|
Planar Speaker Asylum Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences. |
|
|
|
Planar Speaker Asylum Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences. |
|
In Reply to: Building a room for my Magnepans posted by TwoTurntables on February 8, 2015 at 17:05:14:
Lots of useful comments here. I have a dedicated basement room so have some practical experience with this. Here are some observations for your room. But let's start with what Floyd E. Toole says, 'There is no uniquely good set of room dimensions'. I think your room is fine so far; set-up will be the key.
- Room Modes & Dimensions: The room width of 13.1 is only problematic if you want to use subwoofers (they'd best be placed to the outside of the Maggies unless you're going to use DSP room EQ). The other dimensions are ok - remember, when we're talking about room dimensions, we're talking about bass. You don't mention any openings in the wall, but hopefully they're not near either of the speakers and the room is symmetrical. Your room modes are reasonably spread out so good e.g.:
Long wall: 25, 50, 76Hz
Sides wall: 43, 86 7 130Hz
Floor/Ceiling: 63, 126, 188 Hz
Dipoles excite a strong longitudinal mode between front and rear walls but side-to-side and floor-to-ceiling modes only weakly. You should not have any major problems with room modes if the speakers are placed correctly.
- Speaker Placement: Absolutely DON'T use the long wall! Your room's not wide enough. The speakers need to be a minimum of 68" from the front wall for a minimum delay of 10ms for the back wave following the front. Less than that distance and you'll loose both soundstage depth and articulation. Best place starting point for non-resonant for bass playback could be about one-quarter each of the room dimensions, e.g. one-quarter the room length off the front or back wall.
- Diffraction /Diffusion: Untreated cinderblock basement walls result in significant slap echo; however, with treatment of first reflections and modest treatment of the front wall, you could save yourself needing any drywall. A lot of the choice of absorption vs. diffusion is personal preference. Most people prefer a mix. I like diffusion and minimal absorption on the front wall and absorption on sides and thick panels in corners and the back wall. That doesn't mean you will. Absorption directly behind the listener seat is mandatory.
Seating location: Due to room modes, optimal dipole location may be where the speaker distance to front wall equals the listened distance to back wall. Your seating position is going to be several feet of the back wall given the size of your room. I can't tell where exactly as it'll be what sounds best to you and you may prefer a more near-field or reverberant sound than I do.
- Carpeting: Carpeting is ok but be very careful of padding underlayment. I wouldn't use any as it may overdamp the room. I had to rip mine up and reinstall the carpet. Dipoles have limited floor ceiling bounce. I don't need to treat the ceiling at all.
Buy a laser distance measurement meter for exact set up. Makes a big difference and cost effective. I'd also get REW software (free) or something similar for room measurements.
Great sources for set-up are:
http://www.linkwitzlab.com/rooms.htm
http://www.asc-home-theater.com/ht-acoustics-vol3.pdf (more useful for subs)
http://www.genesisloudspeakers.com/ownersmanuals/G2.2_Owners_Manual_v2.pdf
Jim Smith Get Better Sound is useful for set-up. If you want to really understand everything about room acoustics, buy the Bible, Floyd E. Toole's "Sound Reproduction". Of course some people would rather listen to music ;)....
Have fun and post some pics when you're done! Barry
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- RE: Building a room for my Magnepans - Barry 12:05:57 02/10/15 (3)
- RE: Perfect Advice here! - BigguyinATL 14:25:22 02/12/15 (0)
- Hey 2 tables! - neolith 14:07:29 02/10/15 (1)
- Talk to my wife.... - Barry 06:31:47 02/11/15 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
