Ceiling Acoustics Question

[Ron Resnick]

That is interesting Gary, thank you!

 

[DonH50]

My room has a half angled ceiling on the left, (see system pic http://www.whatsbestforum.com/album.php?albumid=68&attachmentid=5391), and the REW frequency response from the left and right sides are almost identical. The left side has a narrow slight dip at 40 Hz and the right side has a narrow slight dip at 45 Hz and the right side has a narrow 2 dB dip at 300 Hz that is not present on the left. All in all, the system is very flat from 10Hz to 20kHz and I can't say that specifically the ceiling is making as much of a difference between channels compared to the left wall being glass and the right wall being one inch thick hard pine over sheetrock. Still, both sides have a very similar room frequency response and it sounds very musical.

Acting like planar/line arrays they should not radiate much to top/bottom so that makes sense (not being very sensitive to the ceiling). OTOH, I think it makes sense to subject them to more rigorous independent evaluation, something I really don't have time for with my work schedule but am willing to do just for you, so ship them to me and I'll let you know when I'm done.

 

[GaryProtein]

Acting like planar/line arrays they should not radiate much to top/bottom so that makes sense (not being very sensitive to the ceiling). OTOH, I think it makes sense to subject them to more rigorous independent evaluation, something I really don't have time for with my work schedule but am willing to do just for you, so ship them to me and I'll let you know when I'm done.

If you have a set of crates made and pay for shipping both ways I'll do that for you while I'm on vacation!

 

[christoph]

Hi Ron

I have a very similar situation like you are facing in my second listening room.
My room is asymmetrical as well and I also have rather tall electrostats where the left speaker almost touches the cover of a beam above. Because of the radiation pattern of dipoles/line sources that almos no sound goes to the floor or the ceiling, this isn't as bad as one would think.

When I set up the speakers in that room, I wasn't expecting good sound at all, but I was proven otherwise.
You can ask Kedar/bonzo what he thinks of that system/room.

Have you considered to "open" up the hard cover over the beam and piping and add damping around the beam and piping and then cover it again, but with sound transparant fabric, so that it looks covered and clean, but is sonically tranparent? I'm pretty confident that this would improve your situation sonically, while keeping the clean and tidy look.

Cheers,
Christoph

 

[bonzo75]

Hi Ron

I have a very similar situation like you are facing in my second listening room.
My room is asymmetrical as well and I also have rather tall electrostats where the left speaker almost touches the cover of a beam above. Because of the radiation pattern of dipoles/line sources that almos no sound goes to the floor or the ceiling, this isn't as bad as one would think.

When I set up the speakers in that room, I wasn't expecting good sound at all, but I was proven otherwise.
You can ask Kedar/bonzo what he thinks of that system/room.

Have you considered to "open" up the hard cover over the beam and piping and add damping around the beam and piping and then cover it again, but with sound transparant fabric, so that it looks covered and clean, but is sonically tranparent? I'm pretty confident that this would improve your situation sonically, while keeping the clean and tidy look.

Cheers,
Christoph

I love that room. It looked like a dump in an attic, and was the first and only time I have heard Acoustats, and I have been on and on since then. One of the best rooms I have been in, and the total cost is probably one of the lowest by high end standards.

 

[christoph]

Hi Ked

Thank you for your kind words.

When you were there, the power amp was a humble but very decent Sphinx Project 14.
Now with the Lamm M 1.1 monos or the KR Audio VA 350i it sounds a lot better.
I also bought a Silvaweld phono and that was revelation to say the least.

Btw, the new Kronzilla in the main system is also a very nice addition.

Cheers,
Christoph

 

[bonzo75]

Oh wow. Looks like I will have to do another trip to compare Lamm and Kronzilla on the acoustats. And your mate's Scintillas

 

[christoph]

You're always welcome.
I haven't heard in ages from my friend, due to his enormous workload. But I would try make sure that we can visit him, then.

 

[microstrip]

Here:

Interesting - it seems you dot cover the area over the speakers, just the primary reflection area - or is it the listening area? What is the type and thickness of the absorber?

 

[DonH50]

If you have a set of crates made and pay for shipping both ways I'll do that for you while I'm on vacation!

Probably as close as I'd ever get to owning a pair, but alas I had best pass...

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[christoph]

Hi Ron

Have you gathered any ideas from this thread or did you go in another direction?

Cheers,
Christoph

 

[Ron Resnick]

I have not yet gone in any direction. The listening room is still a mess and not yet repaired.

Initially I will either do nothing and see if I perceive any channel imbalance (I doubt I would) or, possibly, add some sound absorbing material like a Sonex panel above the left speaker -- just for peace of mind.

 

[christoph]

Hi Ron

What do you think of my idea of opening up the cover over the plumbing, adding absorbing material and then closing it again with a sound tranparent cloth?
I actually find it pretty clever. This way you avoid early hard reflexions and virtually (and effectively) make the distance from the speaker to the plumbing quite a lot bigger.
In your situation, I would definitely do that.
That's only a little fuzz and it's very inexpensive to do.

Cheers,
Christoph

 

[Ron Resnick]

I think it is very interesting –– especially if someone is concerned about the cosmetics of the acoustic treatment.

I am not concerned about the cosmetics, so I would have no problem gluing Sonex panels wherever needed.