DIY acoustic absorption panels begins

Thank you Guiller. I can agree wholeheartedly with comments from David and Michael about acoustic treatment making the biggest difference in component, aside from loudspeakers, in SQ.
 
Since I am running semi-OB speakers ATM, I thought I want to free up the back-wave more. I left only one panel at the centre of the glass wall behind the speakers.

Then I had the 2 panels left. What to do with them? I experimented them on the sides of the wall behind my listening seat. The result is awesome. This vastly removed the unwanted reflections from my back. The sound is just a lot more neat, precise and true-stereo.

The downside is that this blocks the access to other rooms, which means I can enjoy this configuration only when I'm listening seriously. It helps that my panels have castors....

KakaoTalk_20141003_072354543_zpse9f6fd80.jpg
 
Have you tried fiddling with diffusion as well? I know guys with open baffle speakers find that combining both diffusion and absorption works best rather than just one or the other.
 
Not yet. I still have more to treat with the absorptive material in my room.

Would love to try some diffusion though. Looks a little daunting but.
 
The first hurdle to get over with diffusion is locating the devices properly. Until you dig into the theory you likely won't be aware that 1) early reflection locations are not prime locations for diffusion and 2) actual distances are design dependent, but as a general rule a true diffusion device should be a minimum of about five feet from the listening position (the lowest frequency at which the device is effective will determine minimum seating distance from the device...the lower it can effectively diffuse, the further away from it you'll need to be). Any closer than this and you can hear undesirable acoustic artifacts created by the device. On the sidewalls toward the rear of the room is a very good starting point, as well as the rear wall if it is more than around six feet from the listening position. On the front wall behind dipole designs is also a good location for diffusion, but the speakers still need to be pulled about four feet or more out away from them just as is normally the case. My experience is proper diffusion devices on the front wall behind dipole designs gives the same effect as having the speakers further out in the room away from the front wall than they actually are (deeper sound stage with improved fore/aft resolution).
 
Last edited:
I forgot to mention the ceiling... which might be the best spot for diffusion/scattering in your room, David.
 
Well, DIY diffusers, real diffusers, are going to be a bit more challenging to build than absorption panels. You can get pretty sloppy with an absorption panel build and it will still perform as intended. Diffusers, OTOH, have to be built to spec and within fractions of an inch to offer performance that is consistent with the calculated model. Let me hunt around a little for you.
 
So we got rid of the carpet on the floor because it just looks way better without such.

Which makes me want to treat the ceiling. I seem to have a couple of choices.

1. an fibreglass panel from that auction site. cheap & OK performance for ceiling. I can have them shipped to me. I will need x4 of this to cover the ceiling. #111380249973

2. a product called plano bevel acoustic tiles. 50mm. Better performance than the above. double the price. but it looks cosmetically neat, and the white would look way better for my white ceiling. http://www.soundblock.com.au/document/download/126
What do you think is a better option for me?
 
The 50mm panels and 80mm tiles actually have some pretty decent numbers. I'd probably lean toward whichever of those is easiest to mount and delivers the aesthetic you're after. :smoke:
 
Back
Top Bottom