Treating a small room with diffusers?

I agree with Bpape. My experience with diffusors is when too close they tend to act as absorption, deaden the sound, definitely need space to spread out the sound. I also agree that in a smaller room bass control is the first place to start, this pays off more than any other treatment.

In the end, balance and synergy is critical. Absorption, diffusion and reflections (untreated surfaces) all need to be in balance. I suspect over-treatment is too often done, I've ended up taking out some of my treatments over time. Once you get your basic system optimized, less treatment is needed.

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Diffusion is best when you're farther away as the waves need proper time and distance to spread out. When you sit very close to a boundary, the biggest issue is actually bass buildup which requires absorption.

And I fully agree with that.

What I meant was that diffusion is more essential for close reflections at either end (Close to speaker or close to the listener - if you are unlucky enough to have a terrible setup). Of course, diffusion is much more effective as you get further away from it.

I also agree that bass is the biggest issue when you sit close to a boundary but that does not mean that higher freqency reflection are not a problem too even if they are smaller).

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Here is an example what can be done. Notice the diffusion directly behind the listener.

Absolutely. He's several feet away. Also, it matters what range of frequencies the diffusion is effective in as to the minimum distance. Those diffusers shown in those pics are probably maybe good to 700Hz or so if that low.

Bryan Pape
GIK Acoustics