Good topic OP. I keep toying with the idea of turning my office into the listening room. It's 14 x 13 w 8 ft ceilings so very similar. Thanks @erik_squires for the GIk recommendation. That looks like a good source for a DIYer
How to make small room sound bigger
Is It possible to make a relatively small room sound larger ? I have a 14 x 11ft with 8 ft ceiling. The room is completely empty, with vinyl floors with cement floor under. Looking into vicoustic sound treatments.
What would be the best approach with absorption vs diffusion and placement to attain a bigger sound space if at all possible ?
I wrote to vicoustics, but did not hear back.
speakers : SF Elipsa, Diapason adamantes, Focal utopia micro
amps: mastersound 845, mcintosh mc452, NAD M10
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Yes, by all means consult with either GIK or ASC or both (or another acoustics company). If you are charged anything for their work, it will be refunded if you order, and it will be worth the price if you don't. There is some knowledge to be gained by seeing what more than one company recommends. Everyone has run into successes with room treatment and a few things done wrong. My error in the latter, many years ago, was adding too much pure absorption to my audio room. That created an artificially dead feeling. The error can be avoided by using combination absorber-diffuser products (as already recommended) predominantly. Examples are GIK's Alpha series, the RPG BAD products, and most products from ASC. |
PS - You can use the room mode calculator here to see where your problems are going to be:
https://amcoustics.com/tools/amroc?l=14&w=11&h=8&ft=true&r60=0.6
The first 3 modes are excellent candidates for bass traps in the corners. The 70 Hz mode is now floor to ceiling and using narrow mondo traps horizontall at the floor and ceiling behind the speakers and listener help here. At 90 Hz and above you’ll want to have wall panels spread out but these are a lot easier to deal with (i.e. smaller traps) than the first modes. Further, try to keep your subs out of the pressure zones of the modes below 80Hz. Not possible for every mode, but if you can avoid 3 out of 4, it's a win. |
I own a square room 13 feet by 13 and 8 feet ceiling... Not an ideal one allegedly because a square one... 😁😊 My sound quality is so good that my 7 headphones are in a closet drawing for ever... Passive material treatment is mandatory but it will not be enough to reach heaven...Only enough to improve the room ...To adapt the room response for the speakers it takes more than passive treatment...Especially in very small room...In fact i think now that the best room are small one, because we can use the time and timing aspect, and the reverberation factor to be positive from a psycho-acoustic standpoint...My room is like an intimate headphone sound, out of my head though, with sound filling the room... Speakers and walls disapear...
If you own a dedicated audio room not a living room, buy cheap discarded plumbers tubes of various size and attach to them various straws of diffferent size diameter for adjustable neck in lenght and diameter and experiment with your EARS to tune the room.... If they are completely closed on one side they are "bottle" resonators.... Add to some tubes at one end some piece of fabric cloth which will act like some filter but keeping the mouth opened...Then you have diffusers....it is what i called mechanical control of the room... All these tubes open on the two ends with one end filtered or closed at one end with a neck are Helmholtz bottles resonators or diffusers in the firstcase .... NOTHING in passive treatment will replace this new distribution of pressure zones now synergetically tunable mechanically for your specific ears and specific speakers... Read the basic about Helmholtz resonators first... Experiment and have fun...Dont be afraid, dont buy anything costly, EXPERIMENT.... Audiophile experience may cost peanuts, i know it by experience and experiments...Not by reading audio magazine... 😁😊 Mechanical control of the gear, electrical noise floor control of the house and especially acoustical control and not only walls passive treatment are the keys... Price tag is meaningless in acoustic experience...Consumerism conditioning expanse is not musical experience, acoustic is...
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