Can splayed walls create acoustic problems?

I was told on another forum that splayed walls are hard to implement correctly, and generally cause more harm than good. Now, I was under the exact opposite impression, but just because I am not aware of problems doesn't mean they don't exist. Thanks in advance.

I was looking to get more infos on splayed ceiling/walls few days ago. One of the senior members pointed me this thread: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ght=#74014 That might help you understand.

nothing wrong with walls in general :-) splayed or squared, you just need to understand the impact that each has on your design considerations. you can even use combinations of squared and splayed walls in a single design... 8)

Thanks for the replies! I am still wondering though, can it actually CAUSE problems?

Splayed or squared. Walls in general causes a lot of grief and problems, but, as most people will agree on, they're a necessary evil. To put it simply: rectilinear rooms are easier and more predictable. In a square room you can always angle you treatments to avoid parallel facing walls.

dahnielson wrote:

Splayed or squared. Walls in general causes a lot of grief and problems, but, as most people will agree on, they're a necessary evil. To put it simply: rectilinear rooms are easier and more predictable. In a square room you can always angle you treatments to avoid parallel facing walls.

So, why are studio designers designing studios with splayed walls? If they make things worse and are unpredictable?

I don't know a >book< answer. I'll give ya the answer that works for me, up to this point in time. Walls and rooms don't do anything, splayed, parallel or what have you. The only time these walls and things become an issue is when I want to use them for a specific purpose, like sound isolation or musical endeavors. The rectangle shape of a room has long been accepted as a better place to start. You can >hear< the difference of a nice shaped rectangle vs. the square room. In a square room noise can get out of control quick just from bouncing back and forth on the walls of same height and same length. People that build their own rooms by thier own hands, mostly still build rectangle rooms. Most room types are going to have a built in set of acoustical issues. Parallel walls can be fitted with damping material to minimize the effect of reflection. You have seen various acoustical materials installed on ceilings. These are often to break up the parallel effect of floor to ceiling reflection. Studio designers draw splayed walls. There is a lot of math that goes into these rooms. A splayed wall with a hard surface will reflect sound differently then it's flat upright counterpart. So the degree of the splayed wall is taken into consideration. Too much and it will create a potential corner where waves can accumulate. Not enough splay and it has either no effect or possible no mathematically noticeable effect. I can't say hard and fast either way on that:) And this is why designers can do splays. They understand the mechanics involved. They can predict what is going on in the rooms they design. It is not a task for the faint of heart. So each and every wall surface has it's own set of concerns as it relates to the opposite wall surface. Walls are just walls. It's when we try to make them do other things that they become damn walls :) I hope this has been of some service to you. Those that see errors...please help me correct them! NL5 Project: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... sc&start=0 I need you to take this in the spirit it is being given in. You are still having issues with your room and I am trying, as a simple builder, to help My question is this: In your build you have a window that is covered up and a built in wall rack. Did you remove the sheetrock from the existing walls first? If yes, then I'm an idiot and please jump over the next paragraph to the end :) If you didn't remove the sheetrock from the external wall you created a third leaf with your build. It could be the answer to the music issue you present on page two: quote: edit - After further listening, it seems like most anything pre mid-nineties sounds phenomanal, while all my newer stuff is about 50/50. /quote I talk too much, I know :(

NL5 wrote:

dahnielson wrote:

Splayed or squared. Walls in general causes a lot of grief and problems, but, as most people will agree on, they're a necessary evil. To put it simply: rectilinear rooms are easier and more predictable. In a square room you can always angle you treatments to avoid parallel facing walls.

So, why are studio designers designing studios with splayed walls? If they make things worse and are unpredictable?

They don't necessarily make things worse if designed correctly (just like correctly constructed treatment). It was meant rather tongue-in-cheek, having a room with walls compared to a free-field condition where there's no boundaries to worry about.

xSpace wrote:

I don't know a >book< answer. I'll give ya the answer that works for me, up to this point in time. Walls and rooms don't do anything, splayed, parallel or what have you. The only time these walls and things become an issue is when I want to use them for a specific purpose, like sound isolation or musical endeavors. The rectangle shape of a room has long been accepted as a better place to start. You can >hear< the difference of a nice shaped rectangle vs. the square room. In a square room noise can get out of control quick just from bouncing back and forth on the walls of same height and same length. People that build their own rooms by thier own hands, mostly still build rectangle rooms. Most room types are going to have a built in set of acoustical issues. Parallel walls can be fitted with damping material to minimize the effect of reflection. You have seen various acoustical materials installed on ceilings. These are often to break up the parallel effect of floor to ceiling reflection. Studio designers draw splayed walls. There is a lot of math that goes into these rooms. A splayed wall with a hard surface will reflect sound differently then it's flat upright counterpart. So the degree of the splayed wall is taken into consideration. Too much and it will create a potential corner where waves can accumulate. Not enough splay and it has either no effect or possible no mathematically noticeable effect. I can't say hard and fast either way on that:) And this is why designers can do splays. They understand the mechanics involved. They can predict what is going on in the rooms they design. It is not a task for the faint of heart. So each and every wall surface has it's own set of concerns as it relates to the opposite wall surface. Walls are just walls. It's when we try to make them do other things that they become damn walls :) I hope this has been of some service to you. Those that see errors...please help me correct them! NL5 Project: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... sc&start=0 I need you to take this in the spirit it is being given in. You are still having issues with your room and I am trying, as a simple builder, to help My question is this: In your build you have a window that is covered up and a built in wall rack. Did you remove the sheetrock from the existing walls first? If yes, then I'm an idiot and please jump over the next paragraph to the end :) If you didn't remove the sheetrock from the external wall you created a third leaf with your build. It could be the answer to the music issue you present on page two: quote: edit - After further listening, it seems like most anything pre mid-nineties sounds phenomanal, while all my newer stuff is about 50/50. /quote I talk too much, I know :(

Thanks for the long reply, but the question has nothing to do with my build - that's why I didn't include it in the original question. I do have three leafs, and that is by design. I chose to do absolutely no soundproofing. Not much of an issue for me, and nothing I could have done would have done much of anything anyway. My room sounds absolutely amazing. I recommend people to come here to design there rooms, and have been a big fan of splayed walls, as I was under the impression they were superior. A claim was made on another forum that they cause a lot of problems. However, when asked what the problems are, nobody seems to know. So, I am still confused. Oh well. As I said, I am 1000% happy with my CR room. Being limited to what I could do, it has far surpassed my expectations. Thanks to advice from Thomas Barefoot, I took my monitors out of the soffits, and that solved the only minor problem I had. :)

Sometimes my fingers have a mind of their own NL5. I get comfortable where I'm at and I ramble on often stating the obvious. I guess I'm a little slow at times. :)

(rhetorical answer to rhetorical question) angled boundary walls are generally used because there's a need to conserve space in the design. at the end of the day, you make the best calculations you can based on the design criteria and then work the treatments and adjustments based on measurements. rectangular rooms are easier to calculate but not always practical, angled walls make things trickier but might be necessary so you deal with it.