The Basement starts

[Carlman]

Thanks for the kind words, Rich.. It's definitely coming together but there are a lot of loose ends to be tied up. (as you'd predicted )  I'm planning to work on as much as I can tomorrow... Should get the receiver setup and working, stuff cleaned out/organized, drilling a new hole to fish some wires.. etc.

The sub is exactly as I'd hoped.. really fills the room (and house) with bass.  It's not that sloppy weird bass either... just thick, rich bass that can blend into anything.  It has punch when there's punch in the music... it recovers quickly (is fast), and is a good do-all type sub.

And yes, it does create a physical entertainment zone under the person in the rear middle row.

To Allen's point, a new thread might be in order very soon.  The only (major) remaining component of the original project is the panels.  But.. only once the panels are completed.

-C

[lonewolfny42]

Looks like your getting closer Carl.....

Don't forget your entrance signs...



or....this...

[Carlman]

I definitely like the first one.  Anything goes!

[lonewolfny42]

I definitely like the first one.  Anything goes!

Like in Las Vegas....

[rollo]

I definitely like the first one.  Anything goes!

Like in Las Vegas....

Hey Chris whats up ? Miss you guys at the Rave meetings.



charles

[Carlman]

Just a quick update... since last post I've gotten the entire 7.1 channels setup and working, along with a new projector (thanks again HTDoc), stereo subs (big thanks to Rich), and got the speakers somewhat dialed-in.

I work in spurts.  But we got it good enough to watch movies and really enjoy it all.  I'm still 'dialing-in'.. and the panel project is under-way.  It all works well, looks and sounds great.  I can't imagine how good it's going to sound with the treatments.  Sweet Mamasita it will be an all-out-ear-orgy!  / 

[bpape]

Congrats Carl.

If I may suggest...

Start with the broadband bass absorption and live with that for a while. 

Add in reflection panels slowly and in small amounts.  Since 2 channel is a priority in the room, we don't want to overdo it and kill it too much.  The KISS principle definitely applies.

Once you get all of that done, then we can start looking at diffusion for things like ceiling reflections, rear half of the room, etc.  Your room is big enough to definitely benefit.

Would love to see some pics...

Bryan

[Carlman]

First I'm going to measure the room and see what bass frequencies need tuning, then apply a fix for that specifically.  I may not need broadband trapping but we'll see.  I have a pretty good idea of where I've got some bass issues but I need to see it on an RTA and find out if it matches what I'm hearing and/or the room calculations Rich and I did a long time ago.  If it all lines up, I'll be happy to know there is one thing about this hobby that is scientifically do-able.  

I won't have too much absorption.. Besides, that's simply not possible in my opinion.  As long as it's not totally anechoic I'll be happy.    But I will have a lot of diffusion with some home made stuff...

I've got a fairly large project in front of me to build panels for this room.. I'll experiment with them before finishing them.. that's good advice and may save some work... But there is a visual requirement for me in this room also.  (The 'CAF')  So, it will be symetrical and look nice.  (part of the psycho-acoustic effect)

[bpape]

Just remember that there's more to treating a room than reflections and frequency response.  The biggest thing IMO is to get the decay time curve right for the entire spectrum.  That's going to require some broadband bass control.  I'm not saying not to pay attention to specific issues but broadband is part of the equation and may solve some of the FR issues at the same time.

Let me know if I can help with anything.  I'll be glad to work through it with you.

Bryan

[Carlman]

Good points.. I just happen to have 5 24" bass traps sitting in my garage right now.. It wouldn't be hard to experiment!   But that stuff is dirty.  All I need is a little time and gumption...
-C

[richidoo]

Todays final sweep after 1st attempt at speaker positioning.   They are very close to front wall, to me it sounds too chesty and flat. But tone is good. Line of sight to the mhe movie screen limits possible speaker positions. The further out from the wall they come, the farther to sidewall they must go.


Overall it looks pretty good. The bumps at 40 and 80 are room. Not bad, +/- 8 on first try. Room dimensions matter!




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[Carlman]

Thanks a million for bringing your expertise today, Rich.  It was such a treat to have you here and help learn some really cool stuff about how bass works.

I've been playing with tow ever since you left.. It had a 'dry center' or sounded too separated to me, playing real music.  Kind of thin and dead.  I did move them out toward the sidewalls just a little tiny bit and towed in more.. and now it's getting a more 'congealed' presentation.   I'll keep working at it but it's sounding a good bit better.  I'm thinking about putting the subs back in now.. just to see what that does... But I really want to get some traps done too.

-C

[Carlman]

I got 1 ceiling panel mounted, with the help of my wife.. wow, what a trooper.
More tomorrow..
-C

[bpape]

Pull them out from the front wall as long as you can keep say 18" or a little more from driver centers to side wall.  Use a 2-3" panel directly to the side of each speaker to help with SBIR issues.  That will tame some of the chestiness.

A lot of what you're hearing now is boundary related AND a lack of broadband bass control.  The stiffer walls you now have don't give you as much absorption as single standard drywall walls and you're hearing it. 

Bryan

[Carlman]

Bass traps are going up as I type.. I made them to fill each corner of my room, floor to (soffit) ceiling.
They are 2' x 7' for 3 corners, and 1 rear is 2' x 6' 4" because there's a little box there for some hvac stuff.

I used 2" OC703 and layered them from back to front:
1-6", 2-12", 1-18" wide, and 1-24"

Front to back each trap is 12" at its deepest point to the corner.

I'm almost out of OC703!   So, I'm really happy it all worked out.  Right now the frames are sitting and waiting for fabric.. The frame will basically just be a cover for the fiberglass... I can remove it and add different types of material if I decide to later.  Right now I'm enjoying the absorption... very nice, I don't think I want to add anything...

The room sounds better than ever right now, very emotional and engaging... The whole thing really came together when I sat and listened after the last trap went in... and wow... just amazing.  It completes the room.

I still plan to do corner treatments for the upper soffit/ceiling corners and I think I'm done for a while.  whew!

-C