# would there be any benefit of switching my system around?



## Diskohouse (Jun 2, 2011)

We live in an apartment and the living-room is pretty much an acoustic nightmare in my opinion. I was wondering if there would be a benefit by changing my room around, basically turning the system 180 degrees?






I have built some acoustic panels using RHT80, 4 panels that are 2" thick with a 2" air gap built into the frame (on the side walls), 5 panels that are 4" and will have a 4" space between them (front wall) and the wall, lastly there's a 6 inch panel in the corner (not built yet). In the picture you can see the way things are currently set up. The listening position is about 58" from the back-wall. The room dimensions are 14'7" (w) x 14'9.5"(L) x 8'2"(h) and there is a hallway running off the room.






There is an air condition on the back side of the room with a 5'6" (w) window in the middle, the other wall has our main door. If I changed the orientation of the room the other way around, I only have 8'5" from where the wall begins to where it ends at the door jam, so that will effect my surround speaker placement.






In the pictures I attached, you see how things are laid out now, including where I have my acoustic panels placed. Their placement is not ideal, as the wife has to move them to use the door, that's why I was thinking about switching the room around.






I am not sure if it will be beneficial to switch things or not, hence my post. Would the sound benefit because of the symmetry of the other wall? If so, does the benefit out way sitting closer to the main drives, ruffly 6'6" away compared to 8'2"....making the sound-stage smaller? If I did switch things around, I would have to total rethink my acoustic panel placement. Is the time invested worth the benefit? Is there even a benefit to switch things? Or am I just better leaving it alone as is? All my drivers are Klipschs except for the sub-woofers which are B&W and Definitive Technology. Is advice from some of the acoustic masters in here would be great.


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Facing the wall with the centered window is going to allow you more symmetrically set up and treat the space.

Bryan


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## Diskohouse (Jun 2, 2011)

Thank you Bryan!! I switched things around this weekend and what a difference it makes. I have another question about the acoustic panels. When spacing an acoustic panel off of the wall....is it better to incorporate the space into the frame (choice B)? Or is it ok to just mount some 2x4 on the wall and then connect the acoustic panel frame to it (2x4 are being used to create a 4" space between the panel and the wall (Choice A))? If I used the 2x4, I was not going to make a complete frame, instead I was going to have a beam on top and another on the bottom, with the sides open as seen in the screenshot.






I am not sure if the performance will be effected or not by this approach (choice B). What is your recommendations? Once again, thank you for the assistance!!!!


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## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Either can work on the frame construction. Ideally, the gap would be equal to the thickness of the absorptive material. It's not so much the air behind it as it is getting the leading edge out farther from the boundary behind it that helps to extend low frequency effectiveness.

Bryan


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## Diskohouse (Jun 2, 2011)

Thank you for all of the help Bryan, I really appreciate it!!!


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