Is it worth doing anything for "traps" in this room?

[flightops]

OK. First off, I've never done sound treatment is room so go easy on my if this is an obvious question.

I've got a small room with a lot of stereo in it (for it's size). It's my old home office since turned into my own little music listening room. It's all analog, so there's no digital manipulation available to me.

Room: 10x10', with the door on an angle where one corner would be. The house is on an engineer concrete slab and the flooring is laminate over a standard foam layer on that. 2x4 and drywall walls. The window side wall is (obviously) insulated, but the other three are just standard hollow wall construction. The ceiling is a couple feet of blown in insulation with roof truss space over that.

Pictures. Overview of the room:

More contemporary pictures:

As you can probably tell from the pictures, I primarily listen to RUSH in this room, so it's rock/prog rock/etc. Although I do enjoy jazz, classical, 80's, etc from time to time.

The stereo is a restored Sansui 8080DB, Dual 1249 and 1229Q turntables, two Polk RTi-A5's and a Polk PSW-111 (10") powered subwoofer. There's also cassette and CD sources in there as well.

Obviously, there's a lot of surfaces in there right now and I'm not really willing to change any of that as the room is pretty much the way I want it.

So basically, there's space behind the tower speakers and the ceiling itself.

Is there any point in looking at a treatment behind the towers in the corners or is it a "just deal with what you got" thing?

I'm kinda "iffy" on doing anything on the ceiling because I think it would look kinda "weird" to have a treatment on the ceiling but no where else.

Music sounds good in there to me, but there's also that old maxim of "the best you've know is the best you're heard"......

 

[ozzy9832001]

As it stands now, your best option would be to treat the entire ceiling.

Not much room elsewhere and treating 1 sidewall and not the other will cause more problems than it would solve.

Something is better than nothing, but for that something to be worth it, you'd need 4" or thicker panels and they'd need the equivalent in an airgap behind it to maximize their effective range.

 

[flightops]

That's pretty much what I figured. I've got myself "hemmed in" by what I have in the room already.

Thanks.

 

[sonitus mirus]

Your setup looks incredible! The whole vibe of the room is awesome, and I bet Rush sounds amazing in there.

If you are thinking about bass traps, something around four to six inches thick in the corners behind the speakers could help tighten up the low end. In smaller rooms like yours, bass can get a bit boomy, and this would smooth things out without changing the look too much. Traps made from rigid fiberglass or mineral wool are really effective, and you can find them in neutral colors or even custom prints if you want to match the rest of the decor. Volume level will also play a role in how the room responds.

If you are curious, you could grab a simple measuring mic and run some room response tests. It is not too complicated, and it would show you if there are any problem spots with the bass or reflections. You might find everything is already sounding as good as it can, or it could point out a few tweaks you never noticed before. Either way, it is a cool way to really dial things in.

Since you are not really into adding anything to the ceiling, that is totally fine. You might not even need it if the corner traps and a bit of EQ adjustment do the trick. It is all about small adjustments rather than big changes. But honestly, if it sounds good to you now, you are probably already in a pretty good spot.

 

[flightops]

Your setup looks incredible! The whole vibe of the room is awesome, and I bet Rush sounds amazing in there.

If you are thinking about bass traps, something around four to six inches thick in the corners behind the speakers could help tighten up the low end. In smaller rooms like yours, bass can get a bit boomy, and this would smooth things out without changing the look too much. Traps made from rigid fiberglass or mineral wool are really effective, and you can find them in neutral colors or even custom prints if you want to match the rest of the decor. Volume level will also play a role in how the room responds.

If you are curious, you could grab a simple measuring mic and run some room response tests. It is not too complicated, and it would show you if there are any problem spots with the bass or reflections. You might find everything is already sounding as good as it can, or it could point out a few tweaks you never noticed before. Either way, it is a cool way to really dial things in.

Since you are not really into adding anything to the ceiling, that is totally fine. You might not even need it if the corner traps and a bit of EQ adjustment do the trick. It is all about small adjustments rather than big changes. But honestly, if it sounds good to you now, you are probably already in a pretty good spot.

Thanks. I bought my first RUSH album in ‘74 and have just kept up with it ever since. I have a slight preference for 70’s era gear as well, except speakers which have come a long way since my AR4x’s (still have 2 original sets).

What software should I use for room measurements and would some kind of usb mic suffice (laptop, no sound card inputs)? Or would a usb sound-card be better?

I don’t mind spending a little bit of cash on some gear if it can help make some room improvements and offer some sound enhancement.

My hearing is also a little damaged. 30 years air force, helicopters, search and rescue. Within feet of screaming jet engines, screaming straight cut gear transmissions, screaming coms and screaming electronics cooling fans. Mostly the higher khz ranges though. 2k and up. Usually give the 12band eq a little “boost” in those ranges….

 

[sonitus mirus]

Honestly, if the sound is clean without any noticeable distortion, I'd suggest leaving it as is and simply enjoying the music. There will never be any significant change in sound, and so much sacrifice would be necessary that the outcome might not even live up to your current setup.

 

[flightops]

Understood.

Cheers

 

[sonitus mirus]

What was your first Rush album and what circumstances led you to make the purchase?

 

[flightops]

What was your first Rush album and what circumstances led you to make the purchase?

I was 9 years old and bought their self titled album in 1974 with my “chores” money.

First heard them on a local radio station and decided I wanted their album. “Working man” was fairly popular on the local rock stations. That they were also Canadian was “icing one the cake” for me.

Purchased the album from a local record store.

Been following them along thier journey ever since. Each time a new album was released, I was on my way to the local store with whatever money I could scrape together.

The self titled album you see on the wall is that first album I bought in ‘74….its got a few “battlescars” from young hands handling it, but I still listen to it. I put on the cd if I want to listen to the album without the vinyl blemishes. The LP is a “time machine”, it takes me back to a younger, simpler time..

 

[alex-z]

There is no room for decent treatment on the walls or corner, but a ceiling cloud would definitely be worth installing. I would recommend 3.5-5.5" thickness with a 1-2" air gap so that you get usable performance into the mid-bass region. Doesn't have to be the entire ceiling, even 20-30% coverage would be audibly better.

Are you willing to add some new gear? Something like a MiniDSP Flex in your signal chain would let you achieve better subwoofer integration, and let you compensate for things like the asymmetrical window placement.

Minidsp Flex Review (Audio DSP)

This is a review and detailed measurement of the Minidsp Flex audio signal processor. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $475 for unbalanced and $550 for balanced that I tested. Flex borrows the interface from SHD and puts it in a compact package. Seeing how I really liked that...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Product link

A new subwoofer is also worth considering. The PSW-111 has a relatively high port tune, a bigger sub would give you more bass extension and move the group delay peak away from the kick drum region. RSL 10S MKII or Klipsch SPL-120 are affordable examples.

Speedwoofer 10S MKII

Features: 400 watts RMS / 1020 watts peak Cast-frame 10” woofer w/ improved thermal capacity LFE mode offers deeper extension (22Hz!) Music mode matches original 10S w/ improved dynamics Rear-vented Compression Guide™ tuning Wireless receiver built in. Option to add transmitter during checkout*...

rslspeakers.com

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-xOqZl1JAKSX/p_714SPL120/Klipsch-SPL-120.html

Unrelated note, has your attic had a third party inspection? I see lot of new builds and renovations where the builders and their "approved" inspectors will lie about stuff like insulation depth and ventilation.

 

[Flaesh]

What software should I use for room measurements and would some kind of usb mic suffice (laptop, no sound card inputs)? Or would a usb sound-card be better?

I don’t mind spending a little bit of cash on some gear if it can help make some room improvements and offer some sound enhancement.

You can do it this way too. Find out what problems there are (if any) and then think about possible solutions. REW and usb mic.

 

[flightops]

There is no room for decent treatment on the walls or corner, but a ceiling cloud would definitely be worth installing. I would recommend 3.5-5.5" thickness with a 1-2" air gap so that you get usable performance into the mid-bass region. Doesn't have to be the entire ceiling, even 20-30% coverage would be audibly better.

Are you willing to add some new gear? Something like a MiniDSP Flex in your signal chain would let you achieve better subwoofer integration, and let you compensate for things like the asymmetrical window placement.

Minidsp Flex Review (Audio DSP)

This is a review and detailed measurement of the Minidsp Flex audio signal processor. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $475 for unbalanced and $550 for balanced that I tested. Flex borrows the interface from SHD and puts it in a compact package. Seeing how I really liked that...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Product link

A new subwoofer is also worth considering. The PSW-111 has a relatively high port tune, a bigger sub would give you more bass extension and move the group delay peak away from the kick drum region. RSL 10S MKII or Klipsch SPL-120 are affordable examples.

Speedwoofer 10S MKII

Features: 400 watts RMS / 1020 watts peak Cast-frame 10” woofer w/ improved thermal capacity LFE mode offers deeper extension (22Hz!) Music mode matches original 10S w/ improved dynamics Rear-vented Compression Guide™ tuning Wireless receiver built in. Option to add transmitter during checkout*...

rslspeakers.com

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-xOqZl1JAKSX/p_714SPL120/Klipsch-SPL-120.html

Unrelated note, has your attic had a third party inspection? I see lot of new builds and renovations where the builders and their "approved" inspectors will lie about stuff like insulation depth and ventilation.

Yes. We’ve even had the “efficiency” people in to inspect the house insulation, air leakage, etc.

I was very specific how I wanted the house built and was hear at least every second/third day. To check that things were being done right.

 

[flightops]

You can do it this way too. Find out what problems there are (if any) and then think about possible solutions. REW and usb mic.

Recommendations for a usb mic or will most anything do?

I have REW downloaded in a file somewhere. Just haven’t used it.

I think a bit of measuring might be warranted. If nothing else to maybe show me what I don't know…

 

[flightops]

That flex dsp is interesting, but alas, at nearly a grand (my cost here) its a little bit above what I can spare from disposable income (retired)…

 

[Mart68]

Recommendations for a usb mic or will most anything do?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/miniDSP-Omni-Directional-Measurement-Calibrated-Microphone/dp/B00N4Q25R8/ref=sr_1_5?

 

[flightops]

Even that mic gets a little pricey in cdn dollars.

I’ll have to do some saving up for a while so I’m basically going to put a pin in the whole process for now….