Acoustic treatment for living room

[hifisound]

Hi all,

I have my 2-channel music system placed in my living room (26'L x 14'W x 8'7"H). the rear part opens to 2 doors as well 10'x10' kitchen.
The speakers are placed along the short wall, around 40" away from rear wall and 36" from side walls. The gap between them is 8'.

Now since this is a living room I can't do full fledged acoustic treatment. So have to go for something aesthetic as well as sound absorbing. Currently the room has a irritating reverb (a clap indicates that) , I think mostly due to the vitrified tiles. Even normal conversation is a bit jarring after sometime.

Are there any sound absorbing panels available in india, especially in Bangalore, to put them on first reflection points ? Similarly for ceiling.
For floor I am planning to use few 4'x4' rugs at right points, any idea for good place to shop them in Bangalore (should be good sound absorbant as well) ?

Overall my intention is to do sound proofing without losing on the aesthetic part. Would like to have suggestions from you all since this may have been faced by many others.

Also any good cabling solutions in Bangalore ? Basically to move the current electric points to a more useful place. Since I can't do it inside the walls now, have to go the external way.

Thanks a lot,
Hifisound

 

[ajay124]

I have a similar sized room (25x16x10) and started with similar positioning as yours.Felt that the sound from the speakers was overlapping.Increasing distance between speakers from 8 feet to gradually 10.5 feet,in my case,vastly improved the sound/detail/clarity.Distance from the sidewalls came down to 2.5 feet but a slight toe in reduced sidewall vibrations and led to the best results.
Covering the vitrified tiles and any glass tops would help.
But personally I think,you have a good pair of speakers but need to look into the amp/cdp.I began this year with a Dynaudio Audience 122 +Nad C545+Nad C375.Found the Nad's to be utterly dull,muddy,uninvolving.When I replaced the 150WPC Nad with a 70WPC Cyrus amp,the Dyn's finally started singing.A 150WPC/8 ohms Bryston or Musical Fidelity would really make your Dynaudio Contour's sing and dance.
*What cables and interconnects are you using?

 

[hifisound]

Upgrade is on roadmap but not soon [ to something like Benchmark DAC1 + Bryston 3/4bsst ]
Interconnects and spk cables I have are Van Den Hul ( Bay C5 and Snowline )

But in my earlier house the sound very good (if not to the contour's full potential) , it was a 20 x 10 x 10 room but there was no reverb. So acoustic treatment is my first priority...

 

[sidvee]

I have not found anyone selling individual sound treatement panels here in India. You could contact Anutone - b'lore based - and the may advice you, but they usually provide turnkey solutions and whole room treatment. Another option is to contact "Audio People" in chennai and they have prepackaged room acoustic products from Auralex (they will provide a whole room package as opposed to individual panels). Other than that you have to import or DIY.
Cheers
Sid

 

[GeorgeO]

I plan to get Anutone boards installed on the walls of my room, it's worth contacting Praveen at Anutone and talking to him.

 

[hifisound]

There are some good panels available in US, ranging from ATS acoustics , GIK to realtraps pricewise. But bigger issue is getting such huge panels. Transportation will be quite costly.

I will check with Anutone in Bangalore....

Thanks,
Hifisound

 

[sidvee]

There are some good panels available in US, ranging from ATS acoustics , GIK to realtraps pricewise. But bigger issue is getting such huge panels. Transportation will be quite costly.

I will check with Anutone in Bangalore....

Thanks,
Hifisound

I priced out some GIK diffusers - the cost of the product was $600 - shipping was $450. So yes shipping will be expensive, but I guess one has to bite the bullet. I talked to Praveen of anutone and for individual diffuser panels he was unable to help. Hopefully he can do better on absorbers.
Cheers
Sid

 

[hifisound]

any experience with these guys ?

Acoustic Wall Panels, Manufacturers Acoustic Wall Panels, Acoustic Wall Panels India, Acoustic Wall Panels Delhi,Suppliers Acoustic Wall Panels

 

[GeorgeO]

BTW Anutone does not insist on doing whole room treatment-they will also mount panels on your walls according to your specific needs/ requirements.

 

[suri]

What cables and interconnects are you using?

do not matter - i would think

 

[ajay124]

do not matter - i would think

Been through 4 sets this year.
DAC/Sommers/Chord/Transparent
Opinions may differ,but having heard the changes in my system,I now give as much importance to cables/ic's as the source/amp/speakers.No more,no less.
IMO,the OP simply needs to change his amp/cdp.Speakers,cables are fine.Room acoustics can wait.But the Nad's have to go....

 

[cmsajith]

IMO, an acoustic treatment will give a appreciable improvement even for an entry level setup.

 

[ajay124]

IMO, an acoustic treatment will give a appreciable improvement even for an entry level setup.

Dynaudio and VDH are not entry level.They are pretty good.
Acoustic treatment would be nice after the source/amp/speakers/cables start working together to give great sound.

 

[cmsajith]

Dynaudio and VDH are not entry level.They are pretty good.
Acoustic treatment would be nice after the source/amp/speakers/cables start working together to give great sound.

Did I say VDH and Dyna are entry level!!?

 

[ajay124]

Did I say VDH and Dyna are entry level!!?

Not exactly.But since the thread is about the OP's set up I may have come to the wrong conclusion.No offense intended.

 

[hifisound]

As I mentioned earlier, I was geting satisfactory sound in my earlier house. So, though I know sound could be possibly improved by changing the amp and CD, for me currently room acoustic is a bigger concern (also in general I believe that spks and room are the most important contributors)

And its not only from music point of view. Even for normal conversation , the reverb causes irritation.

Btw, can anybody suggest me a good shop for buying rugs in Bangalore, since floor is highly reflective due to vitrified tiles.

Hi George,

did you install the anutone absorbers ?
Can you PM me Praveen (Anutone) contact no. ?

Thanks,
Hifisound

 

[hifisound]

Has anybody tried Armstrong wall panels ?

 

[vinay]

Handling At Grassroot Level

Well i have similar dimensions in my living room that too in "L" shape, with 3 doors. I wanted to construct my mini theatre here but later i gave it up because of the acoustic and many other reasons, i told myself if i lay the foundation stone at the wrong place like a living room, and then expect great results is not correct.

Finally i made the right choice of making my mini theatre in a separate room.

V.

Hi all,

I have my 2-channel music system placed in my living room (26'L x 14'W x 8'7"H). the rear part opens to 2 doors as well 10'x10' kitchen.
The speakers are placed along the short wall, around 40" away from rear wall and 36" from side walls. The gap between them is 8'.

Now since this is a living room I can't do full fledged acoustic treatment. So have to go for something aesthetic as well as sound absorbing. Currently the room has a irritating reverb (a clap indicates that) , I think mostly due to the vitrified tiles. Even normal conversation is a bit jarring after sometime.

Overall my intention is to do sound proofing without losing on the aesthetic part. Would like to have suggestions from you all since this may have been faced by many others.

Also any good cabling solutions in Bangalore ? Basically to move the current electric points to a more useful place. Since I can't do it inside the walls now, have to go the external way.
Hifisound