AudioAficionado.org  

Go Back   AudioAficionado.org > Manufacturers Forums > Stillpoints

Stillpoints Lower Your Noise Floor

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old 05-17-2015, 09:46 PM
Ritmo Ritmo is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 4,053
Default

Tima,

Great system and setup.

Considering the Aperture panels. Like you, I have a pair of Alexias. In looking at your installation, it would appear the lower panel is up from the floor about 20 inches - is this correct? Also, are panels directly behind the speaker? (Hard to tell with the picture angle)

Thx!
__________________
Mike
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 05-18-2015, 03:46 AM
tima tima is offline
Living La Vida Vinyl
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,395
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ritmo View Post
Tima,

Great system and setup.

Considering the Aperture panels. Like you, I have a pair of Alexias. In looking at your installation, it would appear the lower panel is up from the floor about 20 inches - is this correct? Also, are panels directly behind the speaker? (Hard to tell with the picture angle)

Thx!
Hi Mike,

From the carpet to the bottom edge of an Aperture on the lower row is about 26-1/2".

The panels are behind the speakers but you need to factor that the speaker is not at a 90-degree angle to the wall.

Let's take the left side speaker and the lower Aperture behind it for our example, the speaker in the photo.

The Alexia is angled front-to-back pointing at the listening position with its rear closer to the side wall than its front.The left rear corner of the Alexia is about 19-1/2" and the left front corner is about 26-1/2" from the side wall.

The left edge of the Aperture is about 28" from the side wall.

The Right rear corner of the Alexia is about 4" in from the left edge of the Aperture panel. The Right front corner of the Alexia is about 15" from the left edge of the Aperture. So the Aperture starts behind the speaker but extends to the right past its front.

There are no hard and fast rules. I tried the outside panels closer to and farther from the side walls. The effect of each panel is rather focused so it was pretty easy to hear the effect of moving them. I tried with panels just in the center and just on the sides but kept coming back to the combination of three across. The wall behind the speakers is 9h x 17w. (I no longer use the panels on the floor in the corners. I could slightly tune the bass between articulation and weight, but I had to come to a 'practical' limit on the number of Apertures to go with.) The net gain in terms of listening satisfaction has been huge. I think five could be a place to start. Three across the wall behind the speakers and one on each side wall at the first reflection points. Room transformation for the price of a nice power cord. ;->
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 05-22-2015, 09:34 AM
Ritmo Ritmo is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 4,053
Default

TY! I'm seriously considering pulling the trigger on these.
__________________
Mike
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 05-22-2015, 05:29 PM
bigblue bigblue is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 537
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by tima View Post
Congratulations on devoting effort to your room's sonic infrastructure.
I'd start directly behind the speaker at tweeter/mid level; slightly toward the inner or outer speaker edges can also be effective.
Tima, I am about to dig deeper into acoustic treatment of my room. Could you elaborate on the placement of the panels behind the tweeters. Aren't the sound projected forward (away from the panels) at higher frequencies? Why are they more effective there than lets say on the side walls (1:st reflection) or in the center between the speakers, dealing with the reflection coming from the wall behind the listener?
I am not questioning your findings. Just trying to understand how and why it works at the mentioned places.
Have you any info with regards to the freq range they address?
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 05-23-2015, 04:09 AM
tima tima is offline
Living La Vida Vinyl
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,395
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bigblue View Post
Tima, I am about to dig deeper into acoustic treatment of my room. Could you elaborate on the placement of the panels behind the tweeters. Aren't the sound projected forward (away from the panels) at higher frequencies? Why are they more effective there than lets say on the side walls (1:st reflection) or in the center between the speakers, dealing with the reflection coming from the wall behind the listener?
I am not questioning your findings. Just trying to understand how and why it works at the mentioned places.
Have you any info with regards to the freq range they address?
Hi - I've not seen the interior construction of an Aperture and I'm not an acoustician so I won't presume to tell you how or why they work. I did spend some time experimenting with multiple panels, I know what my ears tell me, and I can share my experience.

Based on your questions I'll suggest to look at my posts in this thread: here, here, and here. In the photo of my room you'll see Apertures (roughly) behind the speakers, between the speakers and at first reflection points on the side walls (just one of those is shown.) So in my room it was not an issue of why one spot works versus another. But if it were, my ears would tell me.

I believe one of those posts suggests a way to start out with five panels. If you can't start with five, then experiment with two (either one behind each speaker or two in the center) or three (one behind each speaker and one in the center, or one in the center and one on each side wall.) Get some idea about the front wall, then try the first reflection point on the side. From my room size and its acoustic - based on what my ears told me - I found six on the front wall and two on the sides worked well. The somewhat minimalist suggestions I covered in this thread may or may not work for other rooms, but based on Stillpoints own suggestions and my own experience, they are reasonable starting points.

