LOL, if I did that to my listening room, I'd probably wake up the next morning with a steak knife protruding from my chest. Your wife must be very tolerant...hehe

my wife is very cool. she isnt very happy about, but hasnt insisted anything get torn down either.

she cant argue that sounds terrific down here so...

update on the WAF:

last night we had a dinner party, after dinner i caught her explaining some of the science behind the treatments to our guests, and even later caught her alone after they all left sitting in the sweet spot listening by herself. the room has sold itself.

audiophile preferred, wife approved!

some follow up, its finished. these are with my SLR, a little better than my wifes point and shoot.

[img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_3283.jpg?t=1258700517[/img]

[img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_3298.jpg?t=1258700593[/img]

[img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_3301.jpg?t=1258700623[/img]

[img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_3308.jpg?t=1258700673[/img]

[img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_3338.jpg?t=1258700833[/img]

this is stealy, he hangs with me as he must be a fellow music lover.
[img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_3340.jpg?t=1258700860[/img]

How much did all the traps cost? Is the material expensive?

all told im going to have about $400 in all the panels, fabric, and glue. keep in mind that i used a muslin that was $5.99 per yard when there was some @ $2.99, and i made the mistake of buying some of the panels online which was almost double what i ended up paying for the rest from a local supplier. this could have been done for easily for $325-350. the tiles were not in the equation, but as cheap as i got them i said why not.

budget is my eternal struggle so this room had to be reasonable or it wasn't going to be. hell, budget is why i dont graduate to a higher rung on the ML ladder...but all things considered im very happy with the Preface. its sounds damn good right now!

this morning i sat on the couch with coffee and listened to Radiohead - Kid A and let it wake me proper. Life is good.

also i installed track lighting today since home depot is having a sale:

i have to say, I love these speakers!
[img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_3350.jpg?t=1258787593[/img]

[img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_3356.jpg?t=1258787677[/img]

[img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_3349.jpg?t=1258787705[/img]

[img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_3355.jpg?t=1258787739[/img]

they love the blues...
[img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_3358.jpg?t=1258787768[/img]

Rocking out to Zappa Halloween in 24/96! Its no set of large panels but the sound down here does not offend the ear at all.

sorry for not keeping up with the thread.

here is an update, ive made some changes(hence my lack of internet time):

now as you can see i moved all furniture but my primary listening seat out of the front of the room, made a set of plinths for my speakers which are finished, and created the wife friendly "social area" behind my desk with the couch and chair that used to be up front by the speakers. now my speakers are 4' from the front of the box to the wall behind and 2.3' from the side walls. i also removed 6 HF panels which has brought better balance to the room over all, none were bass traps though. I still need to build a rack to sit the TV and gear on but think ill wait until im more sure of what my needs are after i get my new amp. over all im very happy with the improvements, the sound is noticeably better in both image and sound stage, a performance bump indeed just by opening the buisness end of the room for sound waves....











the speakers seem to really benefit having the plinths in the low end. i have them spiked on the stone so they are as solid as a rock, thats for sure. the centers are concrete, with a rubber dampener between the concrete and the stone toppers. the wood is just cosmetic of course.











and this fossil was free with my purchase of the cut stone
[img]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c326/westfaliamama/IMG_4786.jpg[/img]

once i replace my amp i plan to find a better preamp. i liked the idea of the all in 1 DAC/pre, but after this i think ill look for a stereo pre and a separate DAC since the combined unit in a stereo box is very pricy vs the separates.

...but man do i love my mancave.

Nice job on the room! Cool plinths too.

I've always thought that dealing with an issue directly rather than indirectly, when possilbe, was a good idea, for instance dealing with room issues by treating the room, as we see Jimna has done.

Recently I noted this video on YouTube. There is a dark-colored square horizontal surface with a light colored sediment sprinkled on it. The surface is stimulated by a slowly rising audio frequency. The sediment tends to settle where the surface vibrates the least and leaves the most active regions largely devoid of sediment. It is a wonderfully visual demonstration of standing waves on a surface memabrane which is very much like standing waves in a rectangular room.

Science Fun on YouTube << (click link)

The patterns are in some ways facinating. Take a few moments to pick one spot on the surface and note what happens at that spot as the frequency changes. If at one frequency that spot is covered with sediment while at another frequency that spot is in the middle of a dark zone, that would be like a point in a room where one frequency is nearly nulled out while another frequency may be heard four or more times the sound pressure level. Now imagine the surface is vibrated at six different frequencies at once. Depending on where one would wander within a room with strong standing waves, one might have a greatly varying listening experience.

Now note the very beginning of the video, say from two seconds to four seconds in. The sediment is beginning to show some variance in coverage, but except for the edges and corners, there are no harsh demarcations. If a room can have most of the standing waves greatly reduced, then there may be some gentle variance among listening positions, but nothing too drastic.

Enjoy.