Ceiling Treaments

[dallas]

I'm diving headfirst into room treatment, and I'm definatley shooting from the hip with my decisions.

I was considering whether to treat the ceiling for reflection points. On my second thought, I looked up dave's vertical off axis response graphs (sierra's), and I would infer that since the drop off is so severe on a vertical axis, that treating the first reflection point on the ceiling makes almost no sense.

Is my common sense sensible?

[buddhadas]

Hi Dallas,

I have treatments on the ceiling/wall intersections. I thought of doing a "cloud" above my listening spot, but could not figure out how to do it since I have swamp cooler vent right there. I can tell you that since I have treated my room well, that it has returned the favor.

Peace,

Jim

[debo]

Depends on your room. How high is you ceiling? I have a low ceiling and my center channel is on top of my display and it made a nice improvement on movie dialog. Side wall and flooring are the biggest problems so start there.

[dallas]

Depends on your room. How high is you ceiling? I have a low ceiling and my center channel is on top of my display and it made a nice improvement on movie dialog. Side wall and flooring are the biggest problems so start there.

8 foot ceiling. carpeted floors.

My center is on top too, about 5-6 feet off the floor, angle steeply down toward the listening position.

[debo]

The top of my center is 2 feet from the ceiling angled downward. Room acoustics are just as important as the quality of your speakers.

[dallas]

I have a low ceiling and my center channel is on top of my display and it made a nice improvement on movie dialog.

so you treated the ceiling?

I don't have any side wall that need treated, as my theater is set up at a diagonal to the room.

[debo]

Yes I have at the first reflection point.

[hdjii]

so you treated the ceiling?

I don't have any side wall that need treated, as my theater is set up at a diagonal to the room.

I am considering changing my listening area to a diagonal arrangement and I would be interested in your feedback on how it works for you. I have seen very little comment on this arrangement. The one caution was that the corner which is front center must be well treated with acoustic treatments to prevent problems. What is your experience?

Howard Johnson
3 340SEs across the front
2 170SEs in the rear
Denon 3805
Infinite Baffle sub with 2 AE IB15s

[martinpaul12]

Hi dallas,

Well,"In general, you don't want your ceiling and your walls to compete with one another," says Patricia Orlando of Paint Effects in San Francisco, a store that specializes in faux finishing and other decorative paint techniques."Complicated decorative effects are tricky on the ceiling, so from practical considerations alone we recommend against them."Most people like a clean ceiling, but a sky effect is something our customers use quite commonly if they've kept the walls simple. We do the effect with a lot of washes - mostly pale blue glazes over a white base coat. Sometimes we add pinks, peaches, and other sunset colours for more dimension. Then we add accents like scattered stars in white or maybe a touch of silver, and finally a white glaze to simulate gentle clouds. The effect is classic. It has its roots in nature and is probably as old as the sky itself. You see it a lot in European colour schemes and in old frescoes."

Thanks