Baffle wall for a HT in a living room !!!

[elangoas]

Hi All,

Below is a pic of my brothers living room, where he has 7.2.4 system in a 22(L) x 11 (W) x 10 (H) room dimension..

At present he has a 135 inch Vinyl screen, which has forced the center speaker to be placed much below ear level, not so ideal.. I had suggested him to build an AT screen for the entire width of the room and place the critical L-C-R speakers at ear level for maximum benefit, which he has agreed to..

At the same time i also thought of baffle wall to position the L-C-R and cover it up with AT screen, for additional benefit.. Similar to below picture..

There is also provision to mount surrounds and surrounds back to baffle wall (if that will also help)..

For surround left, there is a window to the left of the listening position, so we can flush mount the SL to the left wall..
For surround right, there is an opening to dinning area, which we have planned to erect a wooden wall with plywood.. So mounting surr right speakers & integrating it to the wall to create a baffle wall isn't a problem..

For surr back L/R too, a baffle wall behind the listening position is also possible..

There would be abt 15~18 inches of space if we remove the huge window behind the vinyl screen and erect an aluminium window to the outer side of the front wall and build an AT screen..

Is a baffle wall for all the 7 speakers a good idea?.. If it is a worthy solution to get away from the low freq issues for all the 7 speakers, then i would suggest him the same and plan on modifications..

Would be easier to integrate subwoofers on the frontwall too.. May be can go upto 6 subwoofers.. Subwoofers above & below L-C-R and ideally positioned to reduce width mode & height modes.. Length modes not so sure..

Appreciate your inputs..

 

[Amarendra]

Hi All,

Below is a pic of my brothers living room, where he has 7.2.4 system in a 22(L) x 11 (W) x 10 (H) room dimension..

At present he has a 135 inch Vinyl screen, which has forced the center speaker to be placed much below ear level, not so ideal.. I had suggested him to build an AT screen for the entire width of the room and place the critical L-C-R speakers at ear level for maximum benefit, which he has agreed to..

At the same time i also thought of baffle wall to position the L-C-R and cover it up with AT screen, for additional benefit.. Similar to below picture..

There is also provision to mount surrounds and surrounds back to baffle wall (if that will also help)..

For surround left, there is a window to the left of the listening position, so we can flush mount the SL to the left wall..
For surround right, there is an opening to dinning area, which we have planned to erect a wooden wall with plywood.. So mounting surr right speakers & integrating it to the wall to create a baffle wall isn't a problem..

For surr back L/R too, a baffle wall behind the listening position is also possible..

There would be abt 15~18 inches of space if we remove the huge window behind the vinyl screen and erect an aluminium window to the outer side of the front wall and build an AT screen..

Is a baffle wall for all the 7 speakers a good idea?.. If it is a worthy solution to get away from the low freq issues for all the 7 speakers, then i would suggest him the same and plan on modifications..

Would be easier to integrate subwoofers on the frontwall too.. May be can go upto 6 subwoofers.. Subwoofers above & below L-C-R and ideally positioned to reduce width mode & height modes.. Length modes not so sure..

Appreciate your inputs..

Wouldn't it be easier to raise the screen (given ceiling height of 10 ft) and raise the center speaker as well ?

 

[elangoas]

Wouldn't it be easier to raise the screen (given ceiling height of 10 ft) and raise the center speaker as well ?

Yes, it would be easy.. But that will increase the screen height, strained viewing angle and make it difficult for pronged viewing..

 

[Amarendra]

Yes, it would be easy.. But that will increase the screen height, strained viewing angle and make it difficult for pronged viewing..

I currently run that set up with the screen commencing just above the FL FR speakers- hasn't produced any strain so far unless you are sitting close to the screen. My distance from the screen is just 10-11 ft. In your case the length is 20 feet +, hence shouldn't be an issue ideally.
Also avoids all the costs and the hassles of renovation particularly in a living room in your case.

 

[elangoas]

I currently run that set up with the screen commencing just above the FL FR speakers- hasn't produced any strain so far unless you are sitting close to the screen. My distance from the screen is just 10-11 ft. In your case the length is 20 feet +, hence shouldn't be an issue ideally.

I have a 100 inch AT screen with identical L-C-R, almost at same level and Center behind the screen.. My viewing distance is approx 10 ft from the screen.. My screen starts 1 feet off the floor..

I also visit my brother place on weekends, so i can feel the difference.. He watches it from approx from 13ft distance.. Wouldn't prefer pushing the screen high..

Also avoids all the costs and the hassles of renovation particularly in a living room in your case.

Got it.. We anyways had planned for AT screen in near future.. If this baffle wall works out, would be able to do AT screen without much civil work.. Hassle yes, but cost not an issue if it is for better..

 

[Amarendra]

I have a 100 inch AT screen with identical L-C-R, almost at same level and Center behind the screen.. My viewing distance is approx 10 ft from the screen.. My screen starts 1 feet off the floor..

I also visit my brother place on weekends, so i can feel the difference.. He watches it from approx from 13ft distance.. Wouldn't prefer pushing the screen high..



Got it.. We anyways had planned for AT screen in near future.. If this baffle wall works out, would be able to do AT screen without much civil work.. Hassle yes, but cost not an issue if it is for better..

When your screen starts one foot off the floor do you experience greater immersion than when it is higher as in your brother's case ?

 

[sud98]

I think you are over engineering the problem. One gets used to having the screen a feet above very easily without any strain esp. with distances above 10 feet.

 

[elangoas]

When your screen starts one foot off the floor do you experience greater immersion than when it is higher as in your brother's case ?

Not sure if i can say greater immersion, but i like it that way.. When the screen starts very low from the floor, it is very comfortable for prolonged viewing.. I have done close to 10 hrs viewing in a day with intermittent breaks..

For my brother, have planned for an AT screen, that would start just 1 inch off the floor, which will considerably bring down the screen height lower even if we go bigger..

In both scenarios, there is not more than one row of seating in the room..

 

[elangoas]

I think you are over engineering the problem.

One gets used to having the screen a feet above very easily without any strain esp. with distances above 10 feet.

Ok.. The other benefit for considering AT screen was i can evenly space L-C-R.. Now they are squashed to room corners..

 

[marsilians]

I would go with AT screens but don’t put subs in wall enclosures. It can get very boomy or dull depending on the insulation around that space. Subs need air!

 

[sud98]

Ok.. The other benefit for considering AT screen was i can evenly space L-C-R.. Now they are squashed to room corners..

But with a AT screen, you will end up with the speakers right next to the wall, versus you could have given some space from the rear wall of the speaker.

 

[elangoas]

I would go with AT screens but don’t put subs in wall enclosures. It can get very boomy or dull depending on the insulation around that space. Subs need air!

The thought of adding two subs on the front stage is a good idea, it would also nicely hide the subs.. But it would also get boomy as it would be against room boundary..

But imagining what would happen if subwoofer too has baffle wall ? May not be effective..

But with a AT screen, you will end up with the speakers right next to the wall, versus you could have given some space from the rear wall of the speaker.

When the switch to AT screen happens, we would have approx 15 inches of space in-between the screen & the wall behind it.. so there might be abt 2 ~ 3 inches left behind the speaker to the wall.. So upto 15 inch of absorption is defnetly possible in-between the L-C-R and in the remaining space to the sides of L/R.. Making effective frontwall absorption..

 

[marsilians]

if you can adjust a bit more on the gap than 15 inches gap, the ones below may be workable in your situation.

Rel T7i - 12 x 14.3 x 15 in. (305 x 362 x 382 mm)

SVS PC 4000 - 47" (H) 16.6" (W) 16.6" (D)

KEF T2 15.0 x 14.6 x 7.0 in.

 

[elangoas]

if you can adjust a bit more on the gap than 15 inches gap, the ones below may be workable in your situation.

Rel T7i - 12 x 14.3 x 15 in. (305 x 362 x 382 mm)

SVS PC 4000 - 47" (H) 16.6" (W) 16.6" (D)

KEF T2 15.0 x 14.6 x 7.0 in.

Thanks.. I would prefer DIY route (8 subs with 12 inch driver) for the same money as any of the above subs to get a flatter response at listening position.. I had thought abt sealed subwoofers on ceiling at ideal locations in living room..

 

[marsilians]

Sounds like a DIY dream project...good luck and let us know how it materializes.

 

[elangoas]

Sounds like a DIY dream project...good luck and let us know how it materializes.

Yes. it would be.. Sure.. I feel that when we make changes / upgrades to the set-up, it should be an improvement from what we have already experienced in the room.. Hence the intent to understand abt baffle wall & evaluate options.. It would be challenging, but if the end result is good, am all for it..

Have been reading some articles on benefits on baffle wall, there seems to be specific mention of speakers made for baffle wall.. No idea how to validate it.. But any in-wall speaker with back box should be good?..

Speakers that am thinking would do the job is Sonodyne In-wall series IWO 522.. - http://sonodyne.com/sonodyne-residential/prime/i-w-o-series/iwo-522.html

I like the idea of identical speakers and have it in my HT set-up.. If the above speaker would fit for a baffle wall, then i would consider identical 7 speakers in-wall for this room..

 

[marsilians]

I like the idea of identical speakers and have it in my HT set-up.. If the above speaker would fit for a baffle wall, then i would consider identical 7 speakers in-wall for this room..

Agree. Identical LCR would be perfect as the surround and presence channels can be smaller since they manage ~10% of the sound scape. I have noticed in some setups that having higher efficiency 3 or 4 way speakers had a much better performance than if we would have gone with same as the front L/R.

 

[manoj.p]

I do have the baffle mounted speaker setup along with subs in infinite baffle arrangement. The primary purpose for me to do this was to get the IB subs. But the LCR as baffle mounted was a big improvement just as a by product. Takes care of SBIR issue.
Below is the work in progress picture of my installation. If you can do baffle mount, I would highly recommend it. Keep in mind, check the speaker locations for optimal sound before hand. Once you mount, very little chance of moving around.

 

[hydrovac]

Nice manoj!

Planning to build a baffle wall for my HT... do you have pics of the skeleton structure behind the wall, by any chance.
are those in wall types... have you built separate enclosures for speakers?
Also, are you planning any acoustic treatment on the baffle?

TIA

 

[manoj.p]

Hello Hydrovac,

I have this setup since 2014. I do have pictures and need to dig those up. I will post those.
Speakers are regular studio monitors, with square edges and ports on the front baffle.
Yes, there is a 4 inch treatment on the baffle wall, to absorb reflections from rear speakers and any other speakers. That treatment is covered in black cloth and then goes the AT screen.