The craft EVA foam sheets that X mentioned would work well IMHO. If your lucky you might find some with self-adhesive backing. If not, something like 3M craft mount or photo mount spray adhesive would work well to attach the foam sheets.
It'd be a fairly quick job to do, maybe a couple of hours at most...
It'd be a fairly quick job to do, maybe a couple of hours at most...
A hardware store may carry some thin foam on a roll. You may be able to get a sheet long enough for a one piece baffle, glue that on top of your baffle and just cut the holes with a knife before mounting your drivers again.
Some of those foam sheets have some finish/patterns to them that may be nice to leave as is.
Some of those foam sheets have some finish/patterns to them that may be nice to leave as is.
I have to agree with XRK here as some small leaks with such a high QTS driver are not going to have an audible effect. We need to consider some tradeoffs accepted right from the get go by using inexpensive stamped steel frame drivers in that simply torquing the the thin frames to a baffle can and will distort the frame and allow for leaks. It is what it is. Next time when installing the drivers, use a cross pattern while installing and try and ensure all fasteners are equally torqued. Remember, .......it's a mechanical installation at this point. Good luck in completing your arrays!
Thank you guys for the suggestions, I have a couple of options on hand from different earlier projects and what is apparant by your suggestion list is that many viable options exist 
I have 1/4" neoprene door/window sealer on hand (pictured dark roll) with adhesive backing. It is pliable enough to bend around the Vifa easily. Optionally I can also use foam sheets (white roll) intended for wooden floors which is 2mm thick. In other words it doesnt look like I need to source some special hardware to accomplish a tight seal
The Vifa frame is plastic, it will bend. Taming the mechanical trade-offs are the goal here While small leaks might not do much harm it do lessen the array potential so optimizing each factor / compromised area will improve the system performance. And the more power one insert into it the more will the difference be 
I spent 2hrs last nigth in front of the arrays, trying a couple of different speaker positions but mainly enjoying them as-is. My room is to date untreated acousticly and I am motivated to reduce the1. reflections and also diffuse the rear wall .
My room isnt ideal as far as hifi-room goes, drawing illustrate that well but it is what I got. Viewing/listening position is close to the rear wall so I think some diffusion will be needed here. QRD panels probably.
1.reflections will be dealt with absorption panels, 2" thick 2x4' panels or so. In addition the viewing screen is made with acoustic transparent fabric so I can place some absorption material there as well.
But first I need to clean up the mess after building two arrays....
I have 1/4" neoprene door/window sealer on hand (pictured dark roll) with adhesive backing. It is pliable enough to bend around the Vifa easily. Optionally I can also use foam sheets (white roll) intended for wooden floors which is 2mm thick. In other words it doesnt look like I need to source some special hardware to accomplish a tight seal
The Vifa frame is plastic, it will bend. Taming the mechanical trade-offs are the goal here
While small leaks might not do much harm it do lessen the array potential so optimizing each factor / compromised area will improve the system performance. And the more power one insert into it the more will the difference be I spent 2hrs last nigth in front of the arrays, trying a couple of different speaker positions but mainly enjoying them as-is. My room is to date untreated acousticly and I am motivated to reduce the1. reflections and also diffuse the rear wall .
My room isnt ideal as far as hifi-room goes, drawing illustrate that well but it is what I got. Viewing/listening position is close to the rear wall so I think some diffusion will be needed here. QRD panels probably.
1.reflections will be dealt with absorption panels, 2" thick 2x4' panels or so. In addition the viewing screen is made with acoustic transparent fabric so I can place some absorption material there as well.
But first I need to clean up the mess after building two arrays....
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BMS - thanks for the heads up I was thinking in the line of Skyline diffuser but the close proximity to rear wall might make that less viable based on your info. I could move the 4seat recliner a little more forward though... hmm...
As far as treating the room acusticly my first requirement will be to measure in-room frequency responce, then add partial 1.reflection absorption where required
At any rate this kind if treatment is new to me, all I have is a generic understanding but no practical experience - but I enjoy learning more about it
The arrays are in function complete, what is left now is to settle on the finishing touches and optimizing my setup. I am really pleased with my efforts so far and hope to see this reach its full potential
I was thinking in the line of Skyline diffuser but the close proximity to rear wall might make that less viable based on your info. I could move the 4seat recliner a little more forward though... hmm...As far as treating the room acusticly my first requirement will be to measure in-room frequency responce, then add partial 1.reflection absorption where required
At any rate this kind if treatment is new to me, all I have is a generic understanding but no practical experience - but I enjoy learning more about it
The arrays are in function complete, what is left now is to settle on the finishing touches and optimizing my setup. I am really pleased with my efforts so far and hope to see this reach its full potential
After BMS said he was buying bass traps I started to read up on sound treatments and there is so much to learn. There are some people who say forget about 2 in thick batting behind cloth covered wooden frames. You need 4 to 6 in minimum. Then they say it needs to be about 6 in away from wall for max effect - so ideally you will lose a foot of distance away from each wall. The frequency tuned flat panel bass traps looks interesting - that seems like it can be thinner. I wonder if all the silent speakers I have stacked up in my speaker lab act as bass traps when I am listening to other speakers? Reciprocity of sound radiation would seem to indicate this is happening. Could be source of dips in freq sweeps?
