Sound Lab ESL and room treatments

[MikeB]

FWIW, I had some 6’High x 3’Wide x 12″Thick DIY free standing fiberglass-filled absorption panels behind my Majestic 845PX Soundlabs. I tried the panels on the wall directly behind the S/L’s, then across the corner and lastly on the side wall behind them. In every area, they deadened things too much for my taste and I removed them.

I built the panels many years ago, based on a Jon Risch design from the AudioAsylum Tweakers Forum. The S/L’s are pulled out approx. 7′ into the room and fairly thick, room darkening drapes are behind the speakers, essentially covering the space between both speakers.

[drbond]

@Ralph
I’m glad to hear that dispersion worked for you; however, typically, from models in liquids, dispersion of sound waves is of minimal effectiveness, as compared to absorption. Supposedly, with ESL, you don’t need much in the way of sound wave absorption either above, below, or to the sides of the speakers. The main source of interference is going to be the wall behind the speakers (or a corner behind the speakers).

[Anonymous]

@drbond

Diffusion on both front wall and sides solves the “interference” in my system. Additionally, my speakers are considerably further away from front wall than yours – about 8 feet.

[drbond]

@Dizzie

I’ve tried to upload a photo from an angle, so you can appreciate the acoustic panels, and corner bass traps:

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[drbond]

@Ralph

In my experience, the “back wave” just interferes with the sound from the “front wave”, making the sound less precise, and more muddled.

[kilkil]

I don’t have much flat surface behind the speakers, I also have essentially no absorption material behind the speakers, or really even in the entire room, only the loveseat to the left, the ottoman and couch.

I know people have recommended removing the monitor, but this is a multi-purpose room, watching videos is the bigger usage of this system, than Music only. Though I try to optimize for music.

I’ve thought about heavy drapes in front of the built-in cabinets and fireplace. I just haven’t been inspired enough to buy and install them.

Attached is a picture about a year old, changed DAC, though speaker and monitor are effectively the same.

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[Anonymous]

I take a different approach using dipoles – diffusion. I use a mix of commercial solutions along with fake plants.

As Dr. West has indicated, you don’t want to throw away the back wave.

Multiple pics found on AA:

https://gallery.audioasylum.com/cgi/view.mpl?UserImages=2150

[drbond]

@Dizzie

The panels don’t really show up in photos, as they are the same color as the wall. All you see is the seams between the 24″ x 48″ panels, which do stick out 2″ from the wall, since they are 2″ thick. So from the side you can appreciate the presence of the panels, but not so much from the front. The corner bass traps are the only rather visible aspect of the treatment.

[drbond]

@kilkil

I think that it is the side walls in front of the speakers that generally aren’t considered a problem for electrostatic speakers. I placed the acoustic absorption panels on the side walls behind the speakers, where there’s alot of reflective sound waves, as the speakers are usually angled inwards to the front, which means that they’re angled outwards (towards the side walls) to the back.

[Dizzie]

drbond,
Thank you for sharing. Pictures please.

[kilkil]

It is great to hear your experience. I was thinking with the more directional Soundlab that sidewall reflections were not as much of an issue.

I thought of adding panels, below is my room
Behind my panels are cabinets, shelves, and a fireplace, all that should diffuse the sound.
large monitor between the panels
Ceiling is vaulted, so I shouldn’t have to worry about anything there.
Floor, I have a large soft ottoman that would absorb everything.
One side wall is essentially all glass with a great view, I have some larger plants in front of the glass.
Behind me is open then leads into kitchen.
Other sidewall, there is a loveseat, and a hard wall, possibly add a panel above the loveseat.

[drbond]

I thought I would share my expererience regarding room treatments and sound quality with my Sound Lab M745 PX:

During the development phase of my current sound system, I started with a blank wall behind the speakers, which were placed about 5 feet out from the back wall. A thick rug is on the floor in front of the speakers. After hearing some brightness to the system, I placed 6 foot x 4 foot rugs behind the speakers, which helped significantly with the brightness of the speakers and system itself.

I was still experiencing some degradation in sound quality with the rugs behind the speakers: there was lack of precise imaging and some slight interference, which made the sound slightly less detailed, not muffled, but just not entirely clear.

Next, I decided to place some acoustic absorption panels on the back wall. I placed 2″ AcoustiMac absorption panels along the entire back wall, behind the speakers and the sound quality improved dramatically. Bass traps were also placed in the corners behind the speakers at this time. The instrumentation was much more precise and clear, with much more detail discovered from recordings. There was less harshness/brightness, which was only slight, and there was more precision and detail. There was no dullness to the sound at all.

Since I had appreciated such a dramatic improvement in sound quality from placing acoustic absorption panels along the entire back wall, I decided to place more of the same 2″ absorption panels along the side walls as well, up to parallel with the speakers (so just the 5 feet behind and to the side of the speakers).

This last bit of acoustic treatment had phenomenal results! The music was precisely imaged, and as detailed as I could imagine. The sound stage really took complete form now, and the detail and precision were perfect, without any hint of brightness, nor dullness.

[Author]

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