My next upgrade should be my room???

[darron027]

Hi all,
Ive been reading through many threads in this part of the forum and googling for general info on 'basic room acoustics' and treatments.

In very basic terms my room dimensions are H: 2.3M / L: 5.3M / W; 3.3M. As a results of room constrictions I have to listen/view across the width distance of 3.3M.
Room is a modern build (house 2 1/2 years old) with carpeted concrete floor, plasterboard ceiling, plasterboard walls (1 is an external wall the others are partitian style). On the left wall is sighted a large patio door (which takes up most of the wall space). There are a number of photos of my room in the members gallery which is titled "AV room to date"; I would attatch a direct link but cant work out how to do it. The photos do need updating but the general layout etc is still the same.

For a number of reasons I cannot change the layout of my room.

Ive played long and hard with speaker positions / setups etc and Im now in a position where these can not longer be improved. Im extremaly happy with my system, but know it can be improved even further.

After reading and learning about basic room acoustic influences/treatments etc, I set about doing a number of trials over the weekend with pretty impressive results. This involved finding my room reflection points (using a mirror) and then placing thick sofa cussions etc in these areas propped up woodenn batons etc. In addition to this I then did a similar thing in the corners for a little bass trapping.
As I have to sit quite close to the rear wall (about 30cm) I also placed my temp cushions directly behind my head.
Would have liked to have put something on the ceiling reflection point also, but will not be able to do this a we have a large lighting panel situated bang on the reflection point (plus if I go down the acoustic panel route my missus would not let me put one on the ceiling).

The results:

Treatment of reflection points: Soundstage and overall clarity from each speaker location improved substantially. I was quite amazed with the extra detail and better stereo imaging achieved particularly on CD 2channel playback. The two temp treated areas which were giving most benifit was directly behind my head and infront of the patio doors (which is the left reflection point).

Bass Traping: Again here I noted improvements; a much tighter bass with reduced reverbaration etc. In fact its one of the first time in my room that I noticed different bass frequencies on various CD/DVD soundtracks.

Conclusion:
Im happy with my 'basic' room acoustic treatment tetsing and in my eyes proved there are benefits to be gained by treating my room. My next step is to decided to go DIY panel making or look to purchase off the shelf items. I found a manufacturer of acoustic panels on the web whom is only located 6 miles away from where I live, so I'll defo be giving them a shout in the near future.

All in all, this bit of testing which took about 4 hours start to finish has proved to be the great importance of room acoustic control and the mass influence on sound perception each and every room has.

Many thanks to all whom post in this area.

Cheers,
darron