A couple of very minor trap adjustments have effected...

[jimtranr]

a significant improvement in soundstage presentation.

On the face of it, the attached thumbnails don't reflect a significant visual alteration of my primary system's Tube Trap configuration as depicted in the last photo and diagram posted a week or so ago. They're provided here simply as a refresher reference.

I made three adjustments:

1. Reorienting the fireplace-centered three-foot 9" trap so the diffusor section faces the listener.
2. Pulling that trap out from its snugged-up-to-the-fireplace position so its rear sits about two inches in front of the fireplace glass doors and tile.
3. Pulling the 16" rear corner and 11" jutting-out corner traps out about two inches from their respective corners.

What prompted the adjustments was something I read recently that unhooking corner traps from their flush-to-the-wall positions may open up the spatial presentation of classical and other large orchestral works. Since such fare (e.g., symphonies, concertos, "big" film scores, and ballets) constitutes a good portion of my listening, I thought I'd give the concept a whirl. It didn't cost anything--and, more important, I doubted that my wife would notice a two-inch moveout of the 16" rear-corner Super Traps that, tolerant as she is, induce a minor case of heartburn every time she glances back at that end of the room.

I also decided, despite initial auditions a while back suggesting that an orientation change wouldn't make a significant difference, to flip the fireplace trap around and pull it out a couple inches as well. Given the "acoustic shadowing" traps provide, I figured that a couple of inches separation in that location wouldn't hurt.

I've spent much of my time over the last several days listening to records, CD's, SACD's, and FM (particularly a recorded-live broadcast of a concert performed in the marvelous acoustic of the Concertgebouw) of mostly large-scale orchestral works. The verdict with the vinyl and digital discs I'm very familiar with is that the moveout and diffusor-orientation adjustments expand the sense of space and ambience on well-recorded material where at least a hint of significant space (whether "natural" or mix-enhanced) already existed. The Concertgebouw broadcast via my MR77 was just plain eerie in extending a virtual invitation to step into the soundstage, moreso than in previous listening sessions to the Radio Nederlands broadcasts on the same system.

Studio recordings, particularly multimiked-and-mixed-to-death productions of pop bands, vocals, and the like that previously conveyed no significant spatial illusion did not suddenly exhibit what some like to call "air," indicating that the trap adjustments did not add a patina of their own to whatever sonic presentation happened to be at the plate. But even on such recordings image focus was improved.

I don't suggest these trap adjustments as prescriptive, only as descriptive of what they effected in my specific listening space. But since they don't cost anything--except perhaps some time, particularly in comparative listening and back-and-forth trap adjustments--they might be worth a whirl. Here, they're now the standard configuration. I just hope my wife doesn't fix her eyes on the rear of the room too often.

[chessman]

Jim, this very interesting. I have a column comprised of stacked full rounds behind each main (along with many others). Yesterday, I swapped 16's for the bottoms to replaces 11's and got a distinct improvement in imaging. Did your apparent bass reduce a bit when you pulled out from the walls?

[jimtranr]

Originally Posted by chessman

Jim, this very interesting. I have a column comprised of stacked full rounds behind each main (along with many others). Yesterday, I swapped 16's for the bottoms to replaces 11's and got a distinct improvement in imaging. Did your apparent bass reduce a bit when you pulled out from the walls?

I've been keeping up with your additions and such, here and on the generic treatment forum. Interesting, and not surprising, results. Congratulations.

The two inches of trap-to-wall separation makes no perceptible difference here in bass heft, extension, or impact. What it achieves is fleshing out the location and dimensionality of, for example, bass drum, tympani, and string bass (along with other instruments and/or voices) a tad more on those recordings made with at least some attempt to portray the venue.

What does reduce the apparent bass (and reduces definition as well) is removing the 11" traps flanking the inboard 9" traps which "clamp" the speakers. That difference is nowhere near subtle.

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by jimtranr

a significant improvement in soundstage presentation.

On the face of it, the attached thumbnails don't reflect a significant visual alteration of my primary system's Tube Trap configuration as depicted in the last photo and diagram posted a week or so ago. They're provided here simply as a refresher reference.

I made three adjustments:

1. Reorienting the fireplace-centered three-foot 9" trap so the diffusor section faces the listener.
2. Pulling that trap out from its snugged-up-to-the-fireplace position so its rear sits about two inches in front of the fireplace glass doors and tile.
3. Pulling the 16" rear corner and 11" jutting-out corner traps out about two inches from their respective corners.

What prompted the adjustments was something I read recently that unhooking corner traps from their flush-to-the-wall positions may open up the spatial presentation of classical and other large orchestral works. Since such fare (e.g., symphonies, concertos, "big" film scores, and ballets) constitutes a good portion of my listening, I thought I'd give the concept a whirl. It didn't cost anything--and, more important, I doubted that my wife would notice a two-inch moveout of the 16" rear-corner Super Traps that, tolerant as she is, induce a minor case of heartburn every time she glances back at that end of the room.

I also decided, despite initial auditions a while back suggesting that an orientation change wouldn't make a significant difference, to flip the fireplace trap around and pull it out a couple inches as well. Given the "acoustic shadowing" traps provide, I figured that a couple of inches separation in that location wouldn't hurt.

