Anybody own MBL 101 X-Treme speakers? How big is your room?
- Thread starter caesar
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The windows are relatively firm and I can drop down shades that are a diffusive nature. Bottom line is I want Jeremy to give me tips on what goes up front and generally he prefers less treatment in the front of the room.
The back of the room is the sources of slap echo and the living space needs some absorption to make conversations comfortable in the room. The first thing Jurgen recommends is make the room comfortable for people speaking as a starting point for a room. In my large room I have a gymnasium type phenomena right now that needs to be tamed to make it comfortable
Yes, Been there: I have heard so many rooms with guys spending a few hundred K on audio jewels that sounds just as you describe. Good Luck!
Engaging movers to do the heavy lifting with Jeremy coaching from afar, smart cookie FATS!
Hey Minnesotafats,
As I have been thinking about this, you must have the patience of Job!
Experts, even as incredibly talented and dedicated as Jeremy - based in his amazingly consistent work at getting “best of show” sound every time he exhibits, cannot predict what will sound good.
If it were me, and I perfectly understand that this seems like a shared living space and your situation is different than mine, I’d run out to Home Depot and get 10-15 bales of insulation.
You can move the insulation around to prep for his visit to determine what will be more natural…. It may not be perfect, but will definitely reduce the echo chamber phenomenon in the mean while.
All the best
I am with you. I have 12 different - 2 inch thick 2ft x 4 ft black absorption panels that we are currently scattering around the back part of the room. My significant other lives at the location while she is taking care of her parents down the street and I am out of town most of the time taking care of my mother in a different city. If I was at the location I probably would not be as patient. I have coached her on the slap echo issue and she has been experimenting moving the absorbers all around the room. She now misses them when we put them away when company arrives. So the long story is I have a woman that now understands we need need more absorption and diffusion in the room. She has even gone to the point of filling up designed shelving in the kitchen with blankets and pillows to have more absorption. We are thinking of creative ways to elegantly absorb sound. For example....the lighting can be an absorbing sources in the kitchen and dining area.Hey Minnesotafats,
As I have been thinking about this, you must have the patience of Job!
Experts, even as incredibly talented and dedicated as Jeremy - based in his amazingly consistent work at getting “best of show” sound every time he exhibits, cannot predict what will sound good.
If it were me, and I perfectly understand that this seems like a shared living space and your situation is different than mine, I’d run out to Home Depot and get 10-15 bales of insulation.
You can move the insulation around to prep for his visit to determine what will be more natural…. It may not be perfect, but will definitely reduce the echo chamber phenomenon in the mean while.
All the best
https://lightart.com/products/families/acoustic
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Sonus Products
Helping architects and interior designers solve acoustics for the spaces they *really* want to design, improving the lives of the people in their spaces. Finding the right acoustic solutions and acoustic products can be a hassle but we are here to make your acoustic journey as easy as possible.
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Her son is an aspiring artist and he just took some classic looking frames and filled them with absorbing materials. the blank looking art surrounded by a classic frame actually looks nice on the wall.
Maybe we should start a thread with architecturally and design friendly absorbers, diffusers, and other types of treatments.
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Massive industry on the corporate scale.
One imagines the impact would be tolerable for those short bouts music is playing. Until the room can be dealt with professionally for that purpose. I suspect a slight amount of modification for one and both purposes will be more acceptable than the alternative. What I'm thinking of is discrete enough to allow decorating at avoidance of blankets or blank art.
There are a variety of companies that put prints on absorbers. Some have decent absorption for trebles and mids which is my biggest concern. Looking at pictures from the local historical society to put up black and white photos from the past.Massive industry on the corporate scale.
One imagines the impact would be tolerable for those short bouts music is playing. Until the room can be dealt with professionally for that purpose. I suspect a slight amount of modification for one and both purposes will be more acceptable than the alternative. What I'm thinking of is discrete enough to allow decorating at avoidance of blankets or blank art.
