703 Panels - hanging and spacing

[Jax]

I'll be almost finished treating my control room by hanging three 2" 703 panels above the mix position (well, the one right over my head is a minitrap). I'll leave a 2" air gap between the panels and the ceiling because everything I've read says that's the way to go.

The question that came to mind after measuring was all done: Should I space the panels 2" apart from one another, or leave no space between them instead? What would be more beneficial, or would it make little difference either way? What do my slutz think? So here I am asking.


After this comes a much bigger project in the live room, for which I'll be buying alot of 705 and 703 and the ready acoustics bags. I can't wait to get my studio sounding the way it should! Yeaaahhhh But that'll be another thread...

[Ethan Winer]

Jax,

> three 2" 703 panels above the mix position <

The most important place for overhead mid/high frequency absorption is halfway between your ears and the loudspeakers. That's where the first reflection points are. It's okay to cover more area, but halfway is where the center of the panels should be.

> Should I space the panels 2" apart from one another <

Since you'll have three panels, I'd butt them right up against each other.

--Ethan

[tINY]

If you were really slick, you might put the center pannel 6" below the ceiling and hang the two side ones on an angle 0-6" from the ceiling.

Use the center one soft side out and the side ones FRK side out. Then you'd get a little HF dispersion.

Or not.

The first reflection points on the ceiling and walls are probably the most important. Like a wise man recently said.




-tINY

[Jax]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

Jax,

The most important place for overhead mid/high frequency absorption is halfway between your ears and the loudspeakers. That's where the first reflection points are. It's okay to cover more area, but halfway is where the center of the panels should be.

--Ethan

Ethan, thanks for the help! You are always generous with your knowledge. thumbsup

Given that the equilateral triangle with me in the listening position is 5'4", I need only place the center of the panels at half of that distance (2'2.5")? I think I'm reading you right, but I'd like to be sure.

[Jax]

Originally Posted by tINY

If you were really slick, you might put the center pannel 6" below the ceiling and hang the two side ones on an angle 0-6" from the ceiling.

Use the center one soft side out and the side ones FRK side out. Then you'd get a little HF dispersion.

Or not.

The first reflection points on the ceiling and walls are probably the most important. Like a wise man recently said.




-tINY

Tiny comes through again! thumbsup

I dunno, do you think the 1st reflection points are even more important that drying up the bass buildup in corners? My mondotraps are doing an exceptional job in the LF dept. To guess, I'd say treating both areas is equally important.

Hanging the center panel soft side out and 6" down with the side panels angled from 0-6" would be cool - but the center is a minitrap and it doesn't have a soft side. Plus I can't afford the overhead real estate of dropping a panel 6". When I get a taller room, that HF dispersion setup will be slicker than owl shit.

Thanks again!

[tINY]

I remember owl poop being kinda hard and dry......

As your room gets bigger, the first reflection points and bass trapping get less critical. The idea of damping the first reflection points is that it helps the stereo imaging.

Imagine a snare hit in the left speaker that goes straight to your head and goes and bounces off the left wall and reflects back to your head. If these two sources of sound arrive close together (within about 20ms) then your brain doesn't differentiate between them very well and you get smearing.

So, you want to damp out the reflection. These reflections happen on walls, ceiling, and floor (and coffee table, and cabinet door and ....). But, if the wall is about 10 feet away from your head or more, the delay is long enough that it is less critical. Alternately, you can set up across a corner and the reflections won't reach you (because the angle is wrong). This has other problems in small rooms, though.


Then there's the bass thing that you already seem to have a handle on.




-tINY

[Jax]

Originally Posted by tINY

I remember owl poop being kinda hard and dry......

As your room gets bigger, the first reflection points and bass trapping get less critical. The idea of damping the first reflection points is that it helps the stereo imaging.

Imagine a snare hit in the left speaker that goes straight to your head and goes and bounces off the left wall and reflects back to your head. If these two sources of sound arrive close together (within about 20ms) then your brain doesn't differentiate between them very well and you get smearing.

So, you want to damp out the reflection. These reflections happen on walls, ceiling, and floor (and coffee table, and cabinet door and ....). But, if the wall is about 10 feet away from your head or more, the delay is long enough that it is less critical. Alternately, you can set up across a corner and the reflections won't reach you (because the angle is wrong). This has other problems in small rooms, though.


Then there's the bass thing that you already seem to have a handle on.




-tINY

Thanks, Tiny. I knew about the first reflections thing, just wasn't financially able to do anything about it until now. Maybe someday humans will evolve to where their brains can filter out 1st reflections - perhaps with a muscle contraction accompanied by a small grunt. But those future humans would most likely have to be descended from today's cave-dwelling audio engineers.

Something to chew on.. or not.

By the way, owl poop is really slick when it first comes out.