20-Mar-2021, 21:36
That's a pretty irregular shaped room. There may actually be good things about that as well as bad. The bad is that the acoustics become quite complex because of the different angles and the shape, the fact that the right speaker is much closer to a side wall than the left which means the early reflections aren't similar and can shift the centre of the stern image to one side, and other such things. On the other hand the really long dimension along the axis of the speaker plane, the different dimensions front to back (kitchen vs speaker area) the different ceiling heights in different areas, you've got a lot of variety in axial dimensions and therefore more room modes than the 3 axial dimensions (length/width/height) provide in a normal rectangular room and that can actually help the room response to smooth out more quickly as frequency rises.
Unfortunately it means it's a very difficult room when it comes to deciding how to treat it acoustically. If you want to get the best results then you've got 2 choices. You can either hire an acoustic consultant with really good room modelling software. have him come in and measure the room, both in terms of dimensions and the actual frequency response, and then let him crunch numbers and come up with a recommendation or you start with a couple of bass traps and one or two panels and start experimenting with where you put them, and deciding what more treatment you want to add as you go along and find out how the room responds to what you're doing. That can be a long process, I still find myself playing with the placement of treatment in my room close to 4 years after my last major system change. I've had the things sounding very good for a long time now but I still find myself moving panels every now and then to see if a small change can make an improvement.
You said that you're moving in 12 months. That means this room is a temporary situation for you and you don't know what your next room is going to be like. With a room like your current one you could end up doing a lot of things in order to improve the sound but that means that you're probably going to buy more treatment in the effort to improve this room than you're going to need with your next room if it's a much simpler shape. That's why I recommend minimal treatment for this room and saving money and effort now for your next room which is going to be a longer term listening environment for you.
Unfortunately it means it's a very difficult room when it comes to deciding how to treat it acoustically. If you want to get the best results then you've got 2 choices. You can either hire an acoustic consultant with really good room modelling software. have him come in and measure the room, both in terms of dimensions and the actual frequency response, and then let him crunch numbers and come up with a recommendation or you start with a couple of bass traps and one or two panels and start experimenting with where you put them, and deciding what more treatment you want to add as you go along and find out how the room responds to what you're doing. That can be a long process, I still find myself playing with the placement of treatment in my room close to 4 years after my last major system change. I've had the things sounding very good for a long time now but I still find myself moving panels every now and then to see if a small change can make an improvement.
You said that you're moving in 12 months. That means this room is a temporary situation for you and you don't know what your next room is going to be like. With a room like your current one you could end up doing a lot of things in order to improve the sound but that means that you're probably going to buy more treatment in the effort to improve this room than you're going to need with your next room if it's a much simpler shape. That's why I recommend minimal treatment for this room and saving money and effort now for your next room which is going to be a longer term listening environment for you.
Roon Nucleus+, Devilalet Expert 140 Pro CI, Focal Sopra 2, PS Audio P12, Keces P8 LPS, Uptone Audio EtherREGEN with optical fibre link to my router, Shunyata Alpha NR and Sigma NR power cables, Shunyata Sigma ethernet cables, Shunyata Alpha V2 speaker cables, Grand Prix Audio Monaco rack, RealTRAPS acoustic treatment.
Brisbane, Qld, Australia
