Brick or sheetrock walls behind SDA-1Bs

bigaltx24

The wife has decided to redecorate. I know this is never a good sign, but this time it's pretty good. I get to move my SDA-1Bs into a bigger room with a lot more options on speaker placement. The room I'm moving them into 20' x 16', the way the room is situated I'm pretty much stuck placing the speakers on one the 20' walls. Now for my dilemma, one wall is sheetrock, the other is brick. Which wall will sound better, I know they sound good against a sheetrock wall, but how will they sound against a brick wall?

beef316

I would think you would get more reflection from the brick wall, so my guess is place them on the brick. I would think that if you are redecorating you could probably take a few minutes to demo from both walls.

treitz3

Which wall has brick and which wall has SR? [LW/SW]

Are there any other considerations to concern yourself with in this decision?

bigaltx24

One of the long walls is brick, all the rest are sheetrock. The way the room is laid out I'm pretty much stuck having to use one of the long walls. I just may have to take some time and demo both walls.

ben62670

Put your SDA's on the brick wall. Not ideal, but it is the lesser of the two evils. Where is Milton?
Ben

dorokusai

I'd go with sheetrock and use the irregular surface of the brick to minimize the reflection. I'm picturing you being able to have the speakers on one wall with the brick wall the opposing wall correct?

JohnLocke88

room treatments!!!111;)

Pauly

ben62670 wrote: »

Where is Milton?
Ben

Up in the Panhandle almost to AL. I went there once when i lived in Panama City but cant for the life of me remember why. I want to say hunting but dont recall.

Pauly

F1nut

dorokusai wrote: »

I'd go with sheetrock and use the irregular surface of the brick to minimize the reflection. I'm picturing you being able to have the speakers on one wall with the brick wall the opposing wall correct?

Bingo!

bigaltx24

I had some time over the last couple of days to experiment with placement. The results are pretty interesting. First test was against the sheetrock wall. They sounded much better than they did in the room they were in before, I was very limited as far as placement goes in the previous room. They sounded best 30'' from the end wall and 6'' away from the wall. Then I swapped them around and put then against the brick wall. The first thing I noticed was the bass had tightened up considerably. The second thing I noticed was a slight loss of SDA effect. Some of the stuff that sounds like it to the side or right in front of you was set back further in the soundstage. I also found that the sweet spot was was much wider. Just to confirm my observations, I swapped them around and repeated the procedure. The results were the same. I've got them against the brick wall right now and Van Morrison is sounding awfully good, I think I'll try them there for a while.

treitz3

Interesting. How high are the ceilings?

dorokusai

bigaltx24 wrote: »

I had some time over the last couple of days to experiment with placement. The results are pretty interesting. First test was against the sheetrock wall. They sounded much better than they did in the room they were in before, I was very limited as far as placement goes in the previous room. They sounded best 30'' from the end wall and 6'' away from the wall. Then I swapped them around and put then against the brick wall. The first thing I noticed was the bass had tightened up considerably. The second thing I noticed was a slight loss of SDA effect. Some of the stuff that sounds like it to the side or right in front of you was set back further in the soundstage. I also found that the sweet spot was was much wider. Just to confirm my observations, I swapped them around and repeated the procedure. The results were the same. I've got them against the brick wall right now and Van Morrison is sounding awfully good, I think I'll try them there for a while.

Fair enough, it's all about how they sound to you. You never know.

hoosier21

bigaltx24 wrote: »

I had some time over the last couple of days to experiment with placement. The results are pretty interesting. First test was against the sheetrock wall. They sounded much better than they did in the room they were in before, I was very limited as far as placement goes in the previous room. They sounded best 30'' from the end wall and 6'' away from the wall. Then I swapped them around and put then against the brick wall. The first thing I noticed was the bass had tightened up considerably. The second thing I noticed was a slight loss of SDA effect. Some of the stuff that sounds like it to the side or right in front of you was set back further in the soundstage. I also found that the sweet spot was was much wider. Just to confirm my observations, I swapped them around and repeated the procedure. The results were the same. I've got them against the brick wall right now and Van Morrison is sounding awfully good, I think I'll try them there for a while.

tighter bass and a deeper soundstage, you have a winner

ben62670

Hey Russ Ima gonna play in the snow!