I've spent much of my time over the last several days listening to records, CD's, SACD's, and FM (particularly a recorded-live broadcast of a concert performed in the marvelous acoustic of the Concertgebouw) of mostly large-scale orchestral works. The verdict with the vinyl and digital discs I'm very familiar with is that the moveout and diffusor-orientation adjustments expand the sense of space and ambience on well-recorded material where at least a hint of significant space (whether "natural" or mix-enhanced) already existed. The Concertgebouw broadcast via my MR77 was just plain eerie in extending a virtual invitation to step into the soundstage, moreso than in previous listening sessions to the Radio Nederlands broadcasts on the same system.

Studio recordings, particularly multimiked-and-mixed-to-death productions of pop bands, vocals, and the like that previously conveyed no significant spatial illusion did not suddenly exhibit what some like to call "air," indicating that the trap adjustments did not add a patina of their own to whatever sonic presentation happened to be at the plate. But even on such recordings image focus was improved.

I don't suggest these trap adjustments as prescriptive, only as descriptive of what they effected in my specific listening space. But since they don't cost anything--except perhaps some time, particularly in comparative listening and back-and-forth trap adjustments--they might be worth a whirl. Here, they're now the standard configuration. I just hope my wife doesn't fix her eyes on the rear of the room too often.

Congrats in the improvements.

IME, all of those are large trap movements, especially eliminating contact of traps to boundaries. More noticeable the more traps there are in the room. As with speaker set up, an inch is as close as a mile.

[jimtranr]

Originally Posted by metaphacts

IME, all of those are large trap movements, especially eliminating contact of traps to boundaries. More noticeable the more traps there are in the room. As with speaker set up, an inch is as close as a mile.

No question that a little goes a long way.

[jimtranr]

Saturday began a binge prompted by a first-time visit to a used record store in Eugene (I bet Michael Adams knows the House of Records) and an invitation by its owner to show up on Sunday morning at his garage, where he was selling LP inventory, some of it classical at $1 a record. All told, over those two days I spent a tad over $50 for 28 albums, three of which I culled out after getting them home, cleaning them with my VPI HW-16.5, and listening critically. Even counting the discards, it's not hyperbole to state that I made a killing.

So why is this posted here instead of in Vinyl and Accessories? Well, because a simple swapout that added a measly five inches of height to one Tube Trap transformed my vinyl listening experience.

The prior front trap configuration included a three-foot-(actually 37-inch-) tall 11-inch center trap atop the fireplace base, with its diffusor facing the listener. In its place I substituted a 42-inch-tall 11-incher, also with diffusor out, so the front setup now looks like this:



(Note all the stuff now on the mantle. It's what my wife made me put back up there after I, er, "cleaned" all of it off for esthetic reasons before shooting the earlier photo.)

As noted in earlier posts, each trap placement increment has improved the illusion of "being there" with well-recorded material. While I thought there might be some possibly-discernible additional benefit with a slightly taller center trap, I wasn't prepared for the magnitude of what I'll call "soundstage illumination" as I listened to my "new" (and some familiar "old") vinyl this weekend.

This is obviously something I can't tape-measure, but in some cases instruments that seemed to emanate from, say, 15 feet behind the speaker plane before the swap have been "pushed back" even further (and not just a foot or two). Moreover, the soundstage's lateral boundaries are now more clearly delineated--front-to-rear.

Of course, it's what's going on within the soundstage that matters--sonorities, attack, decay, and inner voicing, among other performance attributes. With the familiar "old" vinyl, it's obvious that all these have improved in terms of definition, articulation, dynamics, and localization. That in turn has made it easier for me to evaluate the "new" vinyl and determine just how big a "killing" I've made.

Five inches. Who'd have thunk?

[jimtranr]

While listening yesterday, I decided to stack a 37"-tall 11" trap atop the 42" center trap to raise the array to within about an inch-and-a-half of the ceiling, thereby treating, within workable limits, the intersection between the wall and ceiling at that point. Note that the top trap is an early-'90's "pre-button" model--like the lower trap, the diffusor center actually faces the listener.

As with the earlier "five-inch-taller" substitution, I didn't know just how much, if any, change, let alone improvement, I'd hear with the stack in place. Randy, in comments posted in the Acoustical Treatments forum, had noted considerable, and not subtle, improvements in a number of sonic performance parameters with stacking along the front wall.

My experience with stacking just a single center trap parallels his, with very discernible improvements noted in overall spatial presentation, instrumental dimensionality and palpability, and perceived bass transient speed, heft, impact, and decay, whether the program was Bernstein conducting and playing (yes, Lenny was no slouch on the keyboard) the Shostakovich Second Piano Concerto, Dorati making Stravinsky's Firebird fly, or Brubeck, Desmond, Wright, and Morello frolicking with time signatures in "Take Five" or "Blue Rondo a la Turk."

I'm not sure how much of the improvement to attribute to the reduction of exposed reflective fireplace and wall surface and to the near sealing-off of the wall-ceiling intersection with the increase in trap height. The wall-ceiling intersection is a corner (same with the wall-floor intersection), after all, just oriented differently from the wall-to-wall variety we normally associate with "corner." Given the magnitude of perceived improvement, and in the absence of pertinent technical background, I tend to think that treating that intersection accounts for a fair share of the very apparent improvement my ears have noted since.

A couple pair of Equinox 6 IC's are due in next Monday, and with what I'm now getting out of the system thanks to the recent trap tweaks I think I have a good test bed with which to evaluate them.