Placement along the short or long wall? What's "IN"

[JackD201]

Pang UFC pala!

[JackD201]

Hey arnoldc, if you put false walls angle them at least 2 inches for every 10 feet. If you cant set the studs with neoprene, ordinary silicone like the kind used on aquariums work just about as well. Enjoy!

[handyboy]

hahaha! worse then in some walls there is a massive protruding square pillar because of the foundation.

[JackD201]

I'll take a look one of these days Gambs, nothing is hopeless. Well sort of. Hahahaha.

[handyboy]

Ok see you bud! heard about your "gears" from marty. he was blown away!

[JackD201]

It's easy if you know what you're looking for.

[Hyperion]

I am a big proponent of long wall setups because I prefer big sound and wide soundstages. I tend to setup speakers from 8' to 12' apart and I've said goodbye to shortwall setups almost a decade ago.

I agree with you regarding the importance of room symmetry with respect to the speaker position and speaker placement. This is one of the major problems we had to overcome during the last hifi show because of the hotel room's excessively irregular shape and asymetrical construction with asymetrical distribution of reflective and absorptive elements. The end result is also asymetrical imaging and uneven tonal balance between the L and R speakers.

I have a few theories why the short wall placement is still favored by many audiophiles. The primary reason I think is that such a setup results to a more domestically acceptable placement of components and speakers where they end up bunched up at one end of the room instead of having the speakers close to the center of the room in case of say, the Audio Physic method. Another is that the short wall setup gives the listener a deeper visual field with which to create the illusion of sonic depth. I do notice that it is easier to achieve aural depth perception when there is actual visual depth perception beyond the plane of the speakers. Of course, short wall setups also tend to put a larger distance between the listener and the speaker and this makes most digital recordings more listenable because of reduced treble information.

[JackD201]

Despite the problems with the room at mandarin, I must say your set up was pretty darned good Hyperion. Nice bag of tricks you brought along with you.

[Hyperion]

Thanks, the purpose of those DIY acoustic treatments is precisely to create a more symmetrical room in terms of absorption of the critical midrange to presence region frequencies to which our ears are very sensitive to. It would have been even better if were were allowed to put some of those on the upper walls and ceiling as well.

I heard from Marty that your setups sound good as well. I hope I can visit sometime so we can talk about our unorthodox speaker setups.

[timn8ter]

Another theory that has been proposed is to angle the placement of the system 45 degrees (corner to corner) rather than at 90 degrees (wall to wall).

[jo2]

timn8ter,

Totally agree with you but you have to have a very BIG SQUARE room. Not bad sounding though,

assuming speaker placement are on the same plane and you're seated relatively similar in

distance with the speakers. Rule of thirds ... I think.

[timn8ter]

Yeah, it's always something. If you have a big rectangular room you could put traps in the corners and have something somewhat oval shaped, IF you have a big rectangular room.

[JackD201]

Anytime, Hyperion it would be an honor to host a bonafide guru Don't expect too much from my systems though. Marty only had time to appreciate the good parts and not notice the not so obvious little irrtants. I always said scotch is as good a tweak as has ever been invented! Hehehe.

BTW I e-mailed you about a pair of auditoriums.

Yup, timn8ter, the diamond configuration, said to be the only recourse for a square room. Never had a square room though. Thank God!

[JackD201]

Oh yeah Hyperion, I seriously need a pair of clouds but I haven't gotten a chance to FFT my room yet. Any chance you know anybody who can build them to my specs? Sourcing the right fabric is a royal pain in the butt.

[arnoldc]

jackd, hansen,

i've rearranged my gears again and now is in a more "symmetrical" position in the room.

Then:

Front: Cement wall, Left: Window, Right: Wood cabinet, back: cement wall with thick carpet

Now:

Front is now the window, the two side walls are now both concrete, back is the cabinet

The first thing that hit me was the audible difference in midrange. It is more open, and more detailed - which to me is good news. Bad news is, I lost bass.

What could have changed my midrange characteristic? For bass, I know it is always a challenge in this room and I'll have to find that spot again.

hansen, do you have any of your thingamagigs to "fix" the bass?

[jo2]

The first thing that hit me was the audible difference in midrange. It is more open, and more detailed - which to me is good news. Bad news is, I lost bass.

What could have changed my midrange characteristic? For bass, I know it is always a challenge in this room and I'll have to find that spot again.

hansen, do you have any of your thingamagigs to "fix" the bass?

The "lost of bass" was a result of having one driver not in a nodal

distribution. Pay more attention on the lower register now and you'll find

that it has better definition and not sounding boomy.

[JackD201]

Try moving your chair so your head is at most 18" from the cabinets. Lemme know what happens. Tamad to explain.

[keith]

I see "guru" Jackd is in the house ... and bored. Bali'

[marty_e]

Try moving your chair so your head is at most 18" from the cabinets. Lemme know what happens. Tamad to explain.

Let me guess, its got something to do with the shape of your skull?!

Intestinal flu? aka I tweaked all night and could not go to work... Cos i'm almost there...

Seeya Jack and thanks for your insights.

[JackD201]

Loko ka Kizzi, I ain't no guru baka guro puwede pa.

Real deal Marts. It ain't pretty I tell ya. Still haven't tweaked to be honest. VR-4s kinda tough to move around when you got the runs!

hahaha no Marts not the shape of the skull. By coincidence lang that Haas effect cannot be detected within that distance which give or take a few inches is about the circumference of the average adult head. Sabi nang I was tamad to explain. You tricked me!