Modular Freestanding Speaker Soffit?

[jgastineau]

Is there any negative to building modular freestanding speaker soffits (not integrated into the control room construction)? The main purpose would be to be able to move them to another location when my lease runs out.

The main modules would be:

1. The boxes to house the monitors and the sections directly above and below. These would be just wider than the width of the monitor and have the correct angle built in. These modules should be transferable to most any similar sized room.
2. Module(s) to the outside of the monitor that extends to the side walls. These modules would be much simpler to build, and could be easily be replaced if a different size was needed for the next location.
3. Modules(s) between the speakers to absorb console reflections. This module would also be simple but should be retained to maintain the speaker distance/angle in future locations.

The modules would be bolted together to form a single monolithic speaker soffit/front wall running floor to ceiling. They could either be attached to the real front wall or offset to leave an airspace to eliminate mechanical transmission to the room shell. I would think it would be better to leave the airspace.

Any problems, suggestions, or comments?

Thanks, Jeff

[Soundman2020]

Hi Jeff, and welcome!

Is there any negative to building modular freestanding speaker soffits (not integrated into the control room construction)? The main purpose would be to be able to move them to another location when my lease runs out.

Personally, I don't see any problem with that. It should work. The soffit is basically just an extension of the speaker baffle, so it does not need to be part of the CR wall, nor does it need to be sealed to the wall. So it should be feasible to build it modular and free-standing.

The current design for my soffits is somewhat modular, but not because I want them to be portable: More for the ease and sequence of construction, and the ability to change the angle after it is is in place.

The only issue I see with it being "portable" is the weight: If you build it right, even the individual modules are going to be really, really heavy. To work properly, the soffit panels have to be very dense and very massive, which implies a tough structure to support it too, meaning even more weight. But apart from that, I think it is do-able.

Any problems, suggestions, or comments?

How about if you design it in SketchUp, then post the design here for comments?

[jgastineau]

Thanks for the help. Here's a simple top view at approximate scale (I'm still trying to get around in SketchUp).

Jeff

[Soundman2020]

Maybe it's an issue with the scale of your drawing, but the position of the "speaker module" doesn't make much sense. The speaker should be more or less in the middle of the soffit panel, in all directions, in order for the soffit to act as an infinite baffle. From your diagram, it seems that the speakers are going to be almost up against the "center module", with very little soffit panel in between speaker and center-module, while there is a large area of soffit panel on the "side modules". I suspect that doing it like this, with the speakers almost at the inner edges of the panels, would partially defeat the acoustic purpose of the soffit.


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EDITED TO ADD: Since originally writing this a few years back, I have since learned that the speakers should NOT be in the middle of the soffits, but rather offset to one side or the other, in order to avoid creating peaks and nulls in the frequency response. It seems that a position about 2/5 of the width is good. They should also not be centered vertically, for the same reason. - Stuart -
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- Stuart -

[jgastineau]

Better?

[Soundman2020]

Better! But your modules seem to be multiplying!

How will you join the sections of soffit panel where the meet each other at the edges of the modules? Normally the soffit panel is one single piece, but your plan calls for separate pieces that need to be joined somehow: Those joints need to be air-tight and reasonably flat, I think.

- Stuart -

[jgastineau]

Better! But your modules seem to be multiplying!

How will you join the sections of soffit panel where the meet each other at the edges of the modules? Normally the soffit panel is one single piece, but your plan calls for separate pieces that need to be joined somehow: Those joints need to be air-tight and reasonably flat, I think.

- Stuart -

They would be joined similar to kitchen cabinets. The shells behind the soffit panels would be slightly narrower than the soffit panels, so the panels could be fastened very tightly. The panels would be attached to each other with a combination of pocket screws and biscuits, so there would be almost no apparent seam.

[britune]

I was thinking of building freestanding soffits that would be about 1-2 inches off the wall in the corners, with sides and backs made out of MDF, but otherwise like most of the soffits built on this forum.

Does anyone know if this might work well?

[Soundman2020]

It should work, but they don't look big enough to be of much use on that drawing! I guess its not to scale?

Maybe you could re-do your room in SketchUp, with accurate dimensions. Soffits need to be fairly wide in order to do their job effectively.


- Stuart -

[John Sayers]

jeff - check out this skp file

http://johnlsayers.com/Stuff/components.skp