18-Mar-2021, 23:52
Thanks for the info and photo. That helps a bit but by the look of the bit of the ceiling I can see and the mention of an L-shaped room mean the room acoustics are going to be fairly complex. You also mention that you're moving in a year so we're really talking about a fairly temporary arrangement which needs to be considered since good quality acoustic treatments aren't cheap and a lot of them are designed to be glued to the walls which is a problem if you're going to be moving so some quick and dirty suggestions.
First, forget about putting anything on the wall to prevent sound leaking to the neighbours. Whatever you put on the wall will change the sound in your room but it won't stop sound leaking through the wall to your neighbours. Acoustic products work on sound within the room, they don't stop sound escaping from the room to other rooms or apartments, If you want to block sound moving out of your apartment then we're talking soundproofing, not acoustic treatment, and that really would have had to be done at the stage the building was built because it involves barriers within the wall and other things as well. I assume you have a concrete slab floor which is shared with other apartments on your floor and sound is going to be conducted through that floor as well as through the walls and the same probably goes for the ceiling. About the only thing you can do to reduce sound leakage to the neighbours is to keep the volume down unless the neighbours are out unless you want to engage in extensive construction work installing a secondary wall, floor and ceiling which are acoustically isolated from the existing wall, floor and ceiling. For 12 months it's not worth it and if you're renting you probably wouldn't get permission to do the modifications.
So, what can you do to improve the sound given that you're moving in 12 months and you don't want to be paying for treatments that you can't take with you and use in your next home.
Given that you've said the walls, floor and ceiling are concrete then your biggest problem is likely to be in the bass so I'd look at getting some good bass traps, at least 1 for each corner you can place one in and maybe 2 for each corner so that you can stack them if they're small or you find you need a bit more bass control than only 1 trap provides. Firms like Vicoustic and Arenovion make triangular wedge shaped traps that can go in the corners and be stacked. I use RealTRAPS Mondo Corner Traps on their corner stands and there's also ASC Tube Traps. All of those products are quite effective and they're all free standing so you don't have to glue or fix them in place and you can easily take them with you when you move which is good because all rooms benefit from bass trapping so you will definitely be able to use them in your new home. It's worth getting the best traps you can afford because they don't wear out with use, they're with you through house moves and system changes, and they just keep on working.
As for other treatment, given that you're going to be moving I'd suggest going cheap and temporary. I'd put some rugs on the floor, preferably wool or natural fibres rather than synthetic, and put some sort of non-slip underlay under them. If you want to try treating the walls, I'd think of something like some stands for hanging clothing and just hanging folded blankets over them. Experiment a bit with where you place them. Lots of people recommend the side wall first reflection points but leaving them untreated helps create a wider soundstage which many people prefer so try other locations and also try putting them not quite opposite each other, offset by a few inches sideways and in height if you can, because that will deliver a little bit more absorption than having them precisely opposite each other. I'd also consider something like that in the middle of the front wall between the speakers and below the screen. Something like that may also help at the back of the room but a lot can depend on which wall of the L-shape room the speakers are placed on.
That advice may not be what you were hoping for but good acoustic treatments aren't cheap and they're usually highly visible. Their placement depends on the room and where the system is in the room. If you're moving in a year I'm reluctant to make firm recommendations on how to treat your current room because if your next room is different in size and construction (no concrete room surfaces for example) the treatment requirements may be very different and you may have ended up spending a lot of time and money on treating your current room which ends up being wasted when you move. I think it's better to get by in the short term with bass treatment which will still be beneficial after you move and then to consider what other treatment you need for the long term after you're in your new home. You can then pick the treatments you need, both acoustically and for how they work visually in the new room, and know for certain that they're going to meet your needs for a lot longer than one year.
First, forget about putting anything on the wall to prevent sound leaking to the neighbours. Whatever you put on the wall will change the sound in your room but it won't stop sound leaking through the wall to your neighbours. Acoustic products work on sound within the room, they don't stop sound escaping from the room to other rooms or apartments, If you want to block sound moving out of your apartment then we're talking soundproofing, not acoustic treatment, and that really would have had to be done at the stage the building was built because it involves barriers within the wall and other things as well. I assume you have a concrete slab floor which is shared with other apartments on your floor and sound is going to be conducted through that floor as well as through the walls and the same probably goes for the ceiling. About the only thing you can do to reduce sound leakage to the neighbours is to keep the volume down unless the neighbours are out unless you want to engage in extensive construction work installing a secondary wall, floor and ceiling which are acoustically isolated from the existing wall, floor and ceiling. For 12 months it's not worth it and if you're renting you probably wouldn't get permission to do the modifications.
So, what can you do to improve the sound given that you're moving in 12 months and you don't want to be paying for treatments that you can't take with you and use in your next home.
Given that you've said the walls, floor and ceiling are concrete then your biggest problem is likely to be in the bass so I'd look at getting some good bass traps, at least 1 for each corner you can place one in and maybe 2 for each corner so that you can stack them if they're small or you find you need a bit more bass control than only 1 trap provides. Firms like Vicoustic and Arenovion make triangular wedge shaped traps that can go in the corners and be stacked. I use RealTRAPS Mondo Corner Traps on their corner stands and there's also ASC Tube Traps. All of those products are quite effective and they're all free standing so you don't have to glue or fix them in place and you can easily take them with you when you move which is good because all rooms benefit from bass trapping so you will definitely be able to use them in your new home. It's worth getting the best traps you can afford because they don't wear out with use, they're with you through house moves and system changes, and they just keep on working.
As for other treatment, given that you're going to be moving I'd suggest going cheap and temporary. I'd put some rugs on the floor, preferably wool or natural fibres rather than synthetic, and put some sort of non-slip underlay under them. If you want to try treating the walls, I'd think of something like some stands for hanging clothing and just hanging folded blankets over them. Experiment a bit with where you place them. Lots of people recommend the side wall first reflection points but leaving them untreated helps create a wider soundstage which many people prefer so try other locations and also try putting them not quite opposite each other, offset by a few inches sideways and in height if you can, because that will deliver a little bit more absorption than having them precisely opposite each other. I'd also consider something like that in the middle of the front wall between the speakers and below the screen. Something like that may also help at the back of the room but a lot can depend on which wall of the L-shape room the speakers are placed on.
That advice may not be what you were hoping for but good acoustic treatments aren't cheap and they're usually highly visible. Their placement depends on the room and where the system is in the room. If you're moving in a year I'm reluctant to make firm recommendations on how to treat your current room because if your next room is different in size and construction (no concrete room surfaces for example) the treatment requirements may be very different and you may have ended up spending a lot of time and money on treating your current room which ends up being wasted when you move. I think it's better to get by in the short term with bass treatment which will still be beneficial after you move and then to consider what other treatment you need for the long term after you're in your new home. You can then pick the treatments you need, both acoustically and for how they work visually in the new room, and know for certain that they're going to meet your needs for a lot longer than one year.
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
