Room Treatments

I relate so much to the OP and I think it is a very common issue. I look at many system pics and wonder what the heck guys are doing with all those traps/tubes/diffusers/panels etc! From my experience, they all have their own sound and more often than not when I try to bring them into my space I screw things up more than help. I have read many of the popular, suggested, articles and still no zilch about measuring sound other than what I hear. I envy some of the members with more technical backgrounds who do in fact know how to actually tune a space but man am I far from that. So...the solution I found was the panels from Furutech + Acoustic Revive. They do not resolve all issues but along with my floor to ceiling drapes, big couches and rugs, seem to bring a big improvement in overall sound in my space. They offer a few simple suggestions on placement which I used as a baseline and no measuring was necessary. Of all the stuff I have tried, these "devices" are by far the best for me and the impact is quite dramatic. Bonus is they look very stylish too! So that is how I compensated for my lack of scientific knowledge!

Room tuners for hire and others who model a room should do away with as many ninty degree intersections as they can. I have seen many store bought rooms displayed on these pages and on 6 Moons that are overtreated and overcorrected when in fact the basic geometry is still overlooked. These flaws include soffits that house mechanicals in retangular enclosures hanging overhead and running around the room to give the appearance of a tray ceiling. These trays inhibit the airflow in the room and cause major frequency and phase aberrations. If they were simply addressed with an angle that would redirect the flow of air gracefully at the listener then less restrictive foam and fiberglass need apply. Would you put a ninty degree bend in a tuned header of a race car.
Tom

Theaudiotweak - I agree that round and angled serfaces help keep the audio energy within the room and in the former case act as diffusion, minus the temporal affects. I've found the round hemi-cylindrical diffusers within my room a nice touch and effective at mid/high frequency diffusion over about a 120degree arc and bass trapping too. I'm in the current process of hangin long planks on the side walls (about 5 vertical feet worth) and pulling the bottom edge out from the wall so that sounds hitting it get reflected upwards to avoid 2 hard parallel surfaces.

I think the tray ceilings etc are a biproduct of retrofitting a typtical domestic room into a music/HT room and that every design has compromises and WAF too. I think what you speak of is for a net new room yet to be built. Having said that, there is still reason for some absorption at least for the low frequencies and likely mid/higher ones too so that the RT30/60 falls within the "right" range of values.

Kclone - you've been silent since Jan 7th - 10 days and counting . . . are you still following this thread? Any feedback on people's ideas?

Kevin
Using about a 30 degree downward angle at the ceiling on these soffits many which are enclosures for heating and air feeds. Can actually be made into an acoustic benefit instead of a liability. 30 degrees works well on all wall ceiling intersections and looks really cool especially with a drywall finisher who can use a trough to blend the angles so they flow into each other..a gentle bend. I have removed all soft materials [sheeps wool] from the walls and have recently added a so simple geometric device that works wonders. Tom

Tom .. you mentioned a small geometric device that works wonders , it might be just what i'm looking for , can you share with us what it is . Thanks in advance .
Tim