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Room Acoustics

I’m moving into and new place and going to have a dedicated listening room for the first time. No more living room listening for this guy! Though my room is going to be a little acoustically challenged and I was hoping to get some advice on the best ways to midigate the problem. The room is 13’ x 12.5’ x 6.5’, I know, super low ceiling :( Floors are concrete and I was planning and throwing an area rug down. Other then putting up some acoustical paneling does anyone have suggestions or clever ideas that would help? Thanks!

my system:
Rega RP6 turntable
Ayre P5-xe Phono preamp
Ayre Ax-7xe integrated amp
Vandersteen 2ce speakers
I listen exclusively to vinyl and have pretty wide music tastes. A lot of 60s and 70s rock and modern indie rock, as well as a little electronic and a little jazz. 
zedak
willemj
1,036 posts
 
The room is small so the biggest problem will be room modes. Foam and the like will do nothing to tame them (only large bass traps for which you probably do not have the space will). The first thing you should do is measure the room with e.g. REW. Next, try to move the speakers around for the flattest frequency response. Finally, you will need to equalize the low frequency response (by e.g. downloading the REW eq curve into a miniDSP). Sadly, in such a relatively small room the room modes will be at quite high frequencies. Therefore, room eq will only work for a relatively small listening spot.
My personal preference for good sound in small rooms is not to have too much bass in the first place, by just using little monitors like the Harbeth P3ESR. If there is no deep bass there will be no room modes (and their upper harmonics). If you really want deeper bass in a small room, add two or preferably even four small subwoofers to a set of small monitors like the little Harbeths, and equalize them with e.g. a DSpeaker Antimode 8033. See here for some reading matter: http://www.acousticfrontiers.com/20101029using-multiple-subwoofers-to-improve-bass-the-welti-devanti...
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 

Excellent willemj! The DSPeaker Anti-Mode 2.0 Dual Core comes with a measuring mic, and has a screen that displays the frequency response of the room, room modes often creating huge peaks and nulls in that response, in both the frequency and time domains. The Anti-Mode then creates a corrective signal to counteract the peaks, but nulls are often uncorrectable---you must move the speakers to deal with them.

There are room mode calculators on the web, into which you insert your room's dimensions. The calculator will show you the physical locations of the room's modes/standing waves, and their frequencies. Bass traps can be placed in those mode locations, and you want to avoid putting your speakers at those locations---they energize the modes.

Higher-frequency reflections are a completely different matter, and can be dealt with via diffusion and/or absorption, as suggested above.

auxinput
2,920 posts
 

Actually, his room only has two areas of problem nodes in the bass area:

https://amcoustics.com/tools/amroc?l=13&w=12.5&h=6.5&ft=true&r60=0.6

Two lower nodes at 43Hz and 45Hz, which are going to be very hard to deal with unless you use a tuned membrane (like a GIK Scopus T40 -- or have them custom make a T44)

Two upper bass nodes at 86Hz and 89Hz. The GIK Monster bass traps or even the GIK 244 bass traps are going to be very effective at treating these, as long as you stick them in the corners.

The first reflection points can be dealt with from DIY Owens 703 panels or the GIK Acoustics Spot Panels.

erik_squires
16,056 posts
 
Acoustic foam is terrible. I've had it, and I've had GIK, and there is no comparison. Spend any amount of time looking at absorption specs and you'll see.

Also, panels aren't all you need. Diffraction and bass traps are often needed. This should be done before any sort of DSP/EQ is applied. I twill make EQ much much easier and effective.

Best,

E
enginedr1960
173 posts
 
The multi sub distributed bass with the DSPeaker works like a charm in my room for the bass . I use acoustic absorption for the high frequency reflections .   
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