Effect of plywood paneling behind stereo speakers

[Naturelover]

Hi!
I am getting some renovation done in my living room which doubles as the entertainment area.
A fair bit of plywood paneling has been done on the wall behind the speakers which are large bookshelf type and are rear ported (Energy Veritas 2.2i). My stereo electronics is Arcam Diva (CD73, A70 & P80). The paneling extends only till directly behind the speakers and not on the full length of the wall. In fact the wall continues behind the left speaker and there is no wall behind the right speaker. See attached illustrations which I have tried to keep to scale.
My basic worry at the moment is whether the paneling will induce any ill effects on the stereo sound. Will the paneling resonate? How about the drawers? I am not much of an audiophile but would like to keep the music sounding good. I do not normally listen to music at high volumes. Music preferences are Jazz, Folk, Indian Classical and occasional Rock.
I have mounted the HT satellites to check for their sound and found that the sound does get coloured and am going to have solid plywood filling where they are to be mounted. Hopefully that should sort out the HT. I am rather concerned re the stereo.

 

[Naturelover]

Will this be effective?

It is from here.

 

[ghatgepatil]

Why not draw the stereo speakers closer to each other and play around a bit with the toe-in? A spacing between 6' to 8' between the speakers is considered fine, IMHO.

BTW, nice illustration, quite detailed!

 

[Naturelover]

Thanks but bringing the speakers closer will have the rear ports firing at the paneling. Will that not make things worse?
I am mainly concerned of the possibility of resonance or reverberation due to the hollow nature of the paneling.
Maybe I should just get some more framing done between the panel and the wall to make it more rigid.

 

[anuragn]

Ditto my layout. Front is TV and rear-ported stereo speakers, right side is dining space and some amount of panelling (though not full wall to wall).
I too face some issues of booming bass. I have stuffed cotton wool inside the ports, just lightly not too much of it. And just ensure that is does not fall inside the speaker cabinet. This has helped reign in the loose bass.
Do try and let us know the result.

 

[Naturelover]

Ditto my layout. Front is TV and rear-ported stereo speakers, right side is dining space and some amount of panelling (though not full wall to wall).
I too face some issues of booming bass. I have stuffed cotton wool inside the ports, just lightly not too much of it. And just ensure that is does not fall inside the speaker cabinet. This has helped reign in the loose bass.
Do try and let us know the result.

Yes Anurag, I have always had soft foam round bungs inserted in the bass ports. even before the renovation when there was no paneling. This does improve the bass performance. I do intend to continue with the bungs after the renovation is completed. Keeping fingers crossed!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/chsohy1whnexxqx/Foam bung.jpg

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

My basic worry at the moment is whether the paneling will induce any ill effects...

But you don't have an actual problem, that you can hear, right now?

Stick with that and don't worry ...until you have a reason to

There are lots of rooms in the world with wood lining, and plenty more with cavity walls. As long as everything is fastened properly I don't see why you should have a problem.

 

[Naturelover]

I have not yet set up the system as the renovation is still not done. Will see after it is done. Everything has been ensured to be securely fastened.

 

[jenson]

there were some interesting threads on this...my thought process totally changed after readign thru them - i think instead of absorbtion, i would focus more on diffusion and some bass traps.