Acoustic design for 2 ch vs 5.1

[klettermann]

Today I stumbled onto somebody's audio blog claiming that the media acoustic treatment/design differs between 2 channel audio and mutichannel surround, especially 7.1. Sadly I forgot to bookmark it or I'd post the link. If I can find it I'll do so. Anyway, the claim was that the acoustic treatment of the respective rooms (absorbing panels, bass traps, etc etc) differs dramatically. Hence, you can have a good room for one but not the other, so you need to choose. This came as unpleasant news to me as I'm in the process of building a media space with the specific aim of both 2ch audio and 5.1 video. Any thoughts, experience or info to impart? Thanks and cheers,

 

[alex-z]

That claim doesn't hold water.

A lot of basic treatment advice applies regardless of channel count. Using bass traps to reduce tangential and oblique room modes. Using thicker absorption panels to balance spectral decay, rather than deadening only the mid and high ranges. Using diffusers when you want to spread reflected energy over a longer time span. Using a ceiling cloud to reduce the vertical crossover dip common in bookshelf and tower speakers.

Sure, maybe the "perfect" stereo and surround treatment are different. But "perfect" doesn't exist, people are ultimately going to have different preferences regarding how much reflected energy is absorbed and when it arrives. There are tangible tradeoffs regarding image width vs precision, clarity vs realism.

My overall advice is treat the room for stereo, and only change things up if you are unhappy with the surround result.

 

[klettermann]

Music to my ears, so to speak. I was sceptical about it, if for no other reason that it doesn't seem to be a topic argued about in all the many A/V forums out there. I think it might have been about creating a very dead environment so each individual speaker in a 7.1 system is very localized. I won't worry about that any more and go back to thinking about the thermodynamics of speaker cable elevators. thanks and cheers,

 

[HiMu]

Any thoughts, experience or info to impart

This video by Matthew Poes has some points to consider.