I've read that square rooms are not good for acoustic reasons.  Can anyone explain this to me?  What can be done if a HT is in a square room?  Are there acoustic treatments or anything that can be added to improve sound?

Thanks!

Bass traps, bass traps, and more bass traps

 

Square rooms are problematic, but can be tamed.  And yes, there are acoustic treatment options.  Just depends on how much you want to do. 

 

Highly recommend hitting up the guys at GIK Acoustics.  Send them some pictures of your room and what you're thinking you want to do, and they'll get you set up.  I love mine, and they made a huge difference.

 

Good luck!

So am I understanding correctly that it is the bass frequencies that are the problem?  Or are all frequencies a problem?

I'm no expert, but bass is typically the problem.  Again...I recommend consulting a treatment expert like the guys at GIK.  They deal in the science of it.

I forgot to ask this question earlier, but what is a "square room"?  Does that mean dimensions that are exactly the same (10ft x 10ft) or would 10ft by 13ft still be "square".  When does a room become rectangular instead of square?

I wouldn't get hung up on square vs rectangular.  Every room is different, and so it will likely be treated a different way.  And a rectangular room is only of value when you can position your theater fronts on the short wall, which isn't feasible for some people.

 

10x13 is still pretty square.  When you get into 10x20, I'd start considering that rectangular.

 

 

Actually, it's important to note that untreated square rooms are a bigger problem than rooms with different dimensions. Why? Because rooms with the same LxW (and sometimes even height) have exactly the same resonance characteristics at exactly the same spots along their axis. For example, let's say you have your speakers' tweeters a foot away from the sidewalls and a foot away from the rear walls in a room that is exactly the same LxW and your resonant mode along that specified point at the length axis has a +3 db bump at 200hz;  double that for the width axis and now you have a +6db increase at 200 hz--simply because you have your speakers a foot away from each wall. Moreover, even in a treated room, there will still be significant peaks/nulls above/between frequencies that are normally affected by bass traps and/or acoustic treatments, which is why it is recommended to have your speakers properly positioned first and use bass traps/wall panels for the smoothest in room response.

Hope this helps!

Oliver

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Oliver Amnuayphol
Home Theater/Audio Guru
Aperion Audio

So in this scenario, where would the best place be to put your left and right speakers?  Is there a ratio for distance from rear to side walls?

Yeah, sorry...didn't mean to indicate that they operated the same.  I meant, rooms need treatments, so take the room you've got and treat it, rather than wondering about the difference between a few feet.  That's all.

 

I concur that:

 

rectangular untreated > square untreated

rectangular treated > square treated

but also, in general, no matter how your room is shaped:

treated > untreated

Scott E.:

So in this scenario, where would the best place be to put your left and right speakers?  Is there a ratio for distance from rear to side walls?

Yes. Generally the rule of thirds is a great place to start if you have the flexibility with placement options; try putting your tweeters at the 1/3 points along both width/length axis. if one/both of those points are not feasible, try 1/5, then 1/7, etc. But generally 1/5 is good for most folks. There's not necessarily a rear/side ratio, but if making sure your tweeters are not equidistant from both rear/side walls is also a great place to start.

Hope this helps!

- Oliver

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Oliver Amnuayphol
Home Theater/Audio Guru
Aperion Audio

PJ:

Yeah, sorry...didn't mean to indicate that they operated the same.  I meant, rooms need treatments, so take the room you've got and treat it, rather than wondering about the difference between a few feet.  That's all.

 

I concur that:

 

rectangular untreated > square untreated

rectangular treated > square treated

but also, in general, no matter how your room is shaped:

treated > untreated

Amen brother, amen--I agree that you'll always get the most out of your speakers if you treat the room they're in.

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Oliver Amnuayphol
Home Theater/Audio Guru
Aperion Audio

Oliver,

I'm still a little confused with your explanation of the thirds rule.   Perhaps it would help if we have an example.  Are you saying that in a 12ft x 12ft room you should try to place the left and right speakers 4 feet from the corners?  If so, how far should they be from the front wall?

Hi Scott, yes, that is correct: In a 12x12 room, divide the room tic-tac-toe style and acoustically the best place to put your speakers is at the 1/3 points—4 ft. in from both the sides and front wall. Please note this distance is measured from the tweeters/front baffle of your speakers, not the back/sides.

 

Now because of the 12x12 size of the room, obviously we can’t follow the rule of thirds because that would put both the speakers/listener too far out into the room and too close together. The next best positions would then be at the 1/5 points, then the 1/7 points, and so on to best minimize resonance problems, standing waves, etc.

 

We should also remember that, in the square room described above, putting speakers equidistant from the front/side walls will effectively “double up” any problem frequency areas because of the similar L x W dimensions. Try moving the speakers ever so slightly fore/aft to see if you get better sound; in most cases you’ll hear this as an increase/decrease in bass boominess/muddiness.

 

Hope this helps!

Oliver

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Oliver Amnuayphol
Home Theater/Audio Guru
Aperion Audio