Though not shown in the photo, after getting panels in the speaker area setup, I added three more spread across the back wall behind my listening seat. Those added additional clarity and helped pull the soundstage further into the room while not diminishing its depth behind the speakers. I suspect the reasons the front wall treatment is the place to start is because reflections from there reach your ears sooner than reflections coming off the wall behind your head.

To my knowledge Stillpoints has not published data on a frequency range.

If you have an Aperture dealer nearby, hopefully they can let you try several panels in your own room, or bring them to you for a demo. Because of their size, the Aperture makes for easy experimentation. I suggest removing all other acoustic treatment out of the room for those experiments.
Reply With Quote
  #16  
Old 05-26-2015, 11:38 AM
Bavarian05's Avatar
Bavarian05 Bavarian05 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 1,326
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bigblue View Post
Tima, I am about to dig deeper into acoustic treatment of my room. Could you elaborate on the placement of the panels behind the tweeters. Aren't the sound projected forward (away from the panels) at higher frequencies? Why are they more effective there than lets say on the side walls (1:st reflection) or in the center between the speakers, dealing with the reflection coming from the wall behind the listener? I am not questioning your findings. Just trying to understand how and why it works at the mentioned places. Have you any info with regards to the freq range they address?
I found them most effective in the center of the rear wall behind the speakers and also directly behind my listening seat - though my listening position is only 4' from the rear wall so this may or may not be the most helpful in your room. First reflections were not the best place for them in my experience, but that will be very room dependent.
Bruce Jacobs from Still Points told me to put them on rear wall in the center as a starting point and that they are most effective there for whatever reason. Highly recommended in my opinion. Money well spent. They are also really well made and nice looking - in my view.
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 05-29-2015, 05:15 PM
bigblue bigblue is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 537
Default

Tima and Bavarian05, thank you for taking your time sharing your thoughts on the Aperture setup. Much appreciated.
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 10-29-2016, 06:43 PM
fliz fliz is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 12
Default

I have 4 of these in my room. The difference they make is astonishing. My roommate who was not an audiophile before we started living together is maddened by how dramatic of a difference such tiny and inconsequential looking device can make. Having them in the wrong spot by even a foot is noticeable.

My placement: 1) Dead center rear wall between the two speakers at the high of my main (750hz-20khz) drivers.

2&3) At the primary reflection point on the side walls, inches matter.

4) behind primary listening position.

I want 4 more.
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 03-04-2017, 12:58 AM
baddog's Avatar
baddog baddog is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Texas
Posts: 159
Default

I am not as wise, or articulate as some of the prior posters, but I have three in my 13.5'* 23'*9 ft room and the results are well worth the investment, I see myself getting at least an additional one for the rear. I have no technical explanation to offer on why they work so well, but hearing is believing.

In fact putting one on either side wall, opened up the spatial spread in a manner which I would never have believed had I not heard it myself.
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 11-26-2018, 09:06 PM
bodiezaffa bodiezaffa is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Toronto
Posts: 934
Default

Hi Tima.

I just took delivery of ONE apeture panel a few days ago and noticed a big difference, especially in bass control.
Im thinking of getting either 1 or 2 more.
I dont expect the improvements to double with each panel added but considering you have 6, I wanted to get your opinion as you experimented.

Beautiful set up BTW.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Audioaficionado.org tested by Norton Internet Security

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:24 AM.



Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.10
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
©Copyright 2009-2023 AudioAficionado.org.Privately owned, All Rights Reserved.
Audio Aficionado Sponsors
AudioAficionado Subscriber
AudioAficionado Subscriber
Inspire By Dennis Had
Inspire By Dennis Had
Harmonic Resolution Systems
Harmonic Resolution Systems
Wyred4Sound
Wyred4Sound
Dragonfire Acoustics
Dragonfire Acoustics
GIK Acoustics
GIK Acoustics
Esoteric
Esoteric
AC Infinity
AC Infinity
JL Audio
JL Audio
Add Powr
Add Powr
Accuphase - Soulution
Accuphase - Soulution
Audio by E
Audio by E
Canton
Canton
Bryston
Bryston
WireWorld Cables
WireWorld Cables
Stillpoints
Stillpoints
Bricasti Design
Bricasti Design
Furutech
Furutech
Shunyata Research
Shunyata Research
Legend Audio & Video
Legend Audio & Video