Electromotion ESL close to wall, diffuser or absorption?

Hi,

I have a pair of ESL and Stage which are about 2.5 feet from the back wall. I know this is within the minimum recommended distance from ML but I tried bring them 4 feet out and the speakers sounded a lot better. Unfortunately because of the layout of my room, 2.5 is as far and I can bring them forward. If I use acoustic room treatment, can I get the same results as if the speakers were 4-5 feet away? If so which panels should I get, diffuser or absorption?




Thanks,

Trey

ElectroNoob said:

Hi,

I have a pair of ESL and Stage which are about 2.5 feet from the back wall. I know this is within the minimum recommended distance from ML but I tried bring them 4 feet out and the speakers sounded a lot better. Unfortunately because of the layout of my room, 2.5 is as far and I can bring them forward. If I use acoustic room treatment, can I get the same results as if the speakers were 4-5 feet away? If so which panels should I get, diffuser or absorption?


Thanks,

Trey

Click to expand...

No, you can't, sorry.
I would get both, absorption and diffuser panel and try. More likely diffuser directly behind ESL but looking at your room some absorption could be beneficial in other locations.

Hmm I tried linking a diffuser on ebay but it looks like the post got deleted. Here's the pic of the diffuser. Let me know if you guys think it will work.

Pretty hard to say just by looking

You might be interested: http://www.rpginc.com/docs%5CTechnology%5CWhite%20Papers%5CAcoustic%20Diffusers_The%20Good,%20The%20Bad%20and%20The%20Ugly.pdf

I *suspect*, based on my experience with SL3s, that diffusion may be best IF you could bring the speakers about 5 feet out (I use RPG Skyline panels). If not, then absorption may be te better bet.

Regards,

Guido F.

Based on my extensive research into this, my recommendation for your configuration is to go with absorption if you are going to keep the speakers in those locations. The room looks pretty 'live' anyway, so some absorption would be a good thing.

So something like a RealTraps MiniTrap HF behind each of the two front speakers would be the minimum I'd recommend. The 'HF' part is important, as that model omits the limp mass membrane to reduce High Frequency reflections.

And you absolutely should put absorption behind the Stage center, you will not believe how much cleaner dialog in movies will be once you do that.

Take a good look at my sytem linked in my sig for what it takes to configure an ESL setup for ultimate multichannel music and movie performance.

ElectroNoob said:

Hmm I tried linking a diffuser on ebay but it looks like the post got deleted. Here's the pic of the diffuser. Let me know if you guys think it will work.
...

Click to expand...

Nope, that will not, nor will other 2D or 3D diffusers, I've tried them, measured them and they all still have way to much energy reflected, so comb filtering is still quite severe. Only absorption will mitigate the problems.

Hi Jonathan,

Thank for the advice, I'll order some absorption panels.

Hi,

I wanted to post an update on my room treatment. I tried installing 1" thick absorption panels behind the EM-ESL's and it absorbed too much sound. Clarity and imaging improved but sound stage and depth decreased significantly. I moved the absorption panels to the corners of the room and replaced them with canvas paintings and it sounds a lot better. Sound stage and depth came back and it still sounds clear.