This personal listening room in Phoenix Arizona, was a gradual evolution over a period of one year. The client was so captivated by each change to his musical experience in his room that he requested more and more treatment additions. As this is a living room environment with a dual living and listening room usage, all the units were built for easy maneuvering in and out of the room as required.
The accompanying videos demonstrate the progress at each stage of the project as first low frequency absorption and later Quadratic Diffusion were added to his lounge.
1. What was the brief the client gave to you on what he wanted for the design goals?
When Bruce was first referred to us, he had little experience in treating his room. As an avid Audiophile who had traveled the world watching his son David, the principal dancer in the Bolshoi ballet company, perform in some of the Worlds finest theaters, Bruce had a great sound quality reference level. He wanted to replicate, or get as close as humanly possible, to the acoustics he had experienced on his tours.
2. When you inspected the room, what were the major challenges you identified that the room faced in trying to match that design goal?
We faced a number of major issues with the room. The dimensions and shape were problematic, it had a dual usage as a listening and living room and, worst of all, it featured a great many glass surfaces. We had to devise a treatment process that managed both the low frequency pressure and reflection issues, whilst also being cognizant of the various wall cavities especially to the right of the right channel speaker.
Coupled to all of these considerations, we had to ensure that all treatment was easily maneuverable so that the lounge area could be returned to acting as a living and social entertaining space with as little effort as possible.
3. How did you overcome those issues?
We first looked at the low frequency issues that the room presented. We had a wall cavity to the right of the right channel speaker that we had to fill whilst also matching the treatment to the glass wall opposite. We had a variable ceiling height that also contained glass. These low frequency pressure and reflection issues were treated with low frequency activated carbon diaphragmatic absorption around the speakers and sliding acoustic foam panels for middle and high smooth absorption rates and levels.
As the process evolved, and after Bruce became a frequenct visitor to my demo studio in Phoenix, the next step was to add diffusion to the room. We chose the QD 17 quadratic diffuser series to provide a width, depth and height to the soundstage presentation at his listening position. 4 diffusers were added to the front wall and 4 diffusers to the back wall.
