Quote:
Originally Posted by chessman
I just tried adding a single 3' x 11" trap immediately adjacent to the outside of the left main. The image became congested, with either reflection or absorption facing the listening position. Back out it went and the image sharpness returned. It looks asymmetrical, but I am going with my ears on this one.  |
Asymmetrical or not, your ears have to be the ultimate judge.
I've found that in my case the inboard 11-inch "supplementals" to the 9-inch "clamping" traps work best with the forward edge of the 11-inchers set back about 2 inches from the plane formed by the forward edges of the left and right 9-inch traps (which themselves are "flush" with the speaker baffle board). Aligning the 11-incher on the 9-inchers'-and-speaker plane introduces the same congestive effect you've noted. (Sounds anal as heck, I know, but it works.)
As Michael Adams has indicated, positioning the attack traps relative to the speakers to get the best result will vary. Certainly true here.