Ceilings

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Nigel

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Hi,

It seens to be considered sound practice to deal with first refelection points in the listening environment but I read conflicting reports on ceiling treatments. Ethan Winer, the US acoustics specialist, recommends absorption in small room ceilings to increase stage height & Noel Keywood has written the opposite, absorption on ceilings decreases stage height.

Surely ceilings are pretty much the hardest reflective surface in the listening room? If this is the case don't they need to be dealt with accordingly?

Any thoughts?
 
Ceilings are one of the strongest sources of direct reflections. Side walls are usually a stronger source though, unless something is braking up the reflection.

Reducing these reflections will reduce apparent stage height, because the reflection will stretch the sound image in that direction. If the reflections are about -8dB under the direct sound then they should add a little spaciousness but not detract too much from sound quality.

None-the-less I'd go with diffusion on the ceiling, since it is usually a good few meters away from the listener and diffusors need this. However, diffusors don't reduce all the energy in the room as much as absorption. I'd suggest 3D diffusers like the RPG Skyline LP (low profile) or the Omnifusor (but it's wood so more heavy).

If you keep an eye on the Reference Articles section of the forum, I'll be posting about the effects of reflections in the next few days.
 

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