First, let me just say....Gorgeous!
My view on all this is that to really live in my home, the "absolutely no compromises" setup approach doesn't work for me, doesn't work for my family.
If we're going to be really honest, it just doesn't work for anybody approaching quasi-normal in nature, which most of us don't need to worry about.
That said, plan 1 & plan 3 look like excellent possibilities. If it were me, I would go with Plan 3 (a little more distance from the speakers), but move the speakers to something more to the sides, as shown in Plan 1, though you may want to pull them out from the walls more.
Add some treatment at the first reflection points & you'll probably have something very good going on....
Agreed...an aggressive treatment scenario is difficult, if not impossible, to integrate into a typical living environment. Dedicated listening spaces are a whole different set of circumstances. I'm fortunate to have a (quasi) dedicated listening space and I exploit it to the fullest. I also have a living area that has a modest 2-channel home theater rig and it has absolutely no treatments with the exception of typical furnishings (and fidelity suffers). I've pondered the idea of implementing a few treatments there and know I could pull it off tastefully and without a great deal of effort.....but I have many, many irons in the fire as it is and, well, there's always the dedicated space for when it's time to get down to business.
Fortunately, an effective treatment scenario does
not have to be invasive, intrusive, or obnoxious. Some are of the opinion that acoustic treatments are all of these things by default. I suppose they're entitled to their opinions, but treatments can be made fairly inert from a visual standpoint or actually made to become a functioning element in the room decor scheme. Acoustically transparent fabrics such as burlap and muslin offer different textures and a variety or colors to work with. Colors that approximate or match the wall color can make a panel practically disappear in the room, or a color choice that picks up an accent color from the existing decor can be selected to create a desired mood or effect. The bottom line is a fundamental treatment scenario does not have to be viewed upon as a compromise to room decor.
So what is a fundamental treatment scenario? First, early reflections should be addressed. The term has been used in this thread already and for good reason as it's one of the primary culprits of compromised fidelity in small to medium sized rooms. Time for some homework, so have a look at this and follow the links in the thread as well....
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=446798
Oh, and the pictures you provided of the treated listening space....those devices are called diffusers. Great tools, but they really should be used in conjunction with absorption panels. So there you have two different treatment concepts.....absorption and diffusion. Absorption removes troublesome sonic energy (sound) from the room. Diffusion returns sonic energy into to the room in a more constructive fashion than random reflections off of a flat, hard surface which can be destructive to fidelity. In most all cases it's best to start with absorption devices and eliminate the early reflections
then introduce diffusion devices to return some of that sonic energy that's been removed from the room by the absorbers.
Also, something to keep in mind is true, effective diffusers are not just random geometric shapes fixed to a board....they are mathematically calculated designs that have to be built to specific dimensions to work properly. The random (or sometimes even deliberately configured and patterned) geometric shapes on some "diffusers" merely scatter sonic energy. This is better than reflections from a flat, hard surface but it is not true diffusion and can introduce rogue acoustic anomalies that can actually hurt fidelity. Stepped diffusers are easy to build and are legitimate, mathematically calculated diffusers. If someone wants to introduce diffusion into their room and is up for a little DIY project of moderate difficulty it's what I recommend. An example of them can be seen here where I use them on the front wall of my listening space (the devices that comprise the center third of the entire diffuser array....the outer third segments are well-type QRD diffusers and are a bitch to build and expensive to purchase).
But first things first, establish a starting point by deciding on how you're going to configure the room. I like #3 as well as this gives you the opportunity to get more than six feet between you and those speakers (which is a minimum appropriate speaker to listener distance for a speaker the size of you JBLs).
- Michael
