Acoustic Panels question.

[skutters]

Hi All,
I have reached my end game setup gear wise for my small room after upgrading over the last couple of years very happy with how it sounds. BUT I keep reading from many sources that the room could be having a detrimental effect on sound quality. So I have added a couple of pictures one from my listening position and the wall behind me, so would the likes of the Amplitude Absorption/Diffusion panels from GIK put behind the speakers really make much difference and some DIY Absorbers ones made with rockwool behind me. I have a thick throw I can put over the TV if needs be. The problem is you can't try this stuff unlike hardware that you can bring home and try it in your room.

The panels from GIK are not cheap and would not be returnable I'm guessing if I thought that they did little, so after some thoughts from people who might have experience with this sort of thing. One thing that has me doubting how much difference they would make is the fact that my listening triangle is quite small the speakers are slightly toed in and I am approx 7 foot from the speakers so how much impact from the room am I hearing.

Regards, Kevin.

 

[skinnypuppy71]

Hi there Kevin.
The best thing to try out first, is go and listen to some favourite tracks on some decent headphones and there is your reference to compare against the loudspeaker setup.....you'll be able to gauge how music should be roughly sounding without any room interference....compare the sound of the bass and the upper registers for any excessive reverb in your room compared to what you hear on the headphone listening.. This should be able to give you a idea if your room is problematic.

 

[Entrigo]

I had a similar configuration, with speakers on the side of a TV and picture frames right behind me. I did try covering the TV with a throw. I felt it helped a bit. Same with placing a felt board (about 1" thick) behind my head.

As per acoustic panels, I now have two on the side walls at "first reflection points" - changed configuration and speakers are firing down the long side of the room, about 40cm away from the walls. I didn't go for GIK but bought them from a local guy, £45 each. I can't say I hear a lot of difference, but at least they were cheap haha

 

[skutters]

Hi there Kevin.
The best thing to try out first, is go and listen to some favourite tracks on some decent headphones and there is your reference to compare against the loudspeaker setup.....you'll be able to gauge how music should be roughly sounding without any room interference....compare the sound of the bass and the upper registers for any excessive reverb in your room compared to what you hear on the headphone listening.. This should be able to give you a idea if your room is problematic.

Ah good idea don't why I didn't think of that, I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 800s headphones so will give that a go tonight.