Leave it Open or Close it Off: A Listening/ Living Room Dilemma


We are doing a bit of remodeling and I have the option to add a pocket door to close off an open hallway in the rear left of the room. My setup is 2qty floor standers and 2qty REL S/510 subs. The room is 15x20 with an 8' ceiling. My speakers aim down the long wall. The room has a TV but it's mostly a listening room with minimal furnishings: 1 normal sofa and 1 end table behind the listening position. 

Here's what I'm thinking: if a 40hz soundwave is 28ft, wouldn't it be better to leave the hallway open so that the soundwave has more room to do its thing?

On the other hand I'm thinking having a decently sealed 3' wide solid-wood pocket door there instead of an open hallway might pressurize the room better?

Has anyone been in this situation or have enough knowledge about acoustics/ physics to know which would be the better choice? 

 

 

veerossi

If how it sounds is your only deciding factor, then buy a piece of plywood, cut to size, and A/B how it sounds with/without.  You could even take frequency and SPL readings for a given source, like one of Stereophile’s test CDs, if you are way serious about it.   If there are other esthetic or privacy reasons for the door, then having a door is the more flexible option, as discussed above.  

I was at a friend’s place when he had an expert in set up over to help with speaker placement, room acoustics, etc.  This person did some basic experiments, including removing wall treatments from such “obvious” locations like the first reflection point.  We also listened to how the sound changed when someone leaned against the long interior wall to damp vibration.  What was interesting is that the room sounded better with that wall LESS damped and without treatment at the first reflection point.  The lesson learned is that there is no fixed best approach; the only way to know is to experiment.  It turned out that the room sounded better with the door closed (at the back of the room) and with a storage closet door (also at the back of the room) open.  We were told that the open closet was acting as a kind of trap and this helped this particular room.