[Nauman]

hi,

please take a look and help me. feel free to post any suggestions, advises, sircasm,ANYTHING would be greatly appreciated, coz i just dont know where to start.

http://community.webshots.com/user/nauman1982

there are 3 doors at each side wall of my HT room.2 of them are of STEEL(YESS! steel doors)
the ceiling as u can see in the pic is asbestose sheet. i cant put up a proper ceiling and i dont know wut are the other alternatives to cover it up. wut kindof acoustic treatment should i do?

apart from that any ideas, suggestions about speakers placement and other AV equipment?
seating arrangements? i think i need to move out the 2 seater at left side wall.

my HT:
paradigm studio 20's, CC-570, Foucus as SS, servo-15, marantz 7400, panasonic DV-s47, Xbox.

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Hi Nauman,

You titled your thread “An acoustical nightmare” but then didn’t describe any problems you’re having.

As far as other suggestions, I can offer a few.

Judging from the pictures, your front speakers are too close together to give good imaging way back at your seat. If you can spread them further apart I think you’d notice that things would open up and sound more spacious.

The center speaker on the floor is a big no-no. See if you can put it on a shelf above the TV and aim it down at your seat by propping something under the back of it.

Likewise, you’ll probably find that you need to raise the front L/R speakers. I’d make them at least to the halfway point of the TV height, or perhaps an inch or two higher.

To clean things up a little, you might try dropping those rear speaker wires in the wall. Here are some old posts of mine that will tell you how to do it:

Dropping Wires In-Wall from Baseboards, Part 1
Dropping Wires In-Wall from Baseboards Part 2 (With In-Wall Insulation)

Since the rear speakers are so close to your seat, you may find it’s hard for them not to draw attention to themselves. That can be distracting. If that’s the case, try raising them a little more. You might also reduce the treble to them, if your receiver has separate tone controls for the rears.

Regarding acoustics, don’t write off the ceiling just yet. All those ridges actually help diffuse and disperse the soundwaves. That’s good.

The trick with acoustics is to minimize flat, reflective surfaces. With that in mind, what is the floor covering? If you have the option, I would put in something soft like wall-to-wall carpeting.

Heavier curtains for the rear window that block the light better would reduce the reflection you’re getting on the screen. While you’re at it, go ahead and make them full-length across the back wall. That will also help cut down on reverberation and improve acoustics.

I see you have a square or rectangular room. I’ve found the worst problem with those is that you get the best bass sitting near a wall, and the further you move to the center of the room, the weaker the bass gets. Some bass traps might help with that. A cheaper alternative would be to open some or all of the doors. Openings in the walls seem to help smooth out bass response in many situations.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

[Nauman]

thanks a lot Wayne! . i was exactly looking for someone who can identify all the problems from the pics and guide me.

well the biggest problem was the bass, in bass intense scenes esp. when boom boom is happening, the asbestose sheet literally vibrates vigourously and i can hear that. if the ridges are helpful then i think i should use some foamy material glued to the ceiling to absorb sound.

the floor is wall to wall carpeted.
i cant put the center speaker on the TV becoz its too big and heavy. im going to modify the racks in my TV stand for the center to fit in. im using generic stands. was looking for premier stands but dont have the budget for it rite now. ill get some stands custom made frm the premier stands' design.

yes, my room is almost a square with a difference of 1-2 feet, im sure that would'nt help alot.

thanks a lot! one really needs to know the basics of acoustics to know wut to do with the room. ur post and links have been really helpful.

. ill post back in a week or two about the changes.