Acoustic treatment

[stef_000us]

I started reading more about room acoustic. The author almost imply that the room acoustic (with proper speakers placement) is more important that all the gears that you own. For those of you that had play with this, is this you conclusion as well?

Also, I am not building a music/ht room at this point but just trying to have some nice music in what we call the living room. What are the minimal stuff you had you done in "living room" setup to gave you the most gain in acoustic?

In a nutsheel, I am looking for your tricks to have the most gain in acoustic in a "normal" living room setup. I am also trying to avoid gaving a heart attack to the in-laws on their next visit. They are good people afterall... :rolleyes:

Thanks all for your input,

Stef

[pensacola]

Very generally speaking, room acoustics have more impact on what you hear at your listening position than anything else.
For best results, try to control the room modes and reflective and absorptive surfaces.

Every room has a natural resonant frequency (mode), and usually multiples of that frequency. Every time a musical instrument (or human voice) hits that frequency, it tends to amplify it--thereby making it sound "boomy." Room modes can be controlled through speaker placement and/or tube traps. Try to place speakers so that they are NOT equidistant to room bounderies (i.e. don't place a speaker 2' from the rear wall AND 2' from the side wall--vary it).

You also want a good balance of reflective and absorptive surfaces in the room. Too much glass or wood floor, and you are going to get a lot of high frequency reflection, making it sound bright and reducing accurate soundstaging.
Too much over-stuffed furniture/carpet/drapery and you will lose a lot of high frequency energy, making it sound muddy and lifeless. Overall balance is the key. To add reflection, hang a few pictures on the walls. To reduce reflection, try hanging an Indian or oriental rug on the wall.

The ideal room for acoustics would have no parallel surfaces (walls AND floor/ceiling), and no right-angles. Good luck finding a living room like that.

[gidrah]

Pensacola is on the nose.

Nothing fancy here. I'm proud to have double-sided some of my drop ceiling panels to get rid of some annoying rattling. Then again it's a small room with plenty of padding and a close listening position and major toe-in.