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Re: 4 Pi Home Theater Build [message #68375 is a reply to message #68374] Tue, 28 June 2011 15:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18676
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Godspeed!

Re: 4 Pi Home Theater Build [message #68958 is a reply to message #68375] Wed, 10 August 2011 02:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
NWCgrad is currently offline  NWCgrad
Messages: 143
Registered: March 2010
Location: Frederick, United States ...
Master
I have arrived in Phnom Penh and started to settle in...my household goods (including the nearly completed speakers) should arrive within a month (more or less).

It is hot here, but not as bad as the heat wave scorching the US.

Wayne may get a kick out of the fact that the other night my family and I were sitting at an outdoor resturant in Phnom Penh listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers with my local sponsor who is from Tulsa. It's a small world afterall!


VIRIBUS MARI VICTORIA
Re: 4 Pi Home Theater Build [message #68962 is a reply to message #68958] Wed, 10 August 2011 08:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18676
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Wow, yeah, small world!

Re: 4 Pi Home Theater Build [message #69260 is a reply to message #68962] Thu, 01 September 2011 05:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
NWCgrad is currently offline  NWCgrad
Messages: 143
Registered: March 2010
Location: Frederick, United States ...
Master
Just got word today, my household goods - including the 4 Pi's (L and R only, C box went into long-term storage) - are scheduled to arrive and clear customs by the end of this month. Seems like forever ago that were packed for shipment.

Any suggestions for "optimizing" a square room, actually more like a cube (14'1" W x 14'2" D x 9'10" H). The room has a door to the living/dining room and a door to a bathroom (see attached diagram).

index.php?t=getfile&id=575&private=0


I know this is far from ideal! Walls are brick covered with some sort of plaster (exterior and interior) and the floor is granite tile (have a large area rug being delivered from the US Embassy that should cover about 70% of the floor). I only brought one subwoofer with me, a Paradigm PDR-12 so I may have uneven bass. My receiver, Onkyo TX-SR805, has MultEQ XT so I hope to tame the worst nodes.

Right now this is the loudest house I have ever lived in, all the rooms have tile floors and very little rug coverage! The joys of living in a sweltering environment.

HELP!!!!!!! Solutions need to be cheap, temporary, and deliverable to APO address. Laughing
  • Attachment: Room.png
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VIRIBUS MARI VICTORIA
Re: 4 Pi Home Theater Build [message #69268 is a reply to message #69260] Thu, 01 September 2011 10:41 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18676
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

The hardest thing to deal with is those rigid walls. I saw this in Europe too, lots of concrete flats with stucco walls. Hard surfaces on all six boundaries - all four walls, ceiling and floor. You can damp the midrange and treble reflections with carpets and absorbent materials; You can diffuse the reflections with bookshelves and bric-a-brac. But none of this helps room modes. The frequencies are too low for absorption or diffusion. You could install panel absorbers, basically false walls that can vibrate to absorb some LF energy. But nothing like carpets or pillows or foam will help at low frequency. The best thing to do is to add subs, even better when combined with panel absorbers.

Re: 4 Pi Home Theater Build [message #69281 is a reply to message #69268] Thu, 01 September 2011 20:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
NWCgrad is currently offline  NWCgrad
Messages: 143
Registered: March 2010
Location: Frederick, United States ...
Master
Wayne, thanks for the information. Will be very hard to add subs here in Cambodia. Any educated guesses on where I should place the Paradigm sub?

The back wall will have two large 8' tall bookshelves, containing shoe boxes of multiple sizes (they are NOT mine). Should help to diffuse reflections.

Perhaps I should look into building DIY bass traps? Or are they ineffective for this environment.

Thanks again.


VIRIBUS MARI VICTORIA
Re: 4 Pi Home Theater Build [message #69282 is a reply to message #69281] Thu, 01 September 2011 21:10 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18676
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Bass traps are effective, provided they actually absorb enough energy. Panel absorbers work best. They can be made as a false wall, and therefore can be somewhat inconspicuous.

Too bad you can't get more subs. Even just a couple more small car subs in boxes would help you a lot, provided they sounded good in the midbass. There's not much you can do to smooth room modes with just one sub. You can't do anything about the primary room mode, because there will be only one sound source from 20Hz to 40Hz, where the first mode will be. A single sub probably can't be used to smooth the midbass/midrange either because that requires flanking subs, which are paired with the mains.

Without flanking subs, you'll have a pretty deep notch around 120Hz or so. That will make the vocals and instrumentals sound odd. It can make a sort of "singing in the bathroom" sound, which will seem like it boosts some instruments and/or vocals and makes others a little too thin sounding.

What you might try is to put your sub right in the middle between the mains, sort of like a shared flanking sub. It should be a couple feet behind the mains and a couple feet below, assuming the mains are on stands or risers of some sort. Of course, the subwoofer will also be a few feet to the inside of each main speaker. That might help smooth the upper midbass / lower midrange like flanking subs do. It might be tricky to get it to blend in such a way that it smoothes that range without giving away its position, drawing the lower range of instruments and vocals towards the center.

Re: 4 Pi Home Theater Build [message #69283 is a reply to message #69282] Thu, 01 September 2011 21:23 Go to previous messageGo to next message
NWCgrad is currently offline  NWCgrad
Messages: 143
Registered: March 2010
Location: Frederick, United States ...
Master
Just looking at the specs for the Eminence Lab 12 you use in the Pi 3 sub. Since I do not have any tools for the next two years, how well would a pair of Lab 12's work in a sealed 1.0 ft³ Subwoofer Cabinet (could order premade from the states) to solve my issues? Eminence literature says the driver works in sealed boxes from 0.8-1 ft³.

If so, do you deliver the 3 Pi sub kit to APO address?


VIRIBUS MARI VICTORIA
Re: 4 Pi Home Theater Build [message #69285 is a reply to message #69283] Thu, 01 September 2011 21:43 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18676
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

As a flanking sub, a LAB12 in a 1.0ft3 sealed box would work just fine. But it won't give you much extension, with f3 around 45Hz. Still, that's plenty for flanking subs. Should work great.

We can send kits to APO addresses via USPS.

Re: 4 Pi Home Theater Build [message #69286 is a reply to message #69285] Thu, 01 September 2011 21:47 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
NWCgrad is currently offline  NWCgrad
Messages: 143
Registered: March 2010
Location: Frederick, United States ...
Master
Awesome, looks like I will give up buying a new HTPC and go with two flanking subs instead!

VIRIBUS MARI VICTORIA
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