CR Treatment and Tuning---The home stretch!!

resent.

And the results of Frank's hard work are in! . . . OK, I'll do this in sets of three graphs. Each set of three shows first the original empty, untreated room. Then the situation we were at before these new poly-slat-walls went in, and finally the situation now, with the poly-slats completed. So firstly, the RT60 graphs... Not much comment is needed for those three! The improvement is drastic, and clear. Originally the room was off the charts, then way too dead, and now it is is nicely live again. Next, the waterfall plots for the low end of the spectrum (most critical): Here too the improvement is rather obvious: It is very clearly a lot smoother and flatter overall, and especially in the area that the slot resonators are targeting, which is around 50 Hz to 250 Hz (see prediction graph on page 6 of this thread). And finally, the most important: Impulse Response. This shows how the actual energy levels change over time in response to a very short, very sharp, very loud acoustic impulse (eg, balloon bursting, or gunshot). The improvement here is very dramatic! You can clearly see how ugly it was before this device went in: clear flutter echo, and very uneven "warbling" decay, but now it is smooth and even, all the way down. Obviously and unmistakably, the diffusion is working. Crystal clear. Remember way back on page 2 of this thread, I mentioned that I'm aiming for a decay time of around 220 ms? Judge for yourself from the above graph how we are doing on that... So there's the current situation! A lot of hard work by Frank, and it is clearly paying off: the room is very definitely heading exactly where we want it to be. Next up: Soffits. I have extensively modified the original soffit design, for three reasons: Frank switched to different speakers that are larger, with different dimensions, and have very different characteristics from the original ones we were planning to use; 2) the changes to the rear wall, mostly the curved poly-slat walls; and 3) the desk is going to be very different from the original "placeholder" design. So Frank will be doing some changes to the soffit framing to accommodate these changes, then installing the deep bass traps below and above the speaker, then installing the speakers themselves properly with my proprietary floating system (we won't be posting all the sexy details of how that works... sorry!). After that, we'll do the small sections of slat wall above the sliding glass doors, and finally the cloud. Then we'll do the digital tuning to take are of the few remaining issues that can be adjusted like that, and that's it! End of story! - Stuart -

Well, That's a huge relief...I never know if my work is going to translate. Its a big leap of faith! so far so good..... :yahoo: Thanks Stuart!

Hi Stuart, What's the ETA on the soffits? finishing up the trim work on this end. will post some pics tomorrow after I paint the patch work.

Well I got the trim done but it looks like I did some acoustic harm in the process. I sent Stuart a new .mdat file....Lets see what now! :roll: At least it looks pretty....

Wow! That looks really nice, Frank! Excellent job! :thu:

but it looks like I did some acoustic harm in the process. I sent Stuart a new .mdat file....Lets see what now!

That's not an acoustic problem. That's a signal problem. Maybe soundcard, software compatibility, wrong driver version, ... or severely messed up speakers, or majorly mangled mic! So don't worry about the room: that's not the problem. Try with a different computer, different soundcard, or different mic, to help identify where the problem is. - Stuart -

Got it sorted! :mrgreen: Dumb, stupid Mac OS update! glad that's all it was...

Dumb, stupid Mac OS update! glad that's all it was...

Cool! I mean "cool" that you figured it out and fixed it, not "cool" that it screwed you around like that! The new data is fine. - Stuart -

At least we know what the laptop mic looks like. Definitely can't tune a room with that.. :lol:

Ok....Half the room is officially done! Tapping the fingers! :P One thing is for sure...I'll never get sick of looking at it!

That seriously looks so awesome! Can you take a picture up close of your stain/paint work on those slats? I still don't fully understand the stain/paint transition. It's unique and brilliant. I really love the army greyish type paint tone too! (unless I became colour blind) Greg

Hey man!!! The point of these pictures is to show all the brilliance while hiding the flaws! :finger: OK...I've been dying to use that emoji. This as close a I've come to a comical opportunity that doesn't involve using it on Stuart...You Understand. :mrgreen: What we have is a light brown mocha color in flat...I stained the tops of the boards, then masked and painted the rest. I'm really happy with the result..I was worried that a single color would look too boring. Glad I brainstormed it...Stuart definitely through a curve ball at me with his wavy walls, I'll tell ya that..I think it does look worlds better than it would have with the original cloth. Can't seem to pat myself on the back hard enough here. Hard to get the right angle.

Stuart definitely through a curve ball at me with his wavy walls,

I figured you liked curve balls! I threw some at ya with the original design, so I figured you wouldn't mid a couple more... :)

Can't seem to pat myself on the back hard enough here. Hard to get the right angle.

... and you can see that it was all worth it! You are getting nice diffusion from those guys, across the board, plus some extra absorption of the problems. - Stuart -

All smiles for now...

All set to go on this end. How long before I can start the soffits?

All set to go on this end. How long before I can start the soffits?

Nearly done, but I have some absolutely unmovable commitments over the weekend... so probably Monday. In the meantime, get your table saw cleaned and adjust and oiled and calibrated... some strange angles to rip on 2x4's ... accurately! (curve balls... I KNOW you love that challenge! :) ) - Stuart -

I could so use easy from here on out, but that is not going to happen! :roll: No doubt I'll feel satisfied in the end.... Remember that I'm pulling the amps off the backs of the cabinets. :thu:

I could so use easy from here on out, but that is not going to happen!

Well, the digital tuning part will be "easy" from your end! Not so much from my end... so the tables will be turned there, at least.

Remember that I'm pulling the amps off the backs of the cabinets.

Yup. Reduces the need for cooling a little, but doesn't change the size of the speakers, and it makes them a bit lighter, which I'm already making up for in other ways ( :) ) we need decent weight in there, for the floating system to float properly... Also, it's gonna be a real tight fit, and you'll probably need to shrink your hands to get them into the miniature gaps around the sides to mount the things... but I know you are one really resourceful guy, so I have faith you can figure it out! Did I mention that the speaker shelf is going to be "fun" to fit inside the soffit, as there's no way to get in there in one piece? It's too big, and can't rotate into place. :) I'm working on that... Do you like jigsaw puzzles? stay tuned . . . . . . . - Stuart -

Oh boy....Well just make it possible. That's all I can ask at this point. Can you imagine what a nightmare it would be if I had left the amps in the cabinets and one broke later on under these circumstances??!!! No Bueno! :cop:

Wow guys! This is one of the greatest threads on the forum ever. Been so nice to follow the tuning process, very informative!! Nice job it looks amazing, beatifully crafted and very nice designed. Another great result Stuart :thu: Can't wait to see the soffits and the data that comes along. keep it up guys :D

Jakob De Wittig wrote:

Wow guys! This is one of the greatest threads on the forum ever. Been so nice to follow the tuning process, very informative!! Nice job it looks amazing, beatifully crafted and very nice designed. Another great result Stuart :thu:

Thanks, Jakob! Maybe we can do something similar on your thread for your place, when you guys start building? Only if you want to, of course. It's a lot of extra work to photograph and document everything, but it sure is worthwhile! I'm very grateful that Frank wanted to do this.

Can't wait to see the soffits and the data that comes along. keep it up guys :D

The soffits for your place use a very similar design, by the way... :) - Stuart -

Thanks Jakob!

Hi Stuart, Checking in to see where we're at...

Working on it! Nearly go the shelf thing figured out. . . . - Stuart -

Cool!