# "Room Treatment" Is it more or less than non-resonant wall surfaces?



## Gregr (Nov 2, 2010)

I have been wanting to learn more about quieting a room and maybe cleaning up music/sound just that last little bit, but I am finding (I think) we are not just quieting reflective and resonant wall surfaces anymore. What I had always thought is that Instead of treating every surface in a room (wall, ceiling and floor) we were treating surfaces only in critical areas (above, behind and directly opposite speakers and small Tx on sidewalls) in order to keep costs down. 

Well, I am happy with the sound produced thru my humble system, today. This system has evolved with new technology and as a result of other new technology, in my small living room, and I want to take the music quality to the next level. The room is far from perfect but I want to give this equipment every opportunity to shine. So, I am taking a step backward (so to write) to look at the BIG PIC and I see very clearly now I really do not know where to begin with room treatment:
Primary system includes:


Monster HTS 3600 MK II
Denon AVR 3805
Focal Cub2 Sub - Belkin, Blue Tube, low level in w/Furutech rca's
B&W DM303 - MIT EXP's w/IConn banana's
Computer w/HT Omega Claro+ soundcard w/Signal Fidelity Digital Interconnect

I listen to Pandora Radio on the Internet - Pandora sends out a 24bit X 192khz signal that the Denon is capable of playing thru the DVD Pure Direct line..., now each time a new song begins the Denon LCD screen lights up momentarily, with this message, "PCM: 192khz" I love it! Ha, ha, ha.

I do not use fiber optic cables anymore because I feel each one I tried added a harsh/dry/boxee/something or restricted the music in some way. Simply, I did not like the result. With a Signal Fidelity analog interconnect I feel the music passes thru easily..., that is to say, all of the detail from each instrument is musical like a nice Taylor or Martin guitar. Not like a fingernail scratch on a slate blackboard (remember that). However if the fingernail scratch were the litmus test for musical accuracy I am sure this humble system would curl the hair on the back of your neck.

I believe this system will sound better with the walls quieted out of the equation. :nerd:, :spend:, :blink:

Help

Greg


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## Kal Rubinson (Aug 3, 2006)

Gregr said:


> Pandora sends out a 24bit X 192khz signal that the Denon is capable of playing thru the DVD Pure Direct line..., now each time a new song begins the Denon LCD screen lights up momentarily, with this message, "PCM: 192khz" I love it! Ha, ha, ha.


Sorry to burst your bubble but that is not very likely. AFAIK, at its best Pandora is sending a 192kbps stream. If your Denon says 192kHz, it is either upsampling it or lying.


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## Gregr (Nov 2, 2010)

Burst away.
Are you saying I can't fit a 192khz stream into a 380+kilobyte (not bit) stream (5meg at the box). I don't know what the 380kbps is capable of to be honest, on your second point the Denon AVR can up-sample to 24/192 but what can you tell me about the 380kbps. I do appreciate all of the information you might throw at this old pup.
Thanks
Greg


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## Gregr (Nov 2, 2010)

It looks like I fail to qualify for the give away. I need to write 5 posts in the next five minutes. I do not think I can write anything of reasonable value in that time without lots of encouragement and ..., Good luck all of you still in the running.
Gregr


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## Ilpo (Jan 1, 2011)

In general, the purpose of the room treatment is to absorb sound wave energy in air, not in mechanical structures like a wall. Mechanical resonances in walls, floors, windows etc. are usually a minor problem compared to long acoustical reverberation and standing waves in the room. In general the aim is to get reasonable short reverberation (or decay) time at all frequencies. Porous absorption materials are effective down to frequency where quarter wavelength equals to absorber thickness, which makes them easy to use down to midrange frequencies. For example, absorbing 100 Hz would lead to about 0.85 m thick absorber structure, which is impractical. In this respect wooden houses are superior, as low frequencies pass through the lightweight walls and need no more attention (energy, which has left the room does not bounce between the wall any more).


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