Placing panels less than 2ft to front wall..advise please

[daz-b]

Hi all,

Ive been forced to change a few things in my set up due to kids / new room etc etc...

General info:
My room front to back is now only 11ft (it is longer the otherway but cant set up down the length of the room).
The room also doubles as the familly living room
Speakers are 6 1/2ft apart (cant put them any closer together because of a pj screen)
Listening position is 8ft from speaker panel center line.

My vantage's panels are now only 20" (less than 2ft!) from front wall.

Im now trying to find the 'best' compromise in the vantage's position. Ive found that pulling them further into room (away from front wall) brings the speakers too close to listening position.

Played with toe in and rake and am now happy with this (poss could do with a more vertical rake, but struggling with this at mo).

Ive added 2 x acoustic foam square panels 4x4ft (approx 2" thick) to the wall directly behind the speaker panels which has improved things.

Im also using a lygdorf rp-1 unit which has sorted bass issues (and a few other things). In addition to this I have a few other room treatments (behind listening position as I have to sit very close to the rear wall).

Any more thoughts on how I could improve the performance even further knowing that the panels are only 20" from the front walls?


Cheers,
Daz

 

[Beakman]

Hi all,

Ive been forced to change a few things in my set up due to kids / new room etc etc...

General info:
My room front to back is now only 11ft (it is longer the otherway but cant set up down the length of the room).
The room also doubles as the familly living room
Speakers are 6 1/2ft apart (cant put them any closer together because of a pj screen)
Listening position is 8ft from speaker panel center line.

My vantage's panels are now only 20" (less than 2ft!) from front wall.

Im now trying to find the 'best' compromise in the vantage's position. Ive found that pulling them further into room (away from front wall) brings the speakers too close to listening position.

Played with toe in and rake and am now happy with this (poss could do with a more vertical rake, but struggling with this at mo).

Ive added 2 x acoustic foam square panels 4x4ft (approx 2" thick) to the wall directly behind the speaker panels which has improved things.

Im also using a lygdorf rp-1 unit which has sorted bass issues (and a few other things). In addition to this I have a few other room treatments (behind listening position as I have to sit very close to the rear wall).

Any more thoughts on how I could improve the performance even further knowing that the panels are only 20" from the front walls?


Cheers,
Daz

You can fine tune the absorption panel placement by walking around each speaker with your ear perpendicular to the front wall. locate where you hear reflection (more dB's than elsewhere) and move your panels to that location. do the same in the front room corners too. you can use flat panels there too instead of the wedge shapes. Also turn down the bass knob on the speakers all the way. Vantages are a B***h with that bass port in the back, and bring it back up over a period of days to your liking.
I found that diffusion with absorption on that wall work well together. Anything but a flatt wall for that close.

 

[daz-b]

Thanks for the reply beakman. Your comments are very similar to my thoughts and trials so far.

Any one have an idea of the ideal thickness for the acoustic foam panels behind my panels. Can either add thicker foam or mount the current panels slightly away from the wall.

These are the acoustic panels Im currently using: http://www.vicoustic.com/vn/Homecinema/produtoInfo.asp?Id=43

I have 4 of these in a square formation directly behind each vantage. They are currently stuck to the wall using the same companies glue (I can get them off to mod if required).

Afraid no room for any bass trapping in the corners at this time. Hence the use of the p-eq unit.

Cheers,
Daz

 

[Rich]

You need more than thin acoustic treatments behind your speakers if they are that close to the wall. You need a treatment that absorbs evenly across the frequency spectrum from about 250 hz. up to 20,000 hz. The best I have found for this purpose is the Real Traps HF mini trap. I suggest a two ft. by four ft. panel mounted vertically to coincide with the shape of your speaker panel, mounted a few inches off the wall. This will do the best job of taming the rear wave of your speaker.

Lots of info. on this topic on the site. Try searching the forum for acoustic treatments or room treatment. Or just search for Real Traps.

 

[daz-b]

Thanks Rich and all.

The realtraps products look great, however Im strapped for cash at the moment so cant buy any for some time.

Did a few experiments last night with some old 2" thick spare acoustic foam I have rotting away in my garage. I 'pinned' it on the front of my current vicoustic acoustic sqaures. Definate improvement.

As I see I have 2 options for now to improve on the current vicoustic sqaure panels:

1. Remount the vicoustic panels approx 2" from the wall. i.e. leaving an 'air gap' behind them.

2. Add a 2" thick piece of foam behind the current panels (with no gap from the wall).

Which would you say would be better in the above (or will the result be the same?)

Read that the vantage's stat panel crossover is set to 400Hz. Currently its the stat panel performance I mostly wishing to improve on with its close to wall placement.
I havnt any room for corner bass trapping; thus I use an eq unit to this with good results considering the close to wall placement of the bass unit and its rear port.

 

[Beakman]

Or you can make the Beakman el- quick and almost cheapo panels by getting some fiberglass ceiling tiles, stripping the plastic face off and stacking them. cover to suit.

 

[Rich]

As I see I have 2 options for now to improve on the current vicoustic sqaure panels:

1. Remount the vicoustic panels approx 2" from the wall. i.e. leaving an 'air gap' behind them.

2. Add a 2" thick piece of foam behind the current panels (with no gap from the wall).

Which would you say would be better in the above (or will the result be the same?)

The correct answer is probably both. But if I was inclined to do one or the other, I would probably do #2.

Read that the vantage's stat panel crossover is set to 400Hz. Currently its the stat panel performance I mostly wishing to improve on with its close to wall placement.

Crossovers are not bright lines. They are stepped. So if the crossover point is 400 hz, you are getting frequencies emitted from the panel down to 250 hz., give or take.

 

[daz-b]

thanks all,

it was experiment time last night.

Got my current 4x4ft vicoustic panels already on wall behind speakers. To the current acoustic panels I added to the front of them some old 2" thick foam. Noticable good improvement, to the point I could easily live with the sound quality. Infact they sound was pretty dam good.

Thus plan of action:
Gonna buy 2 x 4x4ft slabs of high density acoustic foam.
Remove current vicoustic panels from wall
Adhere the slabs to the wall
Then add the (much nicer looking) vicoustic panels to the front of the foam slabs.