Placement of Primacoustic London 12a Room Kit

Hello, I recently moved into a new apartment and am trying to make the best of my new home studio environment. I would like to get the best out of my studio monitors (KRK VXT8's and Event Studio Precision 8's as reference) so I have invested in acoustic treatment for my room. I recently bought the Primacoustic London 12a Room Kit (Acoustic Treatment Kit). And before I start following a basic LE/DE (Live End/Dead End) setup I would like to make sure that I am doing it correctly. There are a few problem areas in my room that are causing some difficulties with the standard layout that I would like to use. (The layout is provided by Primacoustic) The London 12a Room Kit comes with: 12 Scatter Blocks for Diffusion that are 12" x 12" x 1" 8 Control Collumns (absorbers) that are 12" x 48" x 2" 2 Broandband Panels (bass traps) that are 24" x 48" x 2" Here is an image of the setup I am going for: Here is a floor plan for my room that I designed: Here is a few things worth mentioning that aren't in the floor plan image: - The room is 8' feet from floor to ceiling. - From the floor to the window it is 2' 11" - Window is 3' 10" tall - Window to ceiling is 1' 2" - Window is 4" deep Here are the major issues/questions: 1st Question: The green cabinet in the corner is one of the problem spots. It is on the right speaker side of my dead end. The cabinet space goes from floor to ceiling and is flush with the wall except for the doors that are about an inch thick. It is seperated into 2 wood cabinets with 2 doors that are both 3' 9" tall by 1' 11" wide. In each cabinet are 3 shelves that are 3' deep x 16" tall x 28" wide. Will this cause reverberation problems with the right side of my dead end? I was wondering if I should fill the cabinets with old blankets and pillows or cotton. If I install the bass trap (Broadband Panel) in this corner of the room it is going to make these cabinets inaccessible anyway... so its not a big loss. I'm also worried about mounting the bass trap here. I can't screw holes into the cabinets since I'm renting. 2nd Question/problem: Right next to the problematic cabinet is a second door that leads into a long bathroom that connects to the bedroom... I am renting so I can't drill holes in the door. However, I think I can use some sort of removable adhesive that won't damage the door since the Control Collumns are pretty light weight. Any suggestions on an adhesive? 3rd Question/problem: The window is pretty wide at 5' 11". I don't think there will be enough room to fit absorbers (control collumns) and bass traps (broadband panel) between the window and the corner of the room unless they are pretty much right next to eachother. There is roughly 2 feet on both sides between the window and the wall... I might be able to fit both with some space if I let the control collumns hang over the window a bit. Would it be bad to have the control collumn extend out over the window? 4th question/problem: Another major problem is the floor to ceiling sliding door mirror closet on the opposite wall from my window in the live end. This makes it so I can't place any of the scatter blocks on the live end.. I could possibly place a few on the 9" section of wall between the closet and the small area before the other door.. or save them for the ceiling. I have a ton of extra egg crate studio foam that I was thinking of covering the closet with... but then that might absorb too much and take away from the whole Live End idea... Any ideas on what to do about the closet? 5th question/problem: Since there is a closet on the live end side of my room it leaves a small open space before the door that is about 3' wide x 7' tall x 3' deep. (The ceiling is a foot lower here because there is a air conditoner vent in the wall that extends from the closet). When I do sine wave tests around 60hz-90hz it is extremely loud in this corner due to room modes. Is there anything I can do to lessen the effect of this micro walk way from my room? Perhaps cover the walls and door with egg crate foam? I also have 2 extra square foam blocks that some studio in hollywood that was closing down gave me... they had them sitting on top of their bass traps. Should I use them? :?: Conclusion: I know this is way too much information and a lot of questions - I apologize for my inexperience ahead of time. Any help or advice you can give would be wonderful. I'm open to moving my desk and speakers to anywhere in the room to try out different layouts. I can also generate a 3D model of my room and take some pictures of the cabinets, etc if you need more information. I highly appreciate any of your valuable time that you contribute to helping me solve these issues. I have already tried contacting Primacoustic but they have been fairly unresponsive. :cry: Again thank you for your time. :D Cheers, Max Rogers

Hi Max, and welcome!

And before I start following a basic LE/DE (Live End/Dead End) setup I would like to make sure that I am doing it correctly.

Actually, LEDE was a common studio design concept in the 80's, but has long since been abandoned, since it wasn't all that effective. Virtually no new professional studios are built to the original LEDE concept these days (although there are still a lot of books in print that continue to promote it, and of course the ever-present myth machines all over the internet...). Anyway, the science of acoustics has advanced quite a bit over the past few decades, and the more modern concepts are RFZ (Reflection Free Zone) and CID (Controlled Image Design), among others. These are sort of extensions of LEDE, to a certain extent, keeping the good parts, eliminating the shortcomings, and improving the overall acoustics. The concept of both is similar: Shape and/or treat the room such that only the direct sound from the speakers reaches your ears, with all reflections and the reverberant field following at least 10 ms later, and at least 10 dB lower in level, preferably 15 ms/15 dB, or even better 20 ms/20 dB. (Of course, small rooms don't really have reverberant fields, strictly speaking) So, if you are renting and on a limited budget then changing the shape of the room is probably out of the question, so a true RFZ design is not possible. But you can still treat the room to help considerably. Some of what you have in that kit is probably useful, although the technical information on their web site is rather poor and incomplete, so it's hard to tell how useful it might be. Your first objectives are to get plenty of bass trapping in as many corners as possible, and get thick absorption on all of your first reflection points, plus the back wall. That's the basic concept. Regarding your questions:

The green cabinet in the corner... Will this cause reverberation problems with the right side of my dead end?

It is a resonant cavity, yes, and it might skew the EQ of your stereo image a bit. But if it has solid wood doors that are an inch thick, as you say, then the effect will be minimal. (If the doors are hollow, then all bets are off...) I'd put some absorption in the cabinet (plain old ordinary fiberglass or mineral wool insulation), then close the door and seal it somehow. It might act as a panel trap anyway, but hopefully the frequency will be so low as to not be an issue.

I'm also worried about mounting the bass trap here. I can't screw holes into the cabinets since I'm renting.

I would think that those panels should be self-supporting? You should just be able to lean them diagonally across the corners. But they aren't very thick so they won't be very effective by themselves anyway (only 2" thick :shock: ) so I'd put some additional absorption behind them. I'd put one of those "Control Collumns" behind each of the bass traps: So you'll have a "colum" diagonally across the corner, then in front of that a "bass trap", also diagonally. You'll need 2 more of those columns on the front wall, behind the speakers, and 2 more on the side walls, at the first reflection points, leaving only 2 for the rest of the treatment... Not much for that room! It is going to need a lot more treatment to get decent.

I am renting so I can't drill holes in the door. However, I think I can use some sort of removable adhesive that won't damage the door since the Control Collumns are pretty light weight.

Maybe use some type of hanger that hooks over the top of the door?

Would it be bad to have the control collumn extend out over the window?

No, not bad at all! Like I already mentioned, you will need two "columns" on the front wall behind the speakers, and that looks like it will be partly in front of the window. That's perfect. Space the "columns" a couple of inches away from the wall to increase their effectiveness a bit.

Another major problem is the floor to ceiling sliding door mirror closet on the opposite wall from my window in the live end. This makes it so I can't place any of the scatter blocks on the live end..

That's where your remaining two "columns" will have to go: right in front of that mirror, spaced away from it several inches. Forget those "scatter blocks": your room is too small to use most forms of diffusion anyway, and those are so small as to not be very useful, even for a LEDE design. Real diffusers for LEDE rooms were very large, and very deep. And heavy! They had to be, in order to do the job.

This makes it so I can't place any of the scatter blocks on the live end.. I could possibly place a few on the 9" section of wall between the closet and the small area before the other door.. or save them for the ceiling.

I'd use some of those "scatter blocks" on the ceiling, and some on the rear side walls, since that's all you have left in the kit. But don't expect that they will make a huge difference: they are too small, too thin, and there are too few of them to be effective.

I have a ton of extra egg crate studio foam that I was thinking of covering the closet with...

:!: Sounds interesting! What type of foam? Which brand? If it is good quality open-cell foam, then that could be very useful. Much more so than those "scatter block" things. Tell us more about that foam: sounds promising.

but then that might absorb too much and take away from the whole Live End idea

Not likely. There's nowhere near enough bass trapping in your room as it is, and there isn't enough absorption in that kit to kill the high end. You are still going to need more bass trapping: there's no doubt at all about that. And of the room does end up to dead, you can always put plastic sheeting of something similar in front of some of the bass traps, to keep the highs in the room while still allowing the lows to get through to the traps.

When I do sine wave tests around 60hz-90hz it is extremely loud in this corner due to room modes.

Yup. That's due to the lack of bass trapping. You'll have that issue close to all the walls, and in all the corners, at various frequencies. All room modes terminate in the corners. That "bass boost" situation wont change much from the treatment in this kit. It will help a bit, but the difference won't be drastic.

I also have 2 extra square foam blocks that some studio in hollywood that was closing down gave me... they had them sitting on top of their bass traps. Should I use them?

Depends what they are! If they are good quality open-cell acoustic foam, then SURE! Definitely use them! How thick / big are they? Any brand name or model number on them, to help figure out what they might be?

and take some pictures of the cabinets, etc if you need more information.

Pictures and accurate diagrams are always useful! So if you can, then please do post some pics of the room, and of that extra foam that you have (both types).

I have already tried contacting Primacoustic but they have been fairly unresponsive.

No comment! :cen: :!: - Stuart -