Bass traps are one thing and you need thick media to deal with the lower frequencies. They are also best placed in areas where walls meet, ie corners.
However thinner materials do better with the higher frequencies, or more within a specific range. Absorption panels are not designed to absorb all energy, only allow less of it to continue.
Unused drivers will absorb energy for sure and it will color any readings you do - I can not imagine it otherwise
Yep, I built my own bass trap panels and placed them in corners.
Every little bit helps.
As evidenced by this video. Shows clearly how important room treatment is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp56A6TcL1E
Every little bit helps.
As evidenced by this video. Shows clearly how important room treatment is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp56A6TcL1E
Read on another forum [studio based] a quick statement that said, any form of absorption or diffusion is better than a bare wall...
Broadband traps are normally recommended, and thicker traps absorb lower frequencies. Most DIY builds recommend 4" thick 703 rigid fiberglass or Rock Wool equivalent... My next move is purchasing some Rock Wool to make 2'x4' 4" panels for the side walls plus a couple for the ceiling, then some QRD panels for the rear wall.
Can imagine all those FC speakers, plus drivers acting like small Resonator Panels, not sure how noticeable their combined effect would be though
Broadband traps are normally recommended, and thicker traps absorb lower frequencies. Most DIY builds recommend 4" thick 703 rigid fiberglass or Rock Wool equivalent... My next move is purchasing some Rock Wool to make 2'x4' 4" panels for the side walls plus a couple for the ceiling, then some QRD panels for the rear wall.
Can imagine all those FC speakers, plus drivers acting like small Resonator Panels, not sure how noticeable their combined effect would be though
Indeed, a single untreated wall reflect the sound uniformly. With say two panels up on the same wall you now in effect have 5 individual surfaces
Untreated wall - 00000
Two panels - 01010
17. Bruce Cockburn - Wondering where the lions are
18. The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna be
19. Dire Straits - Private Investigation
20. Sting - Moon over Bourbon Street
21. Robbie Robertson - Somewhere Down the Crazy River
22. Basin Street Blues - Michael Kaeshammer with Carol Welsman on vocals
23. Anything by Jimmy Buffett.
I am listening to Private Investigation right now on Nautaloss II - awesome song and a great test of dynamic range and transient response! The Vifa's paired with a good tight sub really does sound nice. Good call Cal.
Havent been able to play with REW yet, my Macbook/OSX is 10.5.8 only and LineIn/Soundflower require v10.6... Might need som REW pointers/how-to for good sample data
I have on the other hand enjoyed listening to the arrays a bit more, tweaking EQ and playing a little with speaker position/tow-in. SQ-impression last, this is a fiiiine setup
With acoustic material they play sooo behaved and unstressed. With more bass you can easily "feel" the LF-energy while its not sub-like at all.
Bug - a weak rattle on array #2 while playing LF at higher SPL-levels, might be vifa basket lifting or not tightly enough mounted to surface so I will seal/tighten these and see what happens. Since the elementes will be unmounted for this I intend to cover/paint the front baffle while I am at is. undecided regarding finish...
The internal cables all rest against 8-10mm felt wool so its not them who is causing this plus the rattle sound appear to come from the exterior/baffle plate area..
I have on the other hand enjoyed listening to the arrays a bit more, tweaking EQ and playing a little with speaker position/tow-in. SQ-impression last, this is a fiiiine setup
With acoustic material they play sooo behaved and unstressed. With more bass you can easily "feel" the LF-energy while its not sub-like at all.
Bug - a weak rattle on array #2 while playing LF at higher SPL-levels, might be vifa basket lifting or not tightly enough mounted to surface so I will seal/tighten these and see what happens. Since the elementes will be unmounted for this I intend to cover/paint the front baffle while I am at is. undecided regarding finish...
The internal cables all rest against 8-10mm felt wool so its not them who is causing this plus the rattle sound appear to come from the exterior/baffle plate area..
Good to read you're having fun! I hope you can solve the rattle problems on the second array.
I think the REW measurements will help immensely to set it up just right. From what I have noticed sometimes the difference between good and great can be very small.
Sadly my old car is taking up my time so I'm not able to join you soon in experiments...
I think the REW measurements will help immensely to set it up just right. From what I have noticed sometimes the difference between good and great can be very small.
Sadly my old car is taking up my time so I'm not able to join you soon in experiments...
Too bad your car got you side tracked, hope it doesnt consume too much of your time because your TT's deserve life
The rattle is more like a quick tickticktick sound but I havent been able to spend time pin pointing the source of it yet. My current EQ-unit is only 15 band/slider based so precision compared to DEQ/miniDSP is limited.
At any rate - my main objective now is to get REW up and running so I can generate some frequency graphs in order to fine tune the freq. responce + settle on what kind of finish to use on the front baffle.
The rattle is more like a quick tickticktick sound but I havent been able to spend time pin pointing the source of it yet. My current EQ-unit is only 15 band/slider based so precision compared to DEQ/miniDSP is limited.
At any rate - my main objective now is to get REW up and running so I can generate some frequency graphs in order to fine tune the freq. responce + settle on what kind of finish to use on the front baffle.
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