Back wall info...

[jmstpierre]

Hi all,

We all know that the back wall plays a major rle in the erformance of the ML range as sound emits from both front and back.
Panels should be placed not too far or to close to the back wall and if possible try some shelving or drapes....
But here where I can nit find any info on, a simple question that is:
- does the back wall need to be exactly identical behind each panel???? Let's say there's a bookshel or AV rack behind one panel, then either nothing/bare wall,some paintings,drapes..... behind the other panel, will that affect the sound coming back from the wall.
I know some will tell me to try it out, but do. T really fancy putting some hole in a wall just for experiment.
Common sense is telling me that yes it does need to be identical, but if somebody can confirm that, it would be great and save me some future headache and probably costly issues.
I also know some of you will ask me why do I need to have no identical walls behind the speakers. The answer is simp,e, it s called a wife...
I kind of made a pact with the devil, if I can say so very lightly ( she s sitting next to me so hopefully she will not know what I am typing.), but the deal with our new house was, I designed it to suit the Local conditions of the block of land, I get my man cave of a theatre room to be equipped and furnished as I need and also get a pair of new ML, (but no sub) to fit in our living/family room, and she gets to interior design it.
Needless to state that She now has a few ideas popping up here and there.
One of them is putting some shelving behind one panel of either books or all my av equipment and some paintings, ornaments behind the other.

Was I mad to do this deal??I guess time will tell. The builder looked astonished when it came to do internal selection and I just pointed towards the wife. He said I was mad...
To be honest, she does a real good job, and she s the one I ve got to thank for styling my old bachelor pad for sale and making a generous profit...

Thanks guys ( for your advice to come and also for those that are married,understanding my deal)

 

[sleepysurf]

It definitely CAN make a difference, but the magnitude will vary depending on absorption/diffusion characteristics of material behind each speaker, plus overall symmetry of room.

You can see how *I* solved the WAF issue with my "acoustic bookshelves" project... http://www.martinloganowners.com/fo...lves-behind-speakers-for-absorption-diffusion (can also see pics in my signature link). Those pics are old, and we've tweaked the room since then, but the general concept still works.

If you have room/speaker acoustic measurement software (I use XTZ), you could even simulate what your wife wants to do, then measure the right and left speaker/room responses separately, and superimpose the graphs to see if the frequency response and time delays (RT60 values) are similar or not. Measurements don't necessarily tell you everything, but it's something objective you can share with your wife, and keep her involved in the design process.

 

[Bernard]

You always suffer the consequences of pacts with the devil.

But look on the bright side - she okayed your placing your system in the living-room; some wives would not hear of it. I've seen too many showcase living-rooms.

 

[jmstpierre]

Hi guys,

Sorry for late reply.
Indeed it seems that a deal with the devil is always going to bit me a little..but it s also true that I have my speakers where I want them which is more than acceptable to me.

I have heard of XTZ and read that there s a bit of tweaking and computing to do to get it working, which I am not really into.
I guess, I ll slide a shelf behind one speaker and nothing the behind other to see how it goes.
Hopefully there s a night and day difference and that will deter her for good.
I am thinking of cladding the back wall with some recycled timber to make it a feature wall though. Hopefully this will not kill the sound..
Regards

 

[sleepysurf]

Any updates on the end result?