sound pannels

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  • 11-26-2009, 02:04 PM
    ryanianmckinnon
    sound pannels
    i have a question about sound pannels or acoustic pannels whatever there called?
    if you put them behind your speakers what do they exactly do
    do they make them sound better ? any advice would help thanx
  • 11-26-2009, 02:07 PM
    poppachubby
    That depends, what are the panels made of?
  • 11-26-2009, 02:13 PM
    ryanianmckinnon
    idk but im thinking of making a pair myself or buying a pair but i just want to know what they do first before doing so and i think there usually made of some kind of foam
  • 11-26-2009, 02:54 PM
    JoeE SP9
    If you're thinking of making acoustic panels the first place they should go is the first reflection points on the side walls.

    What they do is damp reflections.
  • 11-26-2009, 02:58 PM
    ryanianmckinnon
    so like on the wall beside the speakers
    because both of my speakers are angled in like 45 degrees maybe
    but its not much but wouldnt i put the acoustic pannels behind the speakers ?
    well i dont know much about them thats why im asking and what do they do exactly ?
  • 11-26-2009, 03:08 PM
    JoeE SP9
    If you walk around your room while clapping your hands you will hear echo's and a short reverb. Acoustic panels soak up sound and prevent those echo's when placed properly. Also, no echo means no reverb from the room.

    To find the first reflection points; sit in your chair and have someone move a mirror along a side wall at at ear/eye height. When you can see the speaker closest to that wall in the mirror you have found your first reflection point. Appl the same process to both walls. To test this hang a large beach towel at speaker height at those two places. I'm sure you will hear the difference. The floor and ceiling also have first reflection points.
  • 11-26-2009, 03:11 PM
    ryanianmckinnon
    ahh i kinda get it now so u can hear less sounds from the room on the outside kinda ?
    and ok i get it and if i make it myself what should i used im thinking of using some mdf for the back and get some wood like something that looks nice and make a border around it and put some foam or something in the middle something like that ?
  • 11-26-2009, 03:18 PM
    JoeE SP9
    Owens Corning fiberglass panels, cover them with grill cloth. Add wood trim if you like.
  • 11-26-2009, 03:20 PM
    ryanianmckinnon
    now where would i find or buy something like that ?
    and dont forget i live in canada :P
  • 11-26-2009, 03:33 PM
    poppachubby
    Ummmm...your speakers have a toe in of 45 degrees? I wouldn't worry about the side walls so much. Start with the wall behind the speakers and then try the side walls. Do your speakers have rear firing ports? Either way, you just have to play around with them and see what result you get.

    And no, it's not for how it sound outside of the room. That would be a different bag. You are placing them for how the room you are listening in will sound, while you are in it.

    You should also be aware of the two main objectives with what you are doing. Absorbtion or dispertion. Basically, depending on where and what you use, you can absorb sounds to diminish them or disperse sounds to reflect or encourage them. Depends on the room...
  • 11-26-2009, 03:41 PM
    ryanianmckinnon
    yeah maybe 45 i think its probably less but i was gonna try and do the wall behind the speakers first and yeah my speakers have rear ports and i was looking on this one site http://www.soundaway.com/Acoustic_Co...05_p/17805.htm and its not expensive to make your own acoustic pannels i dont need huge pannels because my speakers are bookshelf but there really big bookshelf there acoustic research ar 226 ps they are about 20 inches tall and are on 24 inch speaker stands so i would just need to have a pannel about as big as the speaker or a little bigger right ?
  • 11-26-2009, 03:57 PM
    poppachubby
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ryanianmckinnon
    yeah maybe 45 i think its probably less but i was gonna try and do the wall behind the speakers first and yeah my speakers have rear ports and i was looking on this one site http://www.soundaway.com/Acoustic_Co...05_p/17805.htm and its not expensive to make your own acoustic pannels i dont need huge pannels because my speakers are bookshelf but there really big bookshelf there acoustic research ar 226 ps they are about 20 inches tall and are on 24 inch speaker stands so i would just need to have a pannel about as big as the speaker or a little bigger right ?


    I can't say for sure. What I would say is make it with more than just your current speakers in mind. If you upgrade next year, it would be a shame to have to rebuild your panels because you made them too small.

