=amp