Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Treated vs Untreated: A comparison of Two Rooms

Hi Mark,

Excellent article from you about recording in reverberant spaces and everything you say still applies. Thanks for the post.

Regards,

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Hi Chesseroo, No, not at all....My article was really meant to stimulate discussion about various approaches to the recording and playback environments.

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Though i was just musing over Amie's curious question to the crowd (and stirring discussions are always fun, that much i know, ) but come on Alan...feed the wolves some gossip here eh?
Gossip doesn't always have to be true.

Maybe Amie has some gossip going around the factory.
I hear 'someone' might be pregnant and they don't know who the father is.
Oh, here's another good one, did you hear that 'someone' in the paint room may be having an affair with 'someone' down on the shop floor?
No,no, here's a good one. I heard that Bigwill is moving to China, JohnK bought a tube amp and Peter has foresaken computers forever.

Just kidding.

My current room is absolutely horrible on paper but most people still say this is the best system they have ever heard. My room is almost perfectly square, It's basement so one wall is concrete, hard laminate flooring, we still have not picked out a rug for in front of the couch, still have no curtains on the two windows, only one small bookshelf and very few wall decorations. Worst of all it still doesn't have a beer fridge.

However, coming from a crappy HTIB system, it still amazes me. However, now that I am more educated and starting to understand what my ears are telling me, I am aware of a real weakness in mid level bass from the subwoofer. (I even bought an inexpensive meter to confirm and play around with.) It's getting canceled out in most parts of the room, including where we sit. I can bring it back, somewhat, by turning the EP500 trim to Full but then the louder bottom end bass becomes very rattly and draws your eyes directly to the subwoofer.

In short, I'm a far cry from commenting on a 'treated' room because I still have to put in a lot of basic, natural treatments that are definitely missing. After that, I won't be adding any expensive, dedicated treatments as this room as is a temporary space until I get the 'planned' HT room finished that will be much more conducive to better sound.

The great part is I'm in no rush because I'm only just starting to appreciate what I am missing. This gives me time to learn and plan ahead so keep talkin!!!

Thanks for that, Joe. This is the fear that I have with adding treatments.

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From a conversation standpoint, the room feels much better -- less like an auditorium. It's more "hushed" and intimate feeling. However the stereo imaging isn't nearly as clean as the unfurnished room.

Room acoustics is a tricky area. Just adding a bunch of treatment doesn't guarantee improvement and may even worsen the situation.

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From a conversation standpoint, the room feels much better -- less like an auditorium. It's more "hushed" and intimate feeling. However the stereo imaging isn't nearly as clean as the unfurnished room.

Room acoustics is a tricky area. Just adding a bunch of treatment doesn't guarantee improvement and may even worsen the situation.

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Absolutely, well said.
Reflections form an integral part of how we hear.
At the present time our HT has only the usual suspects for controlling sound, however to purposely breakup the square corners, the room was designed with a varying internal 'architecture' to help offset the typical 90 degrees found in a common room.
The sound is truly stellar and although the echo is lowered from the games area outside, there is still echo in the room (frequency graphs of the listening positions pending...the day i get a laptop).

Very soon we will have some theatre curtains hanging over the glass french doors and i'm a bit concerned that it might take away too much more. I plan on doing tests before and after to see if i can hear the effect.
The plus about this setup is that i can actually do it blind. If i am blindfolded, i can have someone open and close the curtains (quietly) during some music playback and see if i can detect any difference, never knowing if they are open or closed. This can be alot harder a thing to accomplish if someone were to plaster their walls with acoustic panels and then try to hear an A/B difference with them on or off.
It might be doable if they had alot of friends i suppose but then the increased number of bodies and mass could also play a role in the sound refractions.
{sigh}
So hard to eliminate all the variables all the time.
Ah well.
Keep hackin away...

Speaking of the HT room, i just noticed that our newest config is not on the Wall o Fame.
I will have to post a more permanent link to the pics perhaps and send some into Amie.

I am planning on purchasing a bunch of Auralex products, some for absorbtion some for diffusion, namely their AudioTile Shockwave, TruePanels and SpaceArray diffusors.. I'm hoping that will address my issues, ie: lack of bass output in most areas, echos / ringing, quick high frequency rolloff..as measured with a RTA.. I have done over 5 months of researching and some "professional" measurements..previous post are in here..I have not ordered it yet..but the total package will cost me $3,500 CA.. sure hope I can tell a significant difference in overall sound quality..:-) I will post some pics once completed.. ETA is late August.

Cheers,

Steph

I would also consider GIK Acoustics, Real Traps, or heck DIY and use Owens Corning 703. Your going to spend a lot for Auralex and back when I studied this stuff and looked at lab results, it was not even close on absorbtion ratings.

Seems like a lot of money to me for foam.