We've always encouraged DIY enthusiasts when it comes to room design. A very large portion of our website is devoted to resources for those that want to design a room on their own. Some might say "Why would you do this? You don't profit from this." We'll that's not true. Everytime someone realizes it's important to deal with the room, it does help us.

This month I want to take a moment to continue to help those out that want to take on their own room design. Be sure to consider all the facets--just as we do when we take on a project. Leaving one out can really leave you with some serious shortcomings. First consider the space and the dimensions and how they interact with each other. We all know we don't want a square room, and a room with multiples of each other in dimensions can be just about as bad.

Second, consider the seating and speaker placement. Don't place seats in areas that will give cancellations or additions in the bass. Many people use the rule of 1/3rds and 1/5ths and this is generally a good starting point.

Next consider the treatment. Appropriate bass traps, plenty of diffusion (make sure to deal with the ceiling), and absorption (but not too much--you don't want to overdamp the room).

I covered isolation in our last newsletter so I will forgo that this month.

Now, I realize that I've just touched on these items, but we do have a nice tutorial on the website that will give you more in depth information.