Post by Sovereign on Dec 24, 2016 15:56:50 GMT
My hifi room is a converted triple length garage, and by nature it is long but narrow. Apron 3x7m . When I converted it I didn't put enough insulation into the ceiling, it was a bit of a rush job to be honest. So a couple of months ago I had the ceiling overboard with Celotex and re boarded and plastered., not to improve the sound of my hifi but to improve thermal insulation. I thought to myself that whilst my hifi was out the way and the place was upside down that I should treat the room acoustically. I have always found that rooms without coving often sounded quite lively, even though I would say that my room without and acoustic treatment is quite dead and different hifi systems and speakers sound good I couldn't help but take the room to where I wanted it, or at least part way.
After the ceiling was lowered for insulation purposes I put up thick 127mm half round plaster coving, bugger me I forgot how much I don't like doing stuff like this. I completely cocked up the internal mitre corners but I got there in the end. The next night I re set up my hifi to see the difference it made. It wasn't a huge difference but it was a nice one and certainly worth the effort for sure. The top end became more focused and three dimensional and instruments and voices were more centered.
However the biggest upgrade was yet to come. I hung thick lined curtains behind the speakers and this difference was bloody marvelous! I really didn't expect the difference to be as big as it was, I was very pleasantly surprised indeed. My assumption as to why the improvement in acoustics was so good is due to the fact that I use OB speakers. Unlike conventional box speakers my OB drivers are also firing backwards, if you put your head behind the speakers you can hear maybe 30% of the sound of the speakers, so from the listening position you are hearing time delayed music rebounding from the back walls, I'm also presuming that small rooms, or narrow in my case, need extra care and attention as the speakers are so close to the walls.
For whatever reason the thick curtains behind the speakers were a revelation. The biggest improvement was to the imaging, I know imaging is a strength of OB speakers but I have never heard anything like it, I would love to borrow someones electrostatics for comparison, but no need really as all the instrumental cues and nuances are exactly where they should be. The mid range is so bloody engaging and tonally more accurate and the biggest surprise was the increase and better definition of the bass, this was totally unexpected.
You will see from the pictures that I have hung some green underlay on the side walls, and it is here where I am still experimenting as I am not wanting to over damp the room, although I haven't got that far yet as each chance has brought an improvement and as a whole very significant. I may dabble further or I might just leave as is, but I'm very glad I made the effort in the first place.
After the ceiling was lowered for insulation purposes I put up thick 127mm half round plaster coving, bugger me I forgot how much I don't like doing stuff like this. I completely cocked up the internal mitre corners but I got there in the end. The next night I re set up my hifi to see the difference it made. It wasn't a huge difference but it was a nice one and certainly worth the effort for sure. The top end became more focused and three dimensional and instruments and voices were more centered.
However the biggest upgrade was yet to come. I hung thick lined curtains behind the speakers and this difference was bloody marvelous! I really didn't expect the difference to be as big as it was, I was very pleasantly surprised indeed. My assumption as to why the improvement in acoustics was so good is due to the fact that I use OB speakers. Unlike conventional box speakers my OB drivers are also firing backwards, if you put your head behind the speakers you can hear maybe 30% of the sound of the speakers, so from the listening position you are hearing time delayed music rebounding from the back walls, I'm also presuming that small rooms, or narrow in my case, need extra care and attention as the speakers are so close to the walls.
For whatever reason the thick curtains behind the speakers were a revelation. The biggest improvement was to the imaging, I know imaging is a strength of OB speakers but I have never heard anything like it, I would love to borrow someones electrostatics for comparison, but no need really as all the instrumental cues and nuances are exactly where they should be. The mid range is so bloody engaging and tonally more accurate and the biggest surprise was the increase and better definition of the bass, this was totally unexpected.
You will see from the pictures that I have hung some green underlay on the side walls, and it is here where I am still experimenting as I am not wanting to over damp the room, although I haven't got that far yet as each chance has brought an improvement and as a whole very significant. I may dabble further or I might just leave as is, but I'm very glad I made the effort in the first place.