Ping Jon Risch, please....

Dear Jon-

First, literally endless thanks for your contributions to the tweakers here in AA, and around the world. I have used countless articles and suggestions you have made over the years, and the impact these have had on my enjoyment of music is inestimable. Like Uncle Stu, the late, great Al Sekela and so many others, your sharing has enriched audiophiles everywhere, and we are all grateful.

I would like to ask a few questions regarding your opinions on some tweaky room treatment issues, if I could.

Background info: I am currently constructing a 32'L x 21'W x 14'H listening room with a 5/8" thick spruce wood ceiling, 5/8" gypsum board walls (with 6" studs spaced 15" on center) and a concrete floor, with two 2' tall x 4' wide windows on the side walls widely spaced near the corners and 54" off the ground, and a 5.5' wide x 6.6' tall metal/mostly glass entry door behind the listener (for the view and thermal gain; covered in heavy, multi-layered curtains for listening.)

Here are my Qs on room acoustics tweaks:

1.) A few years ago, Ron Hedrich of Marigo Labs recommended polypropylene industrial grade carpet as being the tweakiest choice for listening room sonics (admittedly butt ugly and not too comfortable on the feet, to be brutally honest. Not sure if static-prone or not, either. Very cheap and long-lived, however.) Others claim wool is best (but hard to find thick, and very dear.) Others say anti-static treated nylons are best (thicker and very reasonably priced. Best feel/comfort, as well.) What is your opinion? Further, I'll simply get the thickest pad available, unless you think there is something I should consider, or absolutely avoid in that regard.

2.) I intend to go with your SQ&E bass traps in the corners. I had planned to use two 4' tall bags of insulation stacked vertically in each corner, eight bags total. Good idea? Too much? And is there a minimum R-value insulation that I should employ?

3.) If my idea of two stacked bags per corner is a good one, should I just stack the bags directly atop one another and secure them to the wall (via burlap straps), or should I put a quarter-round 1/2" thick plywood support just above the bottom bag to set the top bag on before securing each bag to the wall?

4.) I intended to simply drape a long sheet of burlap down directly straight across (wall-to-wall diagonally) the fronts of the stacked bags to absorb the mids/highs and hide the bags. Good idea, or should the insulation bags each be placed in a decent-fitting burlap tube for best results? (I'd rather just drop a long straight sheet of burlap down in front of the stacked bags, as that would be easiest.)

5.) With all the corners treated per above, I had intended to use Ethan Winer's "Deep Bass" and "High Bass" wall-mounted trap ideas on the side walls between the windows to catch the first reflections and kill basically all cross reflections between the listener and the speakers. To make them completely full-range absorber panels, the traps would all have 3" Sonex affixed to their fronts but spaced out about 1" off of the plywood panels so as not to interfere with the plywood vibrating (as per Ethan's instructions.) With 13' between the side wall windows, I had intended to employ three each of the Sonex-covered Deep Bass and High Bass panels (@ 2' width each), for six full-range absorber panels in total on each side wall. I had also planned to do nothing on either the front or rear walls (unless you say otherwise, or is further required after extensive listening once all the above-planned absorber/traps were placed in the corners and side walls.) Good idea, or too much of a good thing? Also, are the front and rear walls okay to leave untreated or should they also get covered with alternating bass traps (see immediately below)?

The reason I don't go one step at a time is that my builder is willing to throw in the work of installing all of the above treatments as part of the room's building cost, but once he leaves the project, he'll be finished and I would need to hire him back to do all this on a step-by-step basis (and thus my query on whether the front and rear walls should be bass-trapped, too, while I have him doing all this work essentially gratis.) He's a superb craftsman, and I'm a complete retard when it comes to carpentry (sad, but true, I have to admit.) Also, I'll need to buy the various materials and getting them all at once from one vendor can save me a little with volume discounts. Thus, my approach laid out above.

Again, thank you so very much for any guidance you can offer on these questions. Your help is always greatly appreciated and very highly regarded.

Cheers,

WS

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