    Play around with the rear position. The ports are there to help the sound, you don't want to diminish it with a poorly placed panel.

    This link has more info than you could possibly want to read....
    http://www.ecoustics.com/Home/Access...ment_Articles/
  • 11-26-2009, 03:57 PM
    JohnMichael
    Some people liked to have LEDE rooms. Live end and dead end. The speakers would be placed in the acousitcally treated end, dead end, so you hear more sound from the speakers and less reflections. You would sit in the live end and the delayed reflections is what you would hear from the speakers after the sound left the dead end.

    One time I had a shelf for my speakers that was a little inset into the wall and I found a cheap idea for the early reflections. I used foam mattress pads that were convoluted. We also called them egg crate mattress pads because the hills and valleys looked like an egg carton. Easy to cut and position or cover large areas. Not pretty but they worked and when you find the areas you need them you can invest in better down the road.
  • 11-26-2009, 04:01 PM
    ryanianmckinnon
    yeah thats what i was thinking of doing is just using foam mattresses and cutting them like 12 x 24 and maybe make like a pannel to glue them to like some mdf with a border around it and glue the foam in the middle to make it at least look nice and still function good until i decide to upgrade
  • 11-26-2009, 04:11 PM
    JohnMichael
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ryanianmckinnon
    yeah thats what i was thinking of doing is just using foam mattresses and cutting them like 12 x 24 and maybe make like a pannel to glue them to like some mdf with a border around it and glue the foam in the middle to make it at least look nice and still function good until i decide to upgrade



    Here is a link to what I was thinking.

    http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden...2/product.html
  • 11-26-2009, 04:26 PM
    poppachubby
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ryanianmckinnon
    yeah thats what i was thinking of doing is just using foam mattresses and cutting them like 12 x 24 and maybe make like a pannel to glue them to like some mdf with a border around it and glue the foam in the middle to make it at least look nice and still function good until i decide to upgrade


    Use Black Krylon spray paint and no one will know, they may even look good.
  • 11-26-2009, 04:34 PM
    ryanianmckinnon
    yeah john that's pretty much excatly what i was thinking and just make a nice looking frame for it so it looks like it was bought instead of made yourself and yeah put some kind of paint on it so it looks good
  • 11-26-2009, 04:50 PM
    JohnMichael
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ryanianmckinnon
    yeah john that's pretty much excatly what i was thinking and just make a nice looking frame for it so it looks like it was bought instead of made yourself and yeah put some kind of paint on it so it looks good



    there are acoustical paints that will not diminish their ability to absorb frequencies
  • 11-26-2009, 07:42 PM
    frenchmon
  • 11-26-2009, 07:51 PM
    ryanianmckinnon
    yeah i will deffinetly look for that kind of paint now and its not a seperate room actually its my bedroom which is ok in size but i wish it was bigger
  • 11-26-2009, 07:52 PM
    hermanv
    Before adding any acoustic treatment, make sure you understand speaker placement See speaker manufacturers data sheet or visit one or more of the many sites that discuss this.

    Example link to the Cardas Audio site (he has never done me wrong with his advice)
    http://www.cardas.com/content.php?ar...ing=Room+Setup
  • 11-26-2009, 07:56 PM
    ryanianmckinnon
    the one problem about that is that i cant find anything about my speaker Ive been to many sites but i cant seem to find anything and to my knowledge the speakers were discontinued to which doesn't help
  • 11-26-2009, 08:08 PM
    hermanv
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ryanianmckinnon
    the one problem about that is that i cant find anything about my speaker Ive been to many sites but i cant seem to find anything and to my knowledge the speakers were discontinued to which doesn't help

    Speakers are usually monopoles (sound comes out the front). There are di-poles and bi-poles requiring special treatment, but most discussions are about standard speakers and you won't go far wrong in using that advice as at least as a stating point.

    Bass wavelengths are so long compared to cabinet size it doesn't matter very much if the woofers are front or side mounted.
  • 11-26-2009, 08:17 PM
    ryanianmckinnon
    ok thanx that helps
  • 11-27-2009, 01:28 PM
    JoeE SP9
    I'm guessing here. Are your speakers positioned in the corners? If so, be aware unless they were designed for corner placement (Klipschorns) corners are the worst place to put them.