tame the echo

brad44

Active Member
I would like to tame the echo in my living room.

I have wood floors and not to much on the walls in a 20x30 room. Don't have much money to get proper treatments plus this is the living room.

Im posting in hopes of getting a few simple ideas to explore.

Thanks
 
What is your living situation? Any spousal acceptance factor to consider? 20x30 is a big room, how far apart are your speakers? Flat or vaulted ceiling?
Some things I have done in the past was to go to Home Depot and get some 8x10 area rugs to get onto the floor, and have picked up some small woven decorative rugs to hang on the wall, or you could make your own frames and build your own room treatments by going to the fabric store. Anything that disrupts or absorbs some of that flat drywall will help. Drapes, house plants, etc.. Spartan is the enemy of the good when it comes to acoustics I have found.
 
Back in my bachelor days, I hung tapestries on the walls to supplement the draperies. Added a couple of large fake ficus trees. You need to find a way to cover part of the walls with diffusive or absorptive coverings.

I suffer the same situation in the garage. I used some old DIY damping panels and hung "nubby" Walmart doormats on the wall which reduced slap echo considerably. I'm not suggesting you go that route in your living room, but perhaps that might give you some examples of inexpensive ways to address the issue.

garage1.jpg
 
I cant really hang much on the walls, certainly not baffles or foam treatments or whatever they are called.

The ceilings are 10' high. I have klipsch cornwalls in the corners of the 20' wall. The speakers cannot be moved from these corners.

Bottom line, the hardwood floor seems to be my worst enemy.... I cant buy carpet either. At some point maybe I figured that would solve the issue.

As far as area rugs are concerned... what are the best placement for them?
 
20' is too far apart for home stereo speakers. If that's the way it has to be, you'll have to live with it. Why can't you put them eight/ten/twelve feet from each other? Along the 20' wall means they fire across the room? They should fire the length of it.
 
Dang, that's a giant living room. How high is the ceiling?

Any furniture will help diffract and absorb sound. If you can't put anything on the walls you could set up a near-field listening position. Pull the speakers closer together and put your listening chair/sofa close (<10'). That will definitely help with room effects.
 
I take that back the room is 12x24 the speakers are spaced in the corners of the 12' wall.

I sit in the center about 10' from that wall.

Ceiling is 8'.
 
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If you can't or wont lay down a rug (s) and/or place something on the walls there isn't much that can be done.

Unless speakers are designed for corner placement, placing them there is almost always a recipe for bloated boomy bass.
 
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Back walls behind me? Side walls?

Side wall one side has a picture window. Side wall on the other has a 5' open entry into a dining area.

As far as laying down area rug.... what I am trying to accomplish?
 
It's well known that the first reflection points are the best place to place sound absorbing "whatever". Normally there are six first reflection points. They are one each for both side walls and two each for the floor and ceiling. To find the first reflection points sit in your "chair" and have someone move a mirror along the surface. When you can see the corresponding speaker in the mirror you've found the first reflection point for that surface. In addition, an undamped wall of glass is a definite detriment toward good sound. It will skew the soundstage to that wall and make the corresponding speaker sound unnaturally bright.
 
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Not suggesting it is an appropriate solution but this thread reminded me of my hippie friends in the early 1970's. Their remedy for reflective surfaces was tileing their walls with stapled on pulp cardboard egg flats. It was an intriguing visual texture.
 
I've got more on the other walls, just no pics handy. None on the ceilings.

The first reflection points on the side walls are the most important. The floor and ceiling are next with the rear wall (behind you) bringing up last.

I call the wall behind the speakers the front wall because it's in front of me. Were I on stage that wall would be the back wall. As a listener the back of the stage is always in the front.
 
Got to get some carpet, if not the whole floor at least a piece about 6 feet out in front of each speaker, perhaps a large sized rubber backed bath mat. Then get them closer together. If you can't/wont do some sort of room treatment you will have to get close to them, going nearfield but I don't find that all that satisfactory myself. I don't see why you couldn't go get some 1x2's and something from the craft store and wrap around the frame and staple to the back. Put some 3/4" foam on it and hang it on the wall with something light, like you would a small picture. Keep it light weight, and be creative.
 
Thanks Im going to take all your suggestions to heart. Im going to say carpet of some sort is first priority.

Unrelated, I was reading something about 38 percent into the room for chair placement.

12x24 room Im thinking I should be about 9' from the speakers split at 12'. That's what I would have considered "near field" but I assume not.

Is that too close for large horn speakers?
 
12x24 room Im thinking I should be about 9' from the speakers split at 12'. That's what I would have considered "near field" but I assume not.
No, that's not really near field. Halve that distance.

Is that too close for large horn speakers?
Well, driver blending with any large multi-way speaker is always a challenge (one I don't have to worry about). I'm going to present a different perspective that I learned from an experienced mentor. It is the "Rule of Thirds". In that world, the speakers would be set out from the front wall by a third and your listening position would be a third from the back wall. The center of the room is a measurably poor place for bass. Assuming your speakers are out from the wall even a bit, a 9' distance places you near the center. I would suggest more distance for better driver blending and a more linear tonal response - especially given the unfortunate (even multiple) room dimension relationships. And some speaker toe-in.
 
This morning with just a little tweaking with an area rug in front of my listening position makes an audible difference.

As far as side reflection points I might be stuck. One side is a window covered by wood blinds.

The other side has a 5' opening into another room. Im thinking of hanging a curtain rod over this opening and covering it with curtains that I would close while listening.

Before breaking the wall for the curtain rod I want to ask.... do you think that will yield a positive difference?
 
The 5' opening into the next room is no problem at all. Sound can't reflect off of a hole and the reflections that come back from the next room will be more diffracted and attenuated than the ones coming from the walls on either side of the opening. Short answer: a curtain over this hole won't have any positive effect.
 
Wow thanks for the info dyche.... you saved me from making my living room look like a funeral parlor.
 
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