Acoustic Sound Treatment

Rives, where does diffusion fit in? Does one consider a wall treated with diffusors as dead or live?

Reason I am asking, I have had some very unsatisfactory result when treating my back wall with diffusors. The same diffusors on the front wall (behind my speakers) seems to create a deeper soundstage and quite pleasant to my ear.

Thanks
Paul

Interesting article. It appears that LEDE enjoyed a very brief craze and is now dead. Interesting that a studio had to remodel because it sounded so bad.

I am often puzzled why most Audiogon virtual rooms have extensive acoustic treatment on the wall behind the speakers and first reflection points and yet most have no treatment at all on the wall behind the listener. Perhaps it is just that on the whole more rooms are small and few are large.

Perhaps visual cues also have a lot to do with sound perception. The logic being that if you can't see the acoustic panels (behind the listener) then they are not effective.

My experience has been that a dead end behind the listener and a bright end around the speakers is able to create a very exciting soundstage which mimicks a live performance. The only caveat is that no side wall should fall within 4 feet or less of a speaker mid/treble driver as it starts to collapse or confuse precise imaging. I would include the floor in this minimum distance too - so speaker stands are essential to get the mid/treble away from the floor.

In small or narrow rooms I would support the idea that first reflection points must be treated with acoustic panels. In a large room I think you can get away without treating first reflection points as long as you have carpet and not tile floor and you obey the 4 foot minimum rule.

Just two cents as always and bearing in mind that I like a live energetic sound and that I have a largish listening room, which means that long reverb times/room modes are my main issues.

Diffision is live. It does not deaden the sound but rather diffuses or redirects it. Diffusion or passive resonance behind the main speakers is most effective in most rooms. I absorption or a combination of absorption and diffusion behind the listener works well. Diffision alon behind the listener can lead to odd spectral patterns--it can be done, you just have to do it judiciously.