Installation Guide

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The Broadway London 12 room kit contains a moderate amount acoustic material for recording studios with a footprint of approximately
120 to 150 square feet (11 - 14 square meters), or home theaters of 150 to 200 square feet (14-19 square meters). This is a good fi rst step
when tuning your room’s acoustics as it will provide a base amount of broadband acoustic treatment for these room sizes. Overtly treated
rooms with “dead” acoustics are avoided with the exception of voice over booths. However, depending on your personal preference and
room layout, the amount of Broadway acoustic material could be increased for a less refl ective, darker sounding room or decreased to
create a livelier ambiance. During the treatment process we recommend you conduct listening tests with music you know well.
LIVE-END
(more reflective)
DEAD-END
(less reflective)
SWEET SPOT
RECORDING STUDIO LEDE LAYOUT
The London 12 kit, when installed as suggested, follows a variant
of the live-end, dead-end concept referred to as LEDE. The intent
of an LEDE layout is to help you to produce tonally balanced
recordings that translate well on playback equipment outside your
studio. The room is divided into “front” and “rear” sections and
includes a well defi ned listening area or “sweet spot”. The front
half of the room (where the monitors are generally located) has
the most amount of acoustic material applied in order to absorb
primary refl ections before they refl ect into the mix position. This
allows the engineer to hear a high ratio of direct sound from the
monitors with less interference from room refl ections. The rear
section of a LEDE designed room employs acoustic diffusers that
break up the sound energy and refl ect it back into the room in
random directions to create diffuse room reverberation. The rear
wall treatment provides a sense of space and ambience while
eliminating standing waves between the front and rear walls. For
more information about the LEDE concept see the Primacoustic
TechNotes at www.primacoustic.com.
24” x 48” Broadband Panel: Front left and right corners.
The large Broadband panels are part of the “dead end” front wall
that attenuates primary refl ections from the rear and side walls.
The two inch thick panels provide high and mid-range absorption
eliminating fl utter echo and standing waves. When mounted
across 90° corners an air space is formed behind the panel that
increases the absorption of low frequencies (bass trapping). Your
room’s dimensions will determine the low frequency response
and cause specifi c low frequencies to resonate (room modes)
more than others. The corner mounted Broadband panels are a
good place to start for rooms with favorable dimensions for music
reproduction. Depending on your room dimensions you may
need to address other narrow-band low frequency resonances.
See the Primacoustic web site or talk to your Primacoustic dealer
to learn about Broadway products that can be employed to treat
low frequency room resonance.
12” x 48” Control Columns: Front and side walls
The Control Columns also form part of the dead end and are
intended to absorb the primary refl ections that bounce off the side
walls and into the sweet spot. Left untreated, these refl ections
can equal the amplitude of the direct sound from the monitors and
cause degrading comb fi ltering phase effects. Placing Control
Columns on the front wall and on the sides between the sweet
spot and the monitors allow you to hear a truer sound from your
monitors and also eliminates fl utter echoes that bounce back
and forth across the mix position. Typically, Control Columns are
spaced on the side walls with a 6” to 12” gap between Columns.
Distribute the Columns evenly across the sides and front walls.
12” x 12” Scatter Blocks: Rear wall Soft Diffusion™
The LEDE concept calls for acoustic diffusion in the rear section
of the room. These devices work by breaking up and refl ecting
sound waves back into the room in a diffused fi eld. The problem is
that for diffusers to work; they must have suffi cient mass making
them large and heavy. Broadway Scatter Blocks present an
affordable alternative to full scale diffusion. By arranging Scatter
Blocks in patterns with refl ective spaces in between you create
an checkerboard effect we call Soft Diffusion™. This provides
for some of the acoustic energy to be absorbed while a portion
is allowed to refl ect back into the room. This helps control fl utter
echo and reduces standing waves while leaving a sense of ‘air’
or natural ambience in the room. Because Scatter Blocks are
individually mounted they easily accommodate furnishings like
bookcases or sofas.
1. Direct sound waves from monitors. Direct sound waves arