Sound diffusion below 80 Hz

[Lee Batchelor]

Thanks Verdinut. I wondered that too. I have the Fronts set to small and have tried setting them to Large. The word on the street is to leave them set to Small but I'll re-visit your suggestion.

Excellent point about the sound pressure. I think sound pressure would be proportional to volume. I run my theater lively but not bone crushing. The room diagram I attached in Post #14, shows the positioning of all my speakers. The Altecs are far from any corners. The 15" Eminence sub is in the left corner and I am getting some corner loading from it but I have tried numerous other placements of that beast and can't seem to find anywhere else that works better. The one thing I haven't tried is moving both subs. I've always left the Lab 12 in it's current position to the right of the TV, amps, and speakers array. That should be my next move. Please take a look at my diagram and if you have any better suggestion for positioning both subs, I'll try it.

I enjoy hunting for the best sound but it would be nice to find that Eureka position. Thanks for chiming in!

 

[MrBoat]

Is that all that's in the room besides the equipment is a sofa and chair? A friend of mine got displaced from his home temporarily from hurricane Ian. He moved into his brother's. He had to store his living room furniture and other salvageable goods in his brother's music/theater room, which amounted to two additional sofas, upholstered chairs and a recliner. Also some mattresses stacked against the back wall, half dozen cardboard boxes full of bed clothes, and books. Brother noticed immediate improvement with his sound system and thought he was just having good listening days until his bro got his house back and took all the stuff back out.

Now he's refurnishing the room to look more like a living room. I know that's not fitting with today's sterile living spaces, but the cluttered living spaces of the '70s were much better listening environments, and this when speakers were large, and rooms much smaller.

 

[Lee Batchelor]

Excellent point, MrBoat. The perimeter walls have additional objects like variable height wall cabinets, wooden chairs, small book shelves, etc...nothing like additional soft furniture that would absorb sound. The flooring is carpet and the ceiling is Sonaflex suspended ceiling tiles. The room is actually quite dampened but the walls are drywall and the cause of the issues. The floor diagram is very simplified, designed to show dimensions and the placement of the audio/video gear.

I need to explore ways to build my own panels that will absorb 110Hz and lower. I've been listening to Dennis Foley a lot and he's of the opinion that nothing works better than his products. Of course, he's going to say that but to propose those kinds of prices for a home theater is ludicrous. He doesn't believe in bass traps either. There must be a way to build my own absorption panels. I have the tools and skill set. I just need the design .

Thanks for chiming in.

 

[fmw]

Wow, that's a lot of coin for passive treatments. I think I would lean more toward a properly calibrated multiple sub array than the necessarily huge and outrageously priced bass traps route. Good grief, $30k for activated charcoal traps? Incredible.

Ah high end audio. I sure don't miss it.

 

[Lee Batchelor]

Good one, fmw! An AM clock radio is starting to sound good about now!!!!

 

[MrBoat]

Good one, fmw! An AM clock radio is starting to sound good about now!!!!

My mains have Eminence Delta Pro 12-A woofers. I am a fan of their drivers. Ridiculously powerful and very low distortion.

 

[Lee Batchelor]

Agreed. Some people don't like Eminence drivers but I like them. I think Eminence de-rates their drivers by at least 25%. I've driven my 15" KappaLite3015LF pretty hard with a bass guitar and it was fine. They also provide box designs for free, along with the HP filter recommendations, but you know all this .

 

[fmw]

Good one, fmw! An AM clock radio is starting to sound good about now!!!!

As we all know, it is possible to get great sound without believing that a digital cable can alter the data it carries in a way that alters the sound one hears after it is decoded. It isn't necessary to value the high distortion in tube amps because one feels it is "warmer." While vinyl records represent true hi fi performance, it isn't necessary to believe that it sounds better than digital media. Nor is there a reason to believe that a $30,000 bass trap will outperform another that costs a fraction of that. No, I don't miss it at all.

 

[Lee Batchelor]

Good points, fmw .