I am in the planning stages of a listening room added to a garage area. The garage interior is finished with wallboard, and the current ceiling height is 11.5 feet (3.5 m). Based on my current speaker/listener positions (currently in an open floorplan room, living/dining/kitchen), which forms an equilateral triangle , I am thinking that I could have minimal room dimensions of 9 feet (2.7 m) width and 10 feet (3 m) length. I am assuming that with enough sound damping and diffusion, I can correct for the minimal distance in this room from the speakers to the side and front walls, and listening position from the back wall. I have always liked the sound of rooms with high ceilings (such as lofts) relative to width and length. I have no issues with claustrophobia. Greatly appreciate any advice.
That should be good, especially with such a small space. Do what you can to open it up as best you can.
Even smaller irregularities can help a lot. Check the room modes on some software.
Wall treatments and floor carpeting will be a must. What speakers?
If they are small box speakers, consider recessing them flush into the wall.
Even smaller irregularities can help a lot. Check the room modes on some software.
Wall treatments and floor carpeting will be a must. What speakers?
If they are small box speakers, consider recessing them flush into the wall.
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Along those lines, I learned a lot from this article..
"In general, for two-way speakers you absolutely want to prevent nulls in the 40-80 Hz range, and try your best to avoid them between 80-200 Hz. For your typical studio monitor, that means the recommended speaker-to-wall distances are:
Good: Flush-mounted or as close to wall as possible (see manufacturer recommendations)
Okay: Up to 1 m (3′-3″)
Avoid: 1-2.2 m (3′-3″ to 7′-3″)
Good: Over 2.2 m (7′-3″)
But these are just a general guidelines. The recommended distance for you depends on the low frequency performance of your loudspeakers."
http://arqen.com/acoustics-101/speaker-placement-boundary-interference/
"In general, for two-way speakers you absolutely want to prevent nulls in the 40-80 Hz range, and try your best to avoid them between 80-200 Hz. For your typical studio monitor, that means the recommended speaker-to-wall distances are:
Good: Flush-mounted or as close to wall as possible (see manufacturer recommendations)
Okay: Up to 1 m (3′-3″)
Avoid: 1-2.2 m (3′-3″ to 7′-3″)
Good: Over 2.2 m (7′-3″)
But these are just a general guidelines. The recommended distance for you depends on the low frequency performance of your loudspeakers."
http://arqen.com/acoustics-101/speaker-placement-boundary-interference/
I guess because they have never actually done acoustic measurements in a small room.
Dive into acoustics. Pick any standard sourcebook. You’ll be surprised. In essence: sound is air pressure variation.
The sound field in rooms can roughly be divided in four different kinds. Determined by room size, damping of boundaries, frequency and distance to the sound source a typical sound field at any given observation point in space is a combination of these four:
At very low frequencies, at which room sizes are smaller than half the wavelength, sound will be determined by the direct sound and the pressure variations due to the shrinking and expanding of the room (because the woofer cone acts like a pump).
Of course this just is a theoretical approach, simplifying the wave equation for the calculation of sound fields. But one gets the idea.
- direct sound
- sound, caused by uniform pressure variations throughout the room (very low frequencies)
- sound determined by standing waves/resonances that individually can be recognized (the modal domain)
- sound determined by very closely spaced resonances (aka reverberation)
At very low frequencies, at which room sizes are smaller than half the wavelength, sound will be determined by the direct sound and the pressure variations due to the shrinking and expanding of the room (because the woofer cone acts like a pump).
Of course this just is a theoretical approach, simplifying the wave equation for the calculation of sound fields. But one gets the idea.
I assumed it was, paraphrased - bass is not possible in small rooms because the standing waves of the room are excited so much they overwhelm everything else, so it's best to try not to excite them with bass at their frequencies, as much. The first thing that I thought of was those cylindrical corner bass traps, but that's a lot of screwing around to do.
Man I can't imagine such a small sound room. By the time you get the equipment in there and a chair it will be tight.
My first dedicated sound room was 12x15' with 8' ceiling and worked with small speaker. The next room was 16x20 with a 10' vaulted ceiling and did better but the rear and side walls were a bit too close for larger speaker. The final dedicated sound room I built was 18x24 with a 12' vaulted ceiling. That worked well with enough space to keep the speakers away from the walls and room for diffuser panels around the room.
With such a small space you will probably need absorbers on some of the wall for early reflections and listen in the near field to small speakers, can do very well with imaging and enjoyable listening.
My first dedicated sound room was 12x15' with 8' ceiling and worked with small speaker. The next room was 16x20 with a 10' vaulted ceiling and did better but the rear and side walls were a bit too close for larger speaker. The final dedicated sound room I built was 18x24 with a 12' vaulted ceiling. That worked well with enough space to keep the speakers away from the walls and room for diffuser panels around the room.
With such a small space you will probably need absorbers on some of the wall for early reflections and listen in the near field to small speakers, can do very well with imaging and enjoyable listening.