Fri Nov 05, 2010 9:11 am
Cheap Tweak to try for Plat's next to walls
For the 16 to 18 years (since new) I've had my Plat's pulled out well into the room away from room boundaries. I have always had the liberty of placement in a fairly large area. From my experience, there is where they sounded best. I have always felt these puppies need room to breathe. They have served me very well as my main speakers and have stood the test of time. Recently, moved my Plats butting up against the wall on both sides of big screen for center channel duty with anticipation of new mains forthcoming. At first, I was disappointed & dumbed by the difference in sound. 
My vocals were non-distinct, fuzzy and basically sounded like "ass" to quote Treitz from an earlier post. Was it time to finally sell my beloved friends to someone who would position them in the correct arena where they would truly sing again away from the walls? Say it ain't say.
Get to the point Don and quit rambling! OK-Even though I have sound treatments at first order reflections, I thought I would try placement of my foam sound treatments directly to the back of my ribbons. I cut approx. 2 1/2 inch strips and placed them on the cloth material on the back. The cloth used on the Plat 4's and the foam soundproofing held together without even having to tape. Each strip was 12 inches long, therefore very little weight.
I sat down for a listen. I could not believe my ears. My vocals had never sounded better. Clear, precise, much more distinct and to my surprise sounded much louder.
I immediately pulled out my sound meter to check the DB readings. Even though I would have sworn a several DB increase, the levels all around the 5 speakers were the same. I simply could not believe it! 
Then I popped in my reference DVD, the Eagles Farewell One, Live from Melbourne.
Wow, the vocals had never sounded better. However, because of their perceived increase in loudness, I dropped the DB level by 2 db's in reference to the mains and surrounds. In fact, when Terri heard the DVD playing from another part of the house, she walked in to listen, not knowing what I had done. After she sat down during a listen to "Cloudy Days", she said the DVD sounded different. I asked her what she meant and she said more pure. I asked better or worse. She said definetely better! The vocals were more "clear" to quote. 
I don't know how this will work on mains pushed up close to a wall. However, very little, if any cost to try. You just may be surprised by the results. May try painters tape to hold soundproofing in place in the event the soundproofing material does not hold on it's own.
My vocals were non-distinct, fuzzy and basically sounded like "ass" to quote Treitz from an earlier post. Was it time to finally sell my beloved friends to someone who would position them in the correct arena where they would truly sing again away from the walls? Say it ain't say. Get to the point Don and quit rambling! OK-Even though I have sound treatments at first order reflections, I thought I would try placement of my foam sound treatments directly to the back of my ribbons. I cut approx. 2 1/2 inch strips and placed them on the cloth material on the back. The cloth used on the Plat 4's and the foam soundproofing held together without even having to tape. Each strip was 12 inches long, therefore very little weight.
I sat down for a listen. I could not believe my ears. My vocals had never sounded better. Clear, precise, much more distinct and to my surprise sounded much louder.
I immediately pulled out my sound meter to check the DB readings. Even though I would have sworn a several DB increase, the levels all around the 5 speakers were the same. I simply could not believe it! Then I popped in my reference DVD, the Eagles Farewell One, Live from Melbourne.
Wow, the vocals had never sounded better. However, because of their perceived increase in loudness, I dropped the DB level by 2 db's in reference to the mains and surrounds. In fact, when Terri heard the DVD playing from another part of the house, she walked in to listen, not knowing what I had done. After she sat down during a listen to "Cloudy Days", she said the DVD sounded different. I asked her what she meant and she said more pure. I asked better or worse. She said definetely better! The vocals were more "clear" to quote. I don't know how this will work on mains pushed up close to a wall. However, very little, if any cost to try. You just may be surprised by the results. May try painters tape to hold soundproofing in place in the event the soundproofing material does not hold on it's own.
Terri sent pictures by e-mail to a few minutes ago. 
Not! 