Continuing with the room treatment theme...

I had a re-think about systems last year and decided to go back to a 2.0 setup. I had previously evolved to a 7.0 DSP system of 8k/7.2c/5.2/5k. As many folks find you have to orient this around the TV placement and TV placement is not a free choice in many rooms.

Originally I had TV on the short wall facing the big windows and garden. Effects of sounds reflection from the opposite wall was just too bad. No amount of extra curtains etc would work (with WAF also). I elected to put the TV (50" Kuro) on the long wall and arrange around that. There it stood for quite a few years.

Moving back to 2.0 gave me the option to dislocate the L&R 8k's from the screen. Whilst that flies in the face of convention it made sense to me. 99.9% of why I have this system is music. Where SkySports sound comes from really doesn't matter that much.

Here's the layout.
[Linked Image]

Problem....the same sound reflections were causing problems again....from the wall that faces the 8k's. Certain bass and low-mid frequencies would either disappear or sound way too fat. Lean forward from the couch and it would all change.

The interference effects at the listening position were just killing the potential SQ I knew the system should be delivering.

In a moody moment one Saturday afternoon, I decided to test what a 'treatment' on the back wall would do. 5 minutes later the double mattress and duvet from our spare room had gently floated (NOT) downstairs and came to rest behind the main listening couch.

[Linked Image]

The effect ? AWESOME !!! Really.

Hard to over-exaggerate the impact this had. Bass was immediately stunningly clear. Lower. Faster.

"Mrs L - come here and have a listen to this". I hadn't mentioned the mattress at this point so she was a little surprised to say the least. She does have very good ears and instantly picked up on several differences.

All good. Mattress stayed there for a few weeks whilst I figured out what to do 'for real'.

I contacted GIK Acoustics in the UK (thanks again Ludwig for that lead..the mattress is now available again should you need it laugh ). I got some advice from them by email to begin with and then spent quite a few calls talking with Dave Shevyn.

There are quite a few things to consider - what SQ needs fixing, where you sit, where is the kit, what can you do, what can't you do, etc etc. Dave was great.

WAF is key here. Mrs L had a free hand in fabric selection. The choice of cloth at Camira is very good.

I ended up with 5 Monster Traps and 3 soffit traps. 2 of the soffit traps were intended to stand vertically in the rear corners, but, they are huge and did not pass the WAF test. So, they are now dealing with the wall/floor boundary along the back wall. Pretty much out of sight behind the couch.

[Linked Image]

The Monster Traps are hardly out of sight. However, reaction from the auxiliary WAF committee (Mrs L's mates) has been very positive.

[Linked Image]

The impact? Again very, very positive. I think you don't realise what impact the room is having on what you hear until you fix it. The confusion and disruption to the troublesome bass notes that run length-ways up and down the room have gone. You can so much more easily now follow what is going on. Soundstage is improved. Speed, tightness, timing....all really good.

What I am most pleased with is the depth of the bass and the control it now has. That perhaps seems counter-intuitive when you install bass-traps. But the effect is very clear to hear.

I think I've covered all the key learnings. Hope you find it helpful if you are also, like I was, wrestling with the room.

Highly recommended.


Rgds,
Nick