Need Bass Trap advice for rectangular room

[seplant]

I would appreciate some advice on type and placement of bass traps in my home theater room.

I have my home theater set up in my basement which is about 12' wide by 24' long by 7.5' high, with a drop ceiling (no acoustic tiles). I have two powered subs, a 12" in front and a 10" about two-thirds of the way back along the right side wall. There is an opening to another room two door widths wide right in the middle of the left wall. The way the room is arranged, my primary seating is right in the middle of the room. All bass is basically cancelled out in this location. I have read numerous articles on room acoustics, and am convinced that some form of bass traps would help my system significantly.

I have read the article by Ethan Winer that describes one method for constructing and placing bass traps in a listening room. I would not be able to cover all of my walls with these kinds of traps, but if I placed two in each front corner of the room (two pairs 2' wide by 7' tall, each meeting at right angles in the corners), should that be enough to make a difference on my bass problems?

 

[Ethan Winer]

> The way the room is arranged, my primary seating is right in the middle of the room. All bass is basically cancelled out in this location. <

Yes, and even 20 bass traps will not overcome that sitting position! So you should move forward or back at least a little. The drawing below shows the ideal seating position is at 38 percent.

> I would not be able to cover all of my walls with these kinds of traps <

You'll do just as well with bass traps based on rigid fiberglass only. See THIS article on my site that explains much more than the article you mentioned.

--Ethan

Click HERE

 

[seplant]

Thanks for the feedback, Ethan. I'm going to see if I can get my hands on some of the rigid fiberglass mentioned in your articles and try placing them in the corners of my room to see what happens. I doubt if I can significantly change my listening position, so I will likely have to settle for the butt-kickers I installed in my Berkline recliners if I want to feel the bass!

 

[bpape]

Unfortunately, I'd agree. If you can't/won't change the seating position, you're never going to get to hear/feel the bass that you spent all that money on subs for. That's the FIRST thing I'd do - because it's terribly effective - and it's free.

Bryan