Wow! What an understanding woman. You are a lucky man!I am with you. I have 12 different - 2 inch thick 2ft x 4 ft black absorption panels that we are currently scattering around the back part of the room. My significant other lives at the location while she is taking care of her parents down the street and I am out of town most of the time taking care of my mother in a different city. If I was at the location I probably would not be as patient. I have coached her on the slap echo issue and she has been experimenting moving the absorbers all around the room. She now misses them when we put them away when company arrives. So the long story is I have a woman that now understands we need need more absorption and diffusion in the room. She has even gone to the point of filling up designed shelving in the kitchen with blankets and pillows to have more absorption. We are thinking of creative ways to elegantly absorb sound. For example....the lighting can be an absorbing sources in the kitchen and dining area.
https://lightart.com/products/families/acoustic
Sound-Absorbing Fixtures | Lumens.com
Semi-Annual Design Sale LIVE — Save up to 40% ! Shop Sound-Absorbing Fixtures at Lumens.com. Guaranteed low prices on modern lighting, fans, furniture and decor + free shipping on most orders!
Sonus Products
Helping architects and interior designers solve acoustics for the spaces they *really* want to design, improving the lives of the people in their spaces. Finding the right acoustic solutions and acoustic products can be a hassle but we are here to make your acoustic journey as easy as possible.
Her son is an aspiring artist and he just took some classic looking frames and filled them with absorbing materials. the blank looking art surrounded by a classic frame actually looks nice on the wall.
Maybe we should start a thread with architecturally and design friendly absorbers, diffusers, and other types of treatments.
Good Luck
Interestingly, here's a picture of an MBL setup from the florida audio show: https://www.stereophile.com/content/mbl-and-new-cadenza-c41-network-player
The whole front wall seems to be covered with room treatments
The whole front wall seems to be covered with room treatments
Take a closer look. It is highly unlikely that those black sheets are absorbers. The black sheets are probably there to highlight the white speakers and white amplifiers. MBL uses plants as a backdrop to add some diffusion in the corners and between the speakers. The plants between the speakers are more props than audio treatments. I would not bet on Jeremy adding any real absorption on the front wall.
I will compile a slide show of pictures showing the history of the remodel I am doing in the room. Bottom line is I am currently removing a side closet/wall and another hip wall to make the room more symmetrical audio wise. A picture is worth a thousand words. Once I get the photos compiled I will share the journey here. Lots of sheet rock and 2x4 lumber has been removed. More to follow.
This is just the beginning of some of the work. I had a closet on the left side of the room that jutted into the room about 8ft and was around 9ft long. It was a box that caused the sound stage to shift to the left of the room. Accordingly I would need to place the speakers so they were shifted to the right to make the soundstage more naturally in the middle of the speakers. It was driving me crazy so I removed the walls (with approval of the woman in the house...she gains a window in the room and the room looks better). Now the speakers can be centered in the room with a natural center soundstage. Now I am going to start dealing with the slap echo in the room.
The next step is the removal of the hip wall behind the couch between the living room and the kitchen area. I am also contemplating dropping the elevated floor for better room flow....and also a sturdier foundation for the speakers and the system.
Still a work in progress. Patience is a virtue.
The next step is the removal of the hip wall behind the couch between the living room and the kitchen area. I am also contemplating dropping the elevated floor for better room flow....and also a sturdier foundation for the speakers and the system.
Still a work in progress. Patience is a virtue.
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The pictures below are not permanent solutions but they give me a chance to hear what the listening space can sound like by greatly reducing/eliminating the slap echo effects coming from the back of the room. Ultimately I am going to try to tastefully treat the walls and ceiling and possibly floor. MBL's seem to like to have diffusion near the speakers and absorption in the back of the room. Bottom line is I know the room can get better because these experiments with a wall of absorption behind the listening space and in front of the back wall have given great results.
Next step is to start hanging absorbers from the ceiling.
Note that we tried the wall of white absorpers/treatments from Zanden in between the speakers. I did not like the results as it made the images sterile and two precise. Less alive and more like box speakers.
Next step is to start hanging absorbers from the ceiling.
Note that we tried the wall of white absorpers/treatments from Zanden in between the speakers. I did not like the results as it made the images sterile and two precise. Less alive and more like box speakers.
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