Audio Kinesis Swarm Subwoofer Awarded 2019 Golden Ear Award by Robert E. Greene

Duke,

Thanks for the response! Wow. That is certainly a rave testimonial...and in keeping with all the other things that I have heard about the Swarm.

I guess I should have been more specific about my situation. My application will be strictly stereo, not surround. It sounds as if the customer with Vandersteen Quatros ran the Quatros full range and the Swarm was running simply as LFE...which I see as a very different application.

The question I had was about the best way to integrate the Swarm with relatively full range speakers in a stereo only setup.

Installo43, yeah I don't think I could buy a testimonial like that one if I wanted to!
In your situation I think we'd use essentially the same approach... run the Treo's fullrange, and use the Swarm to fill in the bottom octave or so. 

I have owners of speakers like Wilson and Magico who run their main speakers fullrange and then use the Swarm for the very bottom end.
Duke

Hello Duke,

Another Swarm bass success story that, as an owner of the AK Debra 4-sub distributed bass array (DBA) system, doesn’t surprise me at all.

I’m glad you posted again, Duke, because I was just going to contact you with a question I have about whether room bass treatments negatively or positively effect the performance of the Swarm/Debra bass systems in a given room.
I recently had a free analysis of my room by GIK Acoustics done and they recommended I utilize some of their bass treatment products in my room, mainly the following:


1. Stacked TriTraps in all 4 corners of my room.

https://www.gikacoustics.com/product/gik-acoustics-tri-trap/

2. 244 2’x2’ and 5.25" thick bass trap panels on the floor level of my front 14’ 2" front wall behind my Magnepan 3.7i main speakers.

https://www.gikacoustics.com/product/gik-acoustics-244-bass-trap-flexrange-technology/

     This plan would result in a 2’x2’ Debra sub being located between a 2’x2’, 5.25" thick 244 bass trap panel and the bottom TriTrap located in the corner behind each main speaker which are both positioned about 3’ away from the front wall.
My question is what effect do you think these combined bass room treatments would have on the overall perceived bass response in my 21’x12.2’x8’ room?
     The current bass response with the Debra system operating in my room is extremely good with zero room treatments and room correction in use. My main concerns are doing no harm to the current results and not spending the time and money on these treatments if you don’t believe they’ll have a meaningful positive effect.
     Within a few weeks on a different but related concern, I’m also going to upgrade my about 25 year old pair of Magnepan 2.7QR main speakers, containing quasi-ribbon treble sections, with a pre-owned pair of 1 year old Magnepan 3.7i speakers, with true-ribbon treble sections. Given your considerable experience in speaker design, room acoustics and knowledge of Magnepan speakers, I was hoping you could also give me your opinion on my general plan for utilizing GIK room treatment products to optimize the perceived full range frequency response of the pair of 3.7is in my room.
     The 3.7is will be positioned about 8’ apart, with the true-ribbons on the inside, along and about 3’ away from the front short wall with my listening seat about 12’ away centered on the rear short wall. There’s a 6’ tall x 8’ long window section along the left 21’ long wall, covered by a plantation blind window treatment with 1" wide wooden horizontal slats, that begins about 2’ in front of the left 3.7i and continues for 8’. The right 3.7i is positioned at the beginning of a 4’ x7’ opening at the front of the right 21’ long wall. The remaining portion of this section is a solid wall with no other openings with an 8’ leather couch positioned along it.
     There’s also a wall mounted 65" hdtv centered along the 12’ wall between my speakers and a Magnepan CC3 center ch speaker attached to a smaller tv wall mount that positions it just above and centered on the hdtv beow it.

     My general plan is to use an approximate 50/50 balance between absorption and diffusion GIK treatments throughout the entire room with nothing on the 8’ tall ceiling and the floor covered with fairly thick wall to wall carpeting. There are room pics on my profile page if it helps.

     As I stated, this plan would result in a 2’x2’ Debra sub being located between a 2’x2’ 244 bass trap panel and the bottom TriTrap located in the corner behind each main speaker which are both positioned about 3’ away from the front wall. There will be side by side 24.5" w x 48.5" tall GIK 242 absorption panels, with diffusing scatter plates underneath the top cloth covers and positioned above each bass trap and sub behind each 3.7i.
https://www.gikacoustics.com/product/gik-acoustics-242-acoustic-panel/

     The remainder of my plan is to use an even distribution of absorption, diffusion and combination panels on the remaining solid wall portions on both side walls and rear wall. The goal being to ensure that there’s adequate diffusion of soundwaves at the front and rears of the room to avoid over damping the overall room and sound.
Based on your knowledge and experience, do you believe my overall plan is a good one?
      I really appreciate any help you can offer, I’d like to order all GIK treatments by end of tomorrow, Thursday Dec. 12th.

Thanks,
Tim

@noble100 wrote: "I was just going to contact you with a question I have about whether room bass treatments negatively or positively effect the performance of the Swarm/Debra bass systems in a given room." 

In my opinion room treatment in the bass region is virtually always beneficial, as the improved damping reduces the magnitude of the peak-and-dip swings.

Duke

audiokinesis:"In my opinion room treatment in the bass region is virtually always beneficial, as the improved damping reduces the magnitude of the peak-and-dip swings."


Thanks Duke.  My room acoustics and GIK products efficacy adventures begin.

Tim