When to start testing for IB location?

[cray54]

I have a room that will be our living room / home theater space. It is not well laid out (some furniture leaving, some coming, stuff to be moved etc), but I do know where I want the screen and roughly where I want the couch.

Is it too soon to begin testing the room to determine ideal IB manifold location? Will adding and moving furniture and room treatments significantly affect the results?

I'm anxious to get started, but do not want to compromise the build if I should finish other room setup first.

Thanks,
Chris

[jman]

The furniture won't make any difference. Large properly made bass traps will mainly smooth out response but not "change" it. If anything, it might be better to test before putting in the treatments to see the full impact of the room and any potential response issues. Treatments don't generally affect the response below ~60hz unless they are absolutely massive - i.e 4' wide traps across a corner.

[merwine]

Don't want to start a debate here but I beg to differ. I would say furniture such as a couch or chair can have a great effect and from experience I know it does. Something like a couch depending of the placement and design of if could actually act like a base trap.

[cray54]

Will anything that behaves as a bass trap change response in a way that would affect the location of the manifolds? I assume so, but I am unsure if ideal location is mostly dictated by reducing nulls.

[ThomasW]

How about posting a picture or floor plan showing the proposed location for the IB?

[cray54]

I was trying to ask the question in a more general sense so the replies would be more applicable to other members. I'll combine ~"start", ~"wait" and "floor plan" to mean "it depends, there is no generally applicable answer".

Not quite the motivation I was hoping for, but I'll take what I can get. I'll work on getting my information together and start a project thread.

Thanks,
Chris

[ThomasW]

Jul 15, 2011 7:48:50 GMT -7 cray54 said:

Not quite the motivation I was hoping for,

When people ask sweeping generalized questions the answers are always going to be "it depends"

Every IB is a custom install, this means something very specific to your install might have no application to any other installation....

Can furniture impact the placement of the IB?

Sure, but we don't know if it can or will until we see a floorplan

[cray54]

When asked sweeping generalized questions, I submit that an attempt to reply with a statistically relevant generally applicable answer is most useful.

When I think there may be an appropriate general answer, I often ask questions in a generalized form such that the replies may be more beneficial to other users when searching for answers.

This seems to be a good generally applicable answer:

Jul 15, 2011 8:33:43 GMT -7 ThomasW said:

Can furniture impact the placement of the IB?

Sure, but we don't know if it can or will until we see a floorplan

I apologize for asking this question in such a generalized fashion. I will work on getting my information together and start a more specifically oriented project thread.

-Chris

[jman]

Jul 14, 2011 18:42:29 GMT -7 merwine said:

Don't want to start a debate here but I beg to differ. I would say furniture such as a couch or chair can have a great effect and from experience I know it does. Something like a couch depending of the placement and design of if could actually act like a base trap.

If you cram the sofa into the corner of the room it will then act as a poorly designed bass trap. The materials in a sofa are not like the density of fiberglass/mineral wool. If the sofa is out in the room as in most setups, it will do virtually nothing because the corners are where the highest pressure occur (as is easily confirmed by listening to a sub and standing in various places). That said, unopened bails of insulation work quite well as temporary bass traps for testing purposes. Some people use them permanently with suitable aesthetic covering.