Does the first reflection point actually matter??

@erik_squires wrote:

" What matters is that portion of the wall, and the overall, average results. For instance, covering 20% of the wall with absorption and 5% of it with diffusion, as needed. "

It sounds like you are still looking at small rooms as if they were large ones, where 20% wall coverage has the same effect no matter where that 20% is located. And I disagree, because in a small room the earliest reflections will not only be the loudest but also the most likely to be detrimental, therefore THOSE are the ones we should pay the most attention to.

And I think that in general you lean more towards absorption, whereas in general I lean more towards diffusion, because I want to preserve the spectral balance of those reflections. If their spectral balance is inherently bad (because of poor radiation pattern control), that’s a different situation - then we would be using room treatment in an attempt to FIX a problem which ORIGINATES with the loudspeakers. And that is not easy to do well because room treatments are generally not frequency-region-specific enough in the RIGHT regions; room treatments generally paint with broad brushes, so to speak.

I’ll go along with the "AS NEEDED" part, with each of us obviously having a different idea of what that means.

Duke

If I understand correctly, you are still looking at small rooms as if they were large ones, where 20% wall coverage has the same effect no matter where that 20% is located.

My gods we are being so literal.  I'm saying that if best acoustic principles call for 20% absorption on a wall surface near the speakers, whether those panels EXACTLY cover a reflection point which works for exactly one seated position is irrelevant.

You can be off that singular, zero size point by a couple of feet and it will still sound good.

Conversly, ONLY covering that zero area point with a 1'x1' panel will be negligible.

" My gods we are being so literal."

Let’s not descend into arguing about arguing.

" I’m saying that if best acoustic principles call for 20% absorption on a wall surface near the speakers, whether those panels EXACTLY cover a reflection point which works for exactly one seated position is irrelevant. "

I understand what you are saying.

And I disagree.

Imo "best acoustic principles" in a small room includes correct PLACEMENT of acoustic treatments. 

Duke

Imo "best acoustic principles" in a small room includes correct PLACEMENT of acoustic treatments.

And that unless you are in a small home recording studio, where you can touch the left and right walls at the same time, the correct placement being off 6" here won’t matter.

You could easily circumnavigate the laser point and it would be much much better than merely putting panels on that point.

"You could easily circumnavigate the laser point and it would be much much better than merely putting panels on that point."

I don’t think I’ve ever advocated a "reflection POINT" paradigm; I think I’ve been talking about a reflection ZONE.

"And that unless you are in a small home recording studio, where you can touch the left and right walls at the same time, the correct placement being off 6" here won’t matter."  

Are we actually within six inches of agreement?

Duke