Rare Triangular(ish) Room: Advice on Layout

C

chotaa

New member
Hi everyone. It's my first post here, where I always stumble upon a lot of great advice. I've searched the forums but was not able to find a situation similar to mine, so I created a new post.

I'm a composer, and just moved to a new space (apartment building) and trying to put together a decent sounding home studio in one of the rooms. I've read quite a few articles on speaker and absorption panel placement, however they almost always assume the room is rectangular. So I'm having difficult time figuring out where to place my speakers and desk.

Speaking from the experience you have, where do you think would be the ideal placement for speakers? Also how close should the speakers be placed for the best sound. I will be using Adam A7X monitors.

Drawing and dimensions are pretty precise and column 1 and 2 shows the exact shape of the corners. Not sure if it is suitable for or requires the use of bass traps.

Wall A: Adjacent building
Wall B: Hallway
Wall C: My living room
Wall D: Outside

Thanks for the help :)

Home-Studio-Plan.png

Yigit K. Guc
 
Usually a room should be wider / taller at the rear than the front, but in your case I think you'll be better off with your speakers at the bottom of the drawing facing toward the hallway door at the top. Then Yes, you'll need bass traps and also absorption at the reflection points. More here:

How to set up a room
Acoustic Basics

--Ethan
 
I agree with Ethan as usual, but I would try a few different set ups to be sure. We don't normally like to suggest facing a corner but I would also suggest trying there on top of facing the window on the bottom. You can use the following program to test the room to make a more informed decision if you have a mic laying around: Room EQ Wizard Tutorial - GIK Acoustics

The columns and angles may make it difficult for placing superchunks, but straddling the corner with a 2' x 4' panel would easily overcome any asymmetries of the corners. The more exaggerated acute angles will definitely require thicker absorption panels.
 
Thanks a lot for the response guys. I'm not clear on few points though;

@Ethan, when you say at the bottom, facing toward the hallway, do you mean parallel to Wall B? or you meant as a rough direction, which meaning parallel to the windows (Wall D)? Also, are you suggesting to align them equidistant from the walls. Either way, would 38 Percent Rule and the Side Wall Reflection formula still apply to this room at your suggested placement?

@Alex, I'm not quite sure what you mean. Are you talking about placing the speakers at the corner of column 2 facing towards Wall C and at the corner of column 1 facing towards Wall A? or something completely different :)

Also, is there a minimum distance from side and rear walls for placing the speakers?
 
chotaa said:
@Ethan, when you say at the bottom, facing toward the hallway, do you mean parallel to Wall B? or you meant as a rough direction, which meaning parallel to the windows (Wall D)?
Click to expand...

Either is probably okay, though I favor parallel to the rear wall B. So your desk will not be parallel to the front wall D. If you have a desk that's easy to move you can always experiment. Left-right symmetry is important, and that's maximized by being centered evenly between the left and right walls.

--Ethan
 
chotaa said:
@Alex, I'm not quite sure what you mean. Are you talking about placing the speakers at the corner of column 2 facing towards Wall C and at the corner of column 1 facing towards Wall A? or something completely different :)
Click to expand...

I was suggesting you facing Column 1 with the speakers against wall C and D both facing towards wall A behind you. I would try Ethan's suggestions as well.

chotaa said:
Also, is there a minimum distance from side and rear walls for placing the speakers?
Click to expand...

Not really, sometimes all the way against the wall is the most beneficial. It can very, especially comparing when comparing different wall constructions and the like.
 
Again, thanks a lot guys. I'll try both and also do a room eq test and let you guys know about the results.

@Ethan, one last thing. Does the shape of the room affect the way we calculate the 38 percent rule and first reflection formula, since the walls are asymmetrical and not parallel? Or should I just calculate them the way they are?

Thank you.
 
I wouldn't worry about 38% in that room. Just measure the LF response at high resolution as you experiment with placements.

--Ethan
 
Will do. Thanks Ethan.
Also I think the formula for the first reflections (espc. side walls) will have to be different because of the angles of the walls, am I wrong?
 
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