# Need advice on where to place panels



## canuckaudiog (Nov 14, 2015)

Hello HTS,

I am slowly working on creating my ultimate listening room, and in doing so one of the things I need to do is acoustically treat it. I really want to get the most out of my system and know this is a path I need to go down.

Currently, I have some treatments in the room but it's not enough. I have a pair of homemade 4'x8' panels with fibreglass insulation in it (OC), I have a pair of tuned membrane bass traps, and I also have some mega fuser bass traps from Vicoustics.

I have also invested in a UMIK-1 microphone to better troubleshoot the acoustic issues which I am sure will be of help. Unfortunately the speakers I plan to use are non-functional right now, so I can't post useful measurements yet.

What I am currently looking for advice on is how I should set-up my room. The reason I am looking for advice as opposed to just simply trying it out, is that my speakers weigh about 180 lbs each and moving them around is not easy. So I am hoping to get some suggestions on what might be a good way to go before trying it out, as I'm a beginner to acoustics.

The system is two channel, and the speakers are a pair of RWOFostex LS/3Vs. They are giant studio monitors. Besides the dimensions below, the room is 89" tall.

My room is an L-shape, and unfortunately suffers from having a window on one side, on the long wall. I have attached a drawing of the layout with dimensions to this post.

What I'm toying around with is perhaps placing the speakers diagonally on the northwest wall. However, my concern with this is then the listening seat would be placed near the closet, and I don't know if that's a smart idea. The alternative is to place them on the north wall, but then I have that window on the sidewall. What do you think would be better, or do you think there is another placement that would be better?

If it helps, the room has wood paneling for walls, and I have a carpet on the floor covering a laminate floor.

Also, I have purchased the Primacoustic London 10 kit, and I am just waiting to receive that. Should be any day. Any pointers on where you might place panels would be appreciated. I've asked Primacoustic and have received no response.

I much appreciate any and all help! I've been scratching my head over this one.

Thank you!


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

Bryan is the best one to answer your questions, but I will see if I can get you started on the right path.

1: Where are your current treatments?
2: A good place to start is getting your first reflection points taken care of.
3: Is this a music room, a HT, or a combo room you are setting up?
4: If you will have a sub (or multiples), bass traps would be good to have. They would go in the corners of the walls including the wall to sealing corners too.
5: How far is your MLP from the walls?


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## canuckaudiog (Nov 14, 2015)

ellisr63 said:


> Bryan is the best one to answer your questions, but I will see if I can get you started on the right path.
> 
> 1: Where are your current treatments?
> 2: A good place to start is getting your first reflection points taken care of.
> ...


Thanks for your reply!

To answer your questions:

1: I have the 4'x8' panels on the sidewall first reflection points. Vicoustic bass traps are in the north corners. The tuned membranes I haven't quite figured out where to put them, although they seem to work well behind the speakers.
2: Sounds good.
3: It's a music room.
4: No subs presently, but I do like the improvement bass traps have made.
5: I assume MLP means main listening position? It's sort of hard to describe, basically it's about a foot in front of the closet, but not directly in front of the closet. So, there's space behind me, but then there's the closet which is much closer.


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## Talley (Dec 8, 2010)

So you have a MLP of 3.5' off the back wall but only a foot off the corner of the closet edge. 4x8 panels on the side walls and you have 900cuft of space to pressurize.

The room is small and the speakers are giant. My only recommendation is placing the speakers on each side of your chair and wrapping the walls with 12" thick absorption.

You will have the biggest pair of headphones ever. Eat that "Beats"


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Ideally head would be more like 5' from the wall behind you.

How thick are the 4x8 panels? Might want to look into diffusion for your side wall reflections. A ton of thin foam like the Primacoustics kit is honestly just going to suck all the mid/high frequency life out of the room and still leave the bass proportionately out of control.

I would look into some additional bass absorbers for the space. That's where you'll get the most gain.


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## canuckaudiog (Nov 14, 2015)

bpape said:


> Ideally head would be more like 5' from the wall behind you.
> 
> How thick are the 4x8 panels? Might want to look into diffusion for your side wall reflections. A ton of thin foam like the Primacoustics kit is honestly just going to suck all the mid/high frequency life out of the room and still leave the bass proportionately out of control.
> 
> I would look into some additional bass absorbers for the space. That's where you'll get the most gain.


Hmm dang it's too bad I already ordered the kit then  When I measure the room without any acoustic panels it's a pretty reflective space, so that's why I thought broadband absorption would be the way to go. There's quite a ring in here otherwise.

So more bass absorption. Okay. One item I do have that I can use is a DSPeaker Anti-Mode 2.0 Dual Core, to equalize the bass frequencies. I do know that doesn't take care of information in the time domain, however.

Do you have any thoughts on the placement of the speakers? i.e., should I be putting them in the northwest corner diagonally to even out the reflections a little more (and even use the back of the room as a natural diffusor), or should I be placing them alongside north wall firing into the length of the room? Hopefully I will get my drivers back for the studio monitors and be able to take some measurements right away.

I know that my situation is compromised, in that I shouldn't be placing such large speakers in a small space like I have. However I am perfectly fine with using them in the nearfield, and I have heard of people using these monitors in a nearfield application and they worked wonderfully so I am confident I can go that route. Big headphones essentially, like Talley stated


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

I would probably start with the more conventional approach rather than diagonally - though I have seen that work well too in some situations.


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## canuckaudiog (Nov 14, 2015)

Okay thank you Bryan. That's where I have the speakers placed currently anyway.

Thank you for your insight, I really appreciate it. I've been trying to find some good answers online for weeks and have come up with nothing. I'm glad I signed up here!

In the next week or so, I will have my drivers back and then I will post some measurements of the space.


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