Several years ago I hired an expert in room acoustics with the plan to improve the acoustics of my living room. Best decision I’ve ever made!
He modeled and measured the room with open kitchen (lot’s of concrete and glass, 5x11meters) and made an extensive plan including simulations to treat it using professional but non obtrusive means. Biggest and most effective part became the treatment of the entire ceiling which now has a suspended ceiling using 60x60cm Rockfon Sonar D tiles. This dramatically lowered the reverb times to values suited for stereo and HT. Most people who come into the don’t notice it being there but they do notice how silent and relaxed the room is. That’s the great thing about it, it not only improves music reproduction but also improves quality of living since the room is so ‘quiet’ (as in non reverberant). With multiple people at once in the room it’s way easier to follow one another.
Another part is a big RPG Modex Plate (basstrap) hanging on a wall in a corner and a -very- thick wool rug between the seating position and the loudspeakers.
The original plans also detailed treatment of the side walls but I was already very satisfied with the result thus far. Of course there’s beautiful stuff available but still it’s more intrusive than the ceiling.
Once you get to know all the options out there it’s only one’s own creativity (and wallet of course) that limits one to do the treatment of even a living room in an esthetic way. The Rockfon ceiling I now have was a relatively economical solution but it can be done completely invisible as well using special, porous/absorbing types of plaster.
Not many people make this step which is unfortunate but also somewhat understandable as it’s hard to DIY all this, it requires quite some knowledge and specific tools/software to do it right and apply the right amount of absorption over a wide bandwidth (say 20-20kHz) and to find the right mix of absorbtion and diffusion. One has to experience the effect to -really- appreciate/want it I guess.
Edit; I chose ‘I listen in the living room but it's well treated‘ but the first option could fit as well.
He modeled and measured the room with open kitchen (lot’s of concrete and glass, 5x11meters) and made an extensive plan including simulations to treat it using professional but non obtrusive means. Biggest and most effective part became the treatment of the entire ceiling which now has a suspended ceiling using 60x60cm Rockfon Sonar D tiles. This dramatically lowered the reverb times to values suited for stereo and HT. Most people who come into the don’t notice it being there but they do notice how silent and relaxed the room is. That’s the great thing about it, it not only improves music reproduction but also improves quality of living since the room is so ‘quiet’ (as in non reverberant). With multiple people at once in the room it’s way easier to follow one another.
Another part is a big RPG Modex Plate (basstrap) hanging on a wall in a corner and a -very- thick wool rug between the seating position and the loudspeakers.
The original plans also detailed treatment of the side walls but I was already very satisfied with the result thus far. Of course there’s beautiful stuff available but still it’s more intrusive than the ceiling.
Once you get to know all the options out there it’s only one’s own creativity (and wallet of course) that limits one to do the treatment of even a living room in an esthetic way. The Rockfon ceiling I now have was a relatively economical solution but it can be done completely invisible as well using special, porous/absorbing types of plaster.
Not many people make this step which is unfortunate but also somewhat understandable as it’s hard to DIY all this, it requires quite some knowledge and specific tools/software to do it right and apply the right amount of absorption over a wide bandwidth (say 20-20kHz) and to find the right mix of absorbtion and diffusion. One has to experience the effect to -really- appreciate/want it I guess.
Edit; I chose ‘I listen in the living room but it's well treated‘ but the first option could fit as well.
PS Audio P3, Shunyata ΞTRON Alpha Digital and HC/Furutech power cables, Paul Hynes SR7EHD-MR4, DIY Roon Server & Roon Endpoint running AudioLinux Headless, Phasure Lush^2 USB cable, Audioquest Diamond RJ/E ethernet, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Mutec MC-3+ USB, Shunyata ΞTRON Anaconda Digital XLR AES/EBU, Devialet Expert 250 Pro CI, Nordost Tyr Reference LS cables, Von Schweikert VR-5 SE Anniversary Edition, Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, JL Audio Fathom F112. More detail here.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands
