Decoupling Q3050i floorstanders + room treatment for reverberations

Sean de Silva

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2008
Messages
1,404
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Location
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I will try to keep this short. Well before I decided to buy them, I knew that the Q3050i floorstanders lean towards being slightly bass heavy which is not a bad thing at all but which can feel boomy and overwhelming in untreated small rooms with no breathing space between the speakers and surrounding walls. My experience was no different. Initially, I had put the supplied rubber feet underneath the spikes and the speakers stood directly on the floor tiles. Much to my dismay, I felt the tiles vibrating approximately half way across the living room. Hence began the quest to try and decouple the speakers from the floor. After scouring the www with so many suggestions and counter-suggestions on many forums, I decided to take the plunge with a combination of rubber tile + green marble slab and luckily for me it has done the job of decoupling the speaker from the floor which means no more tiles vibrating even with bass-heavy tracks. So that was one problem solved!

IMG_20200730_170517 copy.jpg

There was still a bigger unresolved issue! The boomy bass and room reverberations on certain passages. I don’t enjoy the luxury of space hence pulled the speakers forward by around 8 inches from the rear wall so that their rear bass port would get some breathing space. To add to this, the wooden unit which houses the amplifiers and CD player fits just about in the space between the speakers so there is no breathing space between speakers or between speakers and unit thus compounding the room reverberations. Thanks to our toxic humid climate, dust and saline air which is murder on HiFi gear, I wouldn’t go down the open rack route hence have enclosed the amps/cdp and CDs inside this humongous unit. As a result of the asphyxiation, the wooden unit, chassis of amplifiers and CD player vibrates during bass-heavy tracks. I placed soundfoundations isopods underneath each foot of the amps & cdp but no tangible reduction in vibration as I soon realized these are airborne vibrations travelling directly from both speakers to the wooden cabinet! Hence began the second quest to reduce the wooden unit & chassis vibrations as well as the room reverbs. Fortunately I discovered Aural Exchange and contacted them desperately hoping they’d have some solution. I spoke at length with Ashutosh and he suggested their NanKarrow NeoFuse High Density Quadratic Absorber & Diffuser. https://www.auralexchange.com/product/nankarrow-neofuse-acoustic-diffuser/

These panels are available in two sizes i.e. 4ft x 2ft x 4inch & 2ft x 2ft x 2inch. I chose the 2ft x 2ft x 2inch square foam panels (set of 4) as I do not have space to accommodate the bigger 4ft variant.

IMG_20200730_170402 copy.jpg

Ashutosh comes across as very professional and knowledgeable on phone advising the following course of action: fix a panel to the wall directly behind each speaker, on the wall between the speakers, the side wall next to each speaker and at ceiling reflection points approximately midway between each speaker and listening position. I didn’t want to get into the ceiling territory for the obvious fear of being rendered homeless lol so I decided to go the rear wall route with one panel stuck to the wall directly behind each speaker and the other two at the same level between these panels behind the wooden unit. He insisted that Fevicol Heatx has a better grip when sticking foam panels to a wall compared to other sprays/adhesives.

IMG_20200730_172117 copy.jpg

A few pics of the labour.. Amidst the confusion of speaker wires, tt grounding wire & power cables running all around the place I had my heart in my mouth as I had to literally slink into that small space like a cat burglar and mount these panels slowly and steadily on the wall without tugging on the tt grounding or accidentally shifting the speakers.

IMG_20200730_181234 copy.jpg

IMG_20200730_181250 copy.jpg

IMG_20200730_181555 copy.jpg

Then came the part of pushing the heavy behemoth back into place..

IMG_20200730_182302 copy.jpg

The unit is 7 inches from the back wall..which means adequate space for the panels to do their job.

IMG_20200730_182423 copy.jpg

IMG_20200730_182917 copy.jpg

IMG_20200730_182902 copy.jpg

As you can see the panels aren’t very conspicuous. Early days but hoping that prying eyes and sticky fingers won’t get anywhere near them. After the back-breaking endeavour and not being thrown out of the house for destroying that wall with the paint bubbling off (my folks haven’t yet discovered the collateral damage lol) I’m sure you are eager to know the end result.. so enough with all the rambling and time to play some music.

The wooden unit & equipment chassis still vibrate but not like before. There is an appreciable reduction. So I will look into solutions to try and isolate the amps & cdp especially since these are airborne vibrations. Ashutosh had suggested that I line the inner walls of the unit as well as the surface beneath the amps & cdp with their NanKarrow Isomat-HD High Density Impact & Airborne Sound Barrier. https://www.auralexchange.com/produ...d-high-density-impact-airborne-sound-barrier/

IMG_20200730_185306 copy.jpg

I must confess I was extremely skeptical and didn’t expect any difference post installation but EUREKA!!!!!!! ….. THE ANNOYING ROOM REVERBERATIONS HAVE GONE!!!!!:cool: I find very satisfying improvements in the soundstage. The irksome bass boom has gone resulting in warm deep tight bass, mids and treble resolve with good coherence. As is well known, the Q3050i’s forte is its ability to reproduce the human voice exceptionally well and vocals now shine through even better than before with warmth and articulation. Even at low volume, the resolution and forwardness is impressive. Crank it up and the living room gets enveloped in a warm beautiful sound. I love what these floorstanders are capable of. To say I’m pleased as punch with these magical absorber-diffuser foam panels from Aural Exchange would be an understatement! Highly recommended! Thanks for taking the time to read.
 
Thanks for the blog, how different is the HD Sound Barrier material compared to the tile you have used below the marble slab? I understand it will be different, want to get your views.
 
Hi sean
Glad that the excercise worked for you.
Ashutosh guiding you suely helps in choosing what what should be used as there are multiple options and most importantly where to place the panels.
Else this excercise beocmes somewhat risky.
I am sure this can be improved further with proper measurements of the room with Rew.
But again with the risk of adding more panels at positions which won't be allowed by your folks

Rear ported speakers, pushed right on to the wall is an absolute recipe for disaster specially with a speaker which is known to be bass heavy , but most us don't have the freedom.

Will adding one more panel above the the one already installed of same thickness help in any way ?
 
I will try to keep this short. Well before I decided to buy them, I knew that the Q3050i floorstanders lean towards being slightly bass heavy which is not a bad thing at all but which can feel boomy and overwhelming in untreated small rooms with no breathing space between the speakers and surrounding walls. My experience was no different. Initially, I had put the supplied rubber feet underneath the spikes and the speakers stood directly on the floor tiles. Much to my dismay, I felt the tiles vibrating approximately half way across the living room. Hence began the quest to try and decouple the speakers from the floor. After scouring the www with so many suggestions and counter-suggestions on many forums, I decided to take the plunge with a combination of rubber tile + green marble slab and luckily for me it has done the job of decoupling the speaker from the floor which means no more tiles vibrating even with bass-heavy tracks. So that was one problem solved!

View attachment 47988

There was still a bigger unresolved issue! The boomy bass and room reverberations on certain passages. I don’t enjoy the luxury of space hence pulled the speakers forward by around 8 inches from the rear wall so that their rear bass port would get some breathing space. To add to this, the wooden unit which houses the amplifiers and CD player fits just about in the space between the speakers so there is no breathing space between speakers or between speakers and unit thus compounding the room reverberations. Thanks to our toxic humid climate, dust and saline air which is murder on HiFi gear, I wouldn’t go down the open rack route hence have enclosed the amps/cdp and CDs inside this humongous unit. As a result of the asphyxiation, the wooden unit, chassis of amplifiers and CD player vibrates during bass-heavy tracks. I placed soundfoundations isopods underneath each foot of the amps & cdp but no tangible reduction in vibration as I soon realized these are airborne vibrations travelling directly from both speakers to the wooden cabinet! Hence began the second quest to reduce the wooden unit & chassis vibrations as well as the room reverbs. Fortunately I discovered Aural Exchange and contacted them desperately hoping they’d have some solution. I spoke at length with Ashutosh and he suggested their NanKarrow NeoFuse High Density Quadratic Absorber & Diffuser. https://www.auralexchange.com/product/nankarrow-neofuse-acoustic-diffuser/

These panels are available in two sizes i.e. 4ft x 2ft x 4inch & 2ft x 2ft x 2inch. I chose the 2ft x 2ft x 2inch square foam panels (set of 4) as I do not have space to accommodate the bigger 4ft variant.

View attachment 47989

Ashutosh comes across as very professional and knowledgeable on phone advising the following course of action: fix a panel to the wall directly behind each speaker, on the wall between the speakers, the side wall next to each speaker and at ceiling reflection points approximately midway between each speaker and listening position. I didn’t want to get into the ceiling territory for the obvious fear of being rendered homeless lol so I decided to go the rear wall route with one panel stuck to the wall directly behind each speaker and the other two at the same level between these panels behind the wooden unit. He insisted that Fevicol Heatx has a better grip when sticking foam panels to a wall compared to other sprays/adhesives.

View attachment 47990

A few pics of the labour.. Amidst the confusion of speaker wires, tt grounding wire & power cables running all around the place I had my heart in my mouth as I had to literally slink into that small space like a cat burglar and mount these panels slowly and steadily on the wall without tugging on the tt grounding or accidentally shifting the speakers.

View attachment 47991

View attachment 47992

View attachment 47993

Then came the part of pushing the heavy behemoth back into place..

View attachment 47994

The unit is 7 inches from the back wall..which means adequate space for the panels to do their job.

View attachment 47995

View attachment 47996

View attachment 47997

As you can see the panels aren’t very conspicuous. Early days but hoping that prying eyes and sticky fingers won’t get anywhere near them. After the back-breaking endeavour and not being thrown out of the house for destroying that wall with the paint bubbling off (my folks haven’t yet discovered the collateral damage lol) I’m sure you are eager to know the end result.. so enough with all the rambling and time to play some music.

The wooden unit & equipment chassis still vibrate but not like before. There is an appreciable reduction. So I will look into solutions to try and isolate the amps & cdp especially since these are airborne vibrations. Ashutosh had suggested that I line the inner walls of the unit as well as the surface beneath the amps & cdp with their NanKarrow Isomat-HD High Density Impact & Airborne Sound Barrier. https://www.auralexchange.com/produ...d-high-density-impact-airborne-sound-barrier/

View attachment 47998

I must confess I was extremely skeptical and didn’t expect any difference post installation but EUREKA!!!!!!! ….. THE ANNOYING ROOM REVERBERATIONS HAVE GONE!!!!!:cool: I find very satisfying improvements in the soundstage. The irksome bass boom has gone resulting in warm deep tight bass, mids and treble resolve with good coherence. As is well known, the Q3050i’s forte is its ability to reproduce the human voice exceptionally well and vocals now shine through even better than before with warmth and articulation. Even at low volume, the resolution and forwardness is impressive. Crank it up and the living room gets enveloped in a warm beautiful sound. I love what these floorstanders are capable of. To say I’m pleased as punch with these magical absorber-diffuser foam panels from Aural Exchange would be an understatement! Highly recommended! Thanks for taking the time to read.

Great post! Room acoustics and treatments are still alien areas for most of us. Thanks for sharing! I am sure this will come handy to many.
 
I will try to keep this short. Well before I decided to buy them, I knew that the Q3050i floorstanders lean towards being slightly bass heavy which is not a bad thing at all but which can feel boomy and overwhelming in untreated small rooms with no breathing space between the speakers and surrounding walls. My experience was no different. Initially, I had put the supplied rubber feet underneath the spikes and the speakers stood directly on the floor tiles. Much to my dismay, I felt the tiles vibrating approximately half way across the living room. Hence began the quest to try and decouple the speakers from the floor. After scouring the www with so many suggestions and counter-suggestions on many forums, I decided to take the plunge with a combination of rubber tile + green marble slab and luckily for me it has done the job of decoupling the speaker from the floor which means no more tiles vibrating even with bass-heavy tracks. So that was one problem solved!

View attachment 47988

There was still a bigger unresolved issue! The boomy bass and room reverberations on certain passages. I don’t enjoy the luxury of space hence pulled the speakers forward by around 8 inches from the rear wall so that their rear bass port would get some breathing space. To add to this, the wooden unit which houses the amplifiers and CD player fits just about in the space between the speakers so there is no breathing space between speakers or between speakers and unit thus compounding the room reverberations. Thanks to our toxic humid climate, dust and saline air which is murder on HiFi gear, I wouldn’t go down the open rack route hence have enclosed the amps/cdp and CDs inside this humongous unit. As a result of the asphyxiation, the wooden unit, chassis of amplifiers and CD player vibrates during bass-heavy tracks. I placed soundfoundations isopods underneath each foot of the amps & cdp but no tangible reduction in vibration as I soon realized these are airborne vibrations travelling directly from both speakers to the wooden cabinet! Hence began the second quest to reduce the wooden unit & chassis vibrations as well as the room reverbs. Fortunately I discovered Aural Exchange and contacted them desperately hoping they’d have some solution. I spoke at length with Ashutosh and he suggested their NanKarrow NeoFuse High Density Quadratic Absorber & Diffuser. https://www.auralexchange.com/product/nankarrow-neofuse-acoustic-diffuser/

These panels are available in two sizes i.e. 4ft x 2ft x 4inch & 2ft x 2ft x 2inch. I chose the 2ft x 2ft x 2inch square foam panels (set of 4) as I do not have space to accommodate the bigger 4ft variant.

View attachment 47989

Ashutosh comes across as very professional and knowledgeable on phone advising the following course of action: fix a panel to the wall directly behind each speaker, on the wall between the speakers, the side wall next to each speaker and at ceiling reflection points approximately midway between each speaker and listening position. I didn’t want to get into the ceiling territory for the obvious fear of being rendered homeless lol so I decided to go the rear wall route with one panel stuck to the wall directly behind each speaker and the other two at the same level between these panels behind the wooden unit. He insisted that Fevicol Heatx has a better grip when sticking foam panels to a wall compared to other sprays/adhesives.

View attachment 47990

A few pics of the labour.. Amidst the confusion of speaker wires, tt grounding wire & power cables running all around the place I had my heart in my mouth as I had to literally slink into that small space like a cat burglar and mount these panels slowly and steadily on the wall without tugging on the tt grounding or accidentally shifting the speakers.

View attachment 47991

View attachment 47992

View attachment 47993

Then came the part of pushing the heavy behemoth back into place..

View attachment 47994

The unit is 7 inches from the back wall..which means adequate space for the panels to do their job.

View attachment 47995

View attachment 47996

View attachment 47997

As you can see the panels aren’t very conspicuous. Early days but hoping that prying eyes and sticky fingers won’t get anywhere near them. After the back-breaking endeavour and not being thrown out of the house for destroying that wall with the paint bubbling off (my folks haven’t yet discovered the collateral damage lol) I’m sure you are eager to know the end result.. so enough with all the rambling and time to play some music.

The wooden unit & equipment chassis still vibrate but not like before. There is an appreciable reduction. So I will look into solutions to try and isolate the amps & cdp especially since these are airborne vibrations. Ashutosh had suggested that I line the inner walls of the unit as well as the surface beneath the amps & cdp with their NanKarrow Isomat-HD High Density Impact & Airborne Sound Barrier. https://www.auralexchange.com/produ...d-high-density-impact-airborne-sound-barrier/

View attachment 47998

I must confess I was extremely skeptical and didn’t expect any difference post installation but EUREKA!!!!!!! ….. THE ANNOYING ROOM REVERBERATIONS HAVE GONE!!!!!:cool: I find very satisfying improvements in the soundstage. The irksome bass boom has gone resulting in warm deep tight bass, mids and treble resolve with good coherence. As is well known, the Q3050i’s forte is its ability to reproduce the human voice exceptionally well and vocals now shine through even better than before with warmth and articulation. Even at low volume, the resolution and forwardness is impressive. Crank it up and the living room gets enveloped in a warm beautiful sound. I love what these floorstanders are capable of. To say I’m pleased as punch with these magical absorber-diffuser foam panels from Aural Exchange would be an understatement! Highly recommended! Thanks for taking the time to read.

Thanks for the detailed post.

Which amp do you use the speakers with? I use the same speakers but don't have much bass boom in my room. However, the imaging could be better as one of the speakers in just 3 feet away from a side wall. So, looking into acoustic panels.

I see that acoustic panels are just short of the speaker height. Is there no need to have panels higher up the back wall? Also is it required to stick the panels using glue? Last time I used acoustic panels, I was in a house with dry walls and I used hook to just hang up the panels. I am not sure the wife would be happy with me glueing panels to the wall :)
 
@skumar
If I understand you correctly, the qrd absorber-diffuser are acoustic foam panels and the tile below the marble is of rubber. The marble-rubber combo has eliminated the floor vibrations and the panels take care of the room reverbs. I'm still looking for ways to reduce or eliminate the airborne vibrations.

@rikhav
I've already introduced enough clutter into the living room and gotten away with it. Aamchi mumbai matchboxes don't allow us the luxury of space so we've got to live with compromises. No more space on same wall.

@shyamv
Atoll PR100SE & AM100. Ideally I'd have loved to do a comprehensive job on the same wall as advised by Ashutosh but cannot due to space constraints. Hooks are neat compared to messy glue and nagging wives :p
 
There was just enough space remaining hence installed one mmt acoustix absorber-diffuser panel behind each speaker just above the aural exchange panels.


20200814_180523.jpg
 
Update - with the addition of the two mmt absorber-diffuser panels behind each speaker there is a difference again. The overall presentation feels spacious and vocals appear more forward and focussed.
 
Thanks. Spoke to Ashutosh. Got some really good info on what's happening with my room.
I'm planning to treat my ceiling and the back wall with some panels. Fingers crossed!
Great! Do share with us when you eventually get the room treatment sorted out.
 
I will try to keep this short. Well before I decided to buy them, I knew that the Q3050i floorstanders lean towards being slightly bass heavy which is not a bad thing at all but which can feel boomy and overwhelming in untreated small rooms with no breathing space between the speakers and surrounding walls. My experience was no different. Initially, I had put the supplied rubber feet underneath the spikes and the speakers stood directly on the floor tiles. Much to my dismay, I felt the tiles vibrating approximately half way across the living room. Hence began the quest to try and decouple the speakers from the floor. After scouring the www with so many suggestions and counter-suggestions on many forums, I decided to take the plunge with a combination of rubber tile + green marble slab and luckily for me it has done the job of decoupling the speaker from the floor which means no more tiles vibrating even with bass-heavy tracks. So that was one problem solved!

View attachment 47988

There was still a bigger unresolved issue! The boomy bass and room reverberations on certain passages. I don’t enjoy the luxury of space hence pulled the speakers forward by around 8 inches from the rear wall so that their rear bass port would get some breathing space. To add to this, the wooden unit which houses the amplifiers and CD player fits just about in the space between the speakers so there is no breathing space between speakers or between speakers and unit thus compounding the room reverberations. Thanks to our toxic humid climate, dust and saline air which is murder on HiFi gear, I wouldn’t go down the open rack route hence have enclosed the amps/cdp and CDs inside this humongous unit. As a result of the asphyxiation, the wooden unit, chassis of amplifiers and CD player vibrates during bass-heavy tracks. I placed soundfoundations isopods underneath each foot of the amps & cdp but no tangible reduction in vibration as I soon realized these are airborne vibrations travelling directly from both speakers to the wooden cabinet! Hence began the second quest to reduce the wooden unit & chassis vibrations as well as the room reverbs. Fortunately I discovered Aural Exchange and contacted them desperately hoping they’d have some solution. I spoke at length with Ashutosh and he suggested their NanKarrow NeoFuse High Density Quadratic Absorber & Diffuser. https://www.auralexchange.com/product/nankarrow-neofuse-acoustic-diffuser/

These panels are available in two sizes i.e. 4ft x 2ft x 4inch & 2ft x 2ft x 2inch. I chose the 2ft x 2ft x 2inch square foam panels (set of 4) as I do not have space to accommodate the bigger 4ft variant.

View attachment 47989

Ashutosh comes across as very professional and knowledgeable on phone advising the following course of action: fix a panel to the wall directly behind each speaker, on the wall between the speakers, the side wall next to each speaker and at ceiling reflection points approximately midway between each speaker and listening position. I didn’t want to get into the ceiling territory for the obvious fear of being rendered homeless lol so I decided to go the rear wall route with one panel stuck to the wall directly behind each speaker and the other two at the same level between these panels behind the wooden unit. He insisted that Fevicol Heatx has a better grip when sticking foam panels to a wall compared to other sprays/adhesives.

View attachment 47990

A few pics of the labour.. Amidst the confusion of speaker wires, tt grounding wire & power cables running all around the place I had my heart in my mouth as I had to literally slink into that small space like a cat burglar and mount these panels slowly and steadily on the wall without tugging on the tt grounding or accidentally shifting the speakers.

View attachment 47991

View attachment 47992

View attachment 47993

Then came the part of pushing the heavy behemoth back into place..

View attachment 47994

The unit is 7 inches from the back wall..which means adequate space for the panels to do their job.

View attachment 47995

View attachment 47996

View attachment 47997

As you can see the panels aren’t very conspicuous. Early days but hoping that prying eyes and sticky fingers won’t get anywhere near them. After the back-breaking endeavour and not being thrown out of the house for destroying that wall with the paint bubbling off (my folks haven’t yet discovered the collateral damage lol) I’m sure you are eager to know the end result.. so enough with all the rambling and time to play some music.

The wooden unit & equipment chassis still vibrate but not like before. There is an appreciable reduction. So I will look into solutions to try and isolate the amps & cdp especially since these are airborne vibrations. Ashutosh had suggested that I line the inner walls of the unit as well as the surface beneath the amps & cdp with their NanKarrow Isomat-HD High Density Impact & Airborne Sound Barrier. https://www.auralexchange.com/produ...d-high-density-impact-airborne-sound-barrier/

View attachment 47998

I must confess I was extremely skeptical and didn’t expect any difference post installation but EUREKA!!!!!!! ….. THE ANNOYING ROOM REVERBERATIONS HAVE GONE!!!!!:cool: I find very satisfying improvements in the soundstage. The irksome bass boom has gone resulting in warm deep tight bass, mids and treble resolve with good coherence. As is well known, the Q3050i’s forte is its ability to reproduce the human voice exceptionally well and vocals now shine through even better than before with warmth and articulation. Even at low volume, the resolution and forwardness is impressive. Crank it up and the living room gets enveloped in a warm beautiful sound. I love what these floorstanders are capable of. To say I’m pleased as punch with these magical absorber-diffuser foam panels from Aural Exchange would be an understatement! Highly recommended! Thanks for taking the time to read.
Good job done. Enjoy your set up.
 
Nothing to hide as the room treatment didn't cost me a kidney. Having said that, post room treatment, on good recordings the speakers seem to hide and disappear in the room. :cool:
My wife keeps a tab of every gear bought (cables, plugs etc.) and points to the total spend every time we got out for shopping. Thankfully, she doesn't have an HFV account to stalk me!
 
My wife keeps a tab of every gear bought (cables, plugs etc.) and points to the total spend every time we got out for shopping. Thankfully, she doesn't have an HFV account to stalk me!
I can educate her on how to follow your adventures on HFV without an account ;)
Cheers,
Raghu
 
Purchase the Audiolab 6000A Integrated Amplifier at a special offer price.
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