Room Treatment experiment


I have a listening room that is big and accoustically live. It is also the main living space for my family including a very esthetically sensitive wife. (see my system). I would like to start working on room treatments but before investing the $$ for something such as echobuster system, does anyone have any cheap or free ideas for getting a sense of what acoustic absorption would do for me? I have tried puting blankets over windows and over TV but don't notice much compared to changes in equipment. My guess is where I now suffer is in the area of a clear soundstage with precise instrument placement.
Thanks
Joe
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Showing 1 response by advent11

There are a number of quick and relatively inexpensive things you can do. First, review the posts on the Room Acoustics forum (sponsored by Rives Audio) over on Audio Asylum. Good stuff there. Then read all/most of the stuff on Ethen Winer's and Rives Audio's sites.

You can start trying some of Jon Risch's "down and dirty" bass traps, which are essentially just bags of rolled insulation stacked in the corners of the room. Not pretty, but they can give you a hint of what can happen with a little treatment. I would also look at doing something to treat the first reflections points of your room. The best way to do this is with some simple DIY absorbers made of Owens Corning rigid fiberglass. See Ethan's site for more on this.

I've made a number of bass traps and absorbers based on some of the DIY designs and heard a huge difference in the sound. IMO, room treatment is a major factor that must be addressed before you can get the most out of your system