Hi Amp_Nut,
before I start to answer your questions, let me show you a bit of the history of my room. My general problem was the low frequencies (between 70Hz and 35 Hz) and its modes. I did try various speakers and speaker positions and different hardware with more or less successful results. And thus the present configuration I??ve posted in the
http://www.hifivision.com/my-audio-video-setup/1794-hi.html thread is a mix-up in respect of all items (i.e. CD racks, wall panels etc.) but finally it works perfect. A good sound stage in width and depth as well as a bass coming down almost linear to 34 Hz (-3 dB). The room is almost ??dead?, means it has reverberation times less 3ms.
The following picture is the first set-up when I??ve started with the room. On the picture there are also some DIY speakers to see a friend has built. When we first placed the speakers plain to the wall, the bass was horrible (because of the one bass chassis which animated very bad bass modes) and we??ve put them across a room corner with a much better result.
Because of the good result we had putting the speakers across a room??s corner I did place my speakers in the same way. At this time I still had the Marantz SA15S1, which is now replaced by the SA 7001 KI. I still have that cdp but will be sold? if somebody wants
Another picture of the previous set-up
And one more for the road
The next picture is showing the listening position belonging to the above set-ups. I did place two wall panels (details about coming further below) on each side of the corner
Because of optical matters I did change the position of speakers etc. again, this picture is showing the listening position I had before the present one
Above the wall panels have been positioned as they should be, behind the listening position (which was approx. 1m from the rear wall). Around them you can see also smaller wall panels.
That??s now the present listening position, with small absorber panels and some diffuser on top of them.
The rack with the equipment is not in between the speakers but a little behind, which is acceptable in terms of influences.
On a previous picture above you did see that I even had corner blocks behind the listening position which are now placed half length side wall. I was very surprised what affect they have in these positions (I did measure also)
A word to the big wall panels and the frames: The wall panels having a size of each 100cm x 100cm x 5cm. I did placed two panels in each frame. BTW, the frames are made by a friend of mine.
The frames are having a depth of 20cm to get a gap between the panel and the wall of 10cm. You should have at least a distance between the panel and the wall of the panel??s thickness. In the corners small white fittings are installed for mounting them on the wall.
At all I have installed four of these wall panels.
The wall panels I have purchased in the following on-line shop
THE T.AKUSTIK BASOTECT 50 100/100 4ER PACK - U.K. International Cyberstore
The corner blocks I??ve bought here (unfortunately in German language only)
Schallschutz Schalldämmung - www.aixfoam.de - Akustik Online-Shop
Here is a link to another acoustic stuff on-line-dealer in English language. But sure you are having such dealers also around
SONATECH
Here is a link to sample pictures showing tuned rooms. Unfortunately in German language (click on the fifth button on the left -> KUNDENFOTOS)
RTFS- Der Anbieter von Wohnraumakustik Elementen
Maybe you??ve heard about the company Hunecke already, which people are professionals in room acoustic and related stuff. They have, in my opinion, some interesting tools made available.
Link to speaker calculator
hunecke.de | Loudspeakers Calculator
Link to acoustic calculator
hunecke.de | Room Acoustics Calculator
Link to calculate room modes
hunecke.de | Room Eigenmodes Calculator
Your questions
1. I particularly like the panels created behind your amplifier & CD player. I like the look of large gaps between the panels. Were these done for acoustic or asthetic reasons ?
I am not sure to which gaps you are referring to. The wall panels are having a gap to each other because of the frames. The gap between the wall panels and corner blocks (bass traps) is created by the room / wall dimension.
What is the distance between the wall and the rear surface of each panel ?
The distance is 10cm (as a minimum - distance = thickness of panels)
How was the mounting done ?I guess its essential that the mounting is ridgid and the gap filled with fibre wool ( ? ) so that there is no resonance ?
See one of the above pictures showing the wall panel from rear. There is no material filling the gap otherwise the panels would not work that effective. You have to have a free gap between the panel and the wall behind for the waves (frequencies) running dead.
2. The corner Bass Traps look good. What was filled inside ?
The bass traps are ??solid? but made from absorbing material - have a look on that manufacturer??s link I??ve made above. Also here is nothing behind for the same reason as above.
Did you make your own Bass Traps, or are these done professionally ?
See above
3. The Room With The CD Racks behind the amplifier.... any specific reason why the CD rack was put there ( between the speakers) rather than on the side walls ?
My initial idea was to create a diffuser (destroying waves into smaller -> shorter reflections) with CD racks. But finally I left it as the texture is doing a very good job.
The Walls in that pic seem to have a lovely texture. Are these Sound treated panels or just Wall paper ?
The texture is, as mentioned above, cotton, made for that purpose. I??ve applied it with 130 litres of water. It was a hell of work but I am happy that I did. Unfortunately I haven??t found any English web-page.
Hoping that I did answer your questions satisfactorily, if not just ask
I??m just wondering whether or not this forum has a room acoustic thread. So far I did not explore, well, I did not run through all topics yet. Again, in my eyes / ears it will improve sound dramatically