Hello everyone and welcome back! Greetings from Rome, Italy :-)
I have a question for the experts, because surfing the internet I've always found conflicting answers.
On the right wall, I have a door with a glass panel in the center, so I'd like to eliminate the problem...
As you all know, our Sonos systems "reflect" the side channels of audio and the Atmos effects onto the walls.
For this reason, I've always thought that curtains weren't a good idea, because they would absorb these reflections, ruining the audio experience.
But obviously, a surface like glass isn't a good one either...
On the internet, I've found confirmation that glass isn't good, and they recommend "closing the curtains." But that seems contradictory to me! Or am I wrong? Absorbent curtains shouldn't be good for Sonos audio, since they could then affect the side reflections...
Can any experts clarify this for me?
And then, more importantly, how do I solve the door glass problem? I'm renting a house, so I can't make any major changes...
Thank you all so much!
Best answer by Gaham
@Ignazio it is worth keeping in mind that there are a couple of reasons that Sonos don’t publish too much detail on what an ideal environment is.
The first is that it would kill sales as no one would have the right room 🤣
The second, and more important, is that as a consumer product it is designed to sound as good as possible in as many situations as possible. Trueplay will probably improve things a little because it seems to have access to more tweaking options than the UI of the App exposes. But generally, Sonos speakers sound good out of the box wherever you put them as long as you follow the basic rules.
The Arc has some clever things going on under the covers and sound is a weird phenomenon. I often try to focus on the bass in rooms where I have a Sub to convince myself the bass is coming from the Sub and not somewhere else and even the old Play:1s I use for surrounds in our TV Room fool me into thinking someone or something is outside the window behind me.
Take a couple of days, listen to what you are hearing, see what is missing (or not) and post back here with the results. I’m sure that, like me, @Stanley_4 would be happy to help once some more detail is there to work with.
This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.
Light issues can often be resolved by covering only the top part of the window. We have venetian blinds in some rooms because of this.
Whilst curtains usually operate from left to right they can work top to bottom. So you could have curtains that you lower to cover the top portion of the window to address the offending light but leaves the lower part of the window exposed for the reflections. This might give you the best of both worlds.
Whilst blinds could be an option they do have their own reflective issues and don’t sound like a good fit for the environment that you have described anyway.
Curtains can go from top to bottom as well as across and light problems are usually from the top part of the window for most of the day. So you could have drop down curtains and only cover the top part of the window most of the time leaving the lower part to reflect sound.
Venetian blinds could work but I don’t think they are suitable for the environment that you have described and they do have their own reflection challenges.
Would a wood or plywood panel be better for reflections?
...and if I replace the door with a wooden one, would it be better for audio reflections?
It would be very similar i.e. most people would not hear the difference from just the surface.
As @Stanley_4 said resonant rattles are usually the main issue with doors and windows. I have installed silicone stoppers on a door that was rattling with the Sub.
Sadly "replace the door" isn't a simple option either. Wrong door, like a plastic coated, Masonite sheathed, hollow core one (like I have here as inside doors) or a hollow core wood sheathed one is likely to be far worse than any glass you are likely to have. A solid wood door, if properly mounted and the correct closing bumpers also installed properly would be about the same accoustically as the wall.
168 cm from the end of the Arc is quite a ways, you need to factor in the glass/wall areas and respective distances too. A meter door in a 5 meter wall is going to have a small impact, a 2 meter door in a 3 meter wall, much greater impact. Where it is positioned on the wall matters too.
I am thinking someone has been having fun at your expense by providing all the misleading reflection information that has you so concerned. Given even the minimal room information you have provided I'll bet you could likely replace or cover the door with anything and hear no difference.
Still a nice room darkening curtain sounds like the right accoustic solution to me, how thick you should base on your testing. If you have the skill to mount them, narrow (2.5 cm) aluminum mini blinds mounted to the glass (not the door) and set as close to it as possible would work, minor accoustic impact, some room darkening but with light leaks would be the downside, upside might look cleaner than a curtain.
Given all here I'd really say do nothing but block the light, a simple sheet of butcher paper will do, until you have identified an audio issue that needs corrected. If the paper is adequate then a thin light blocking curtain would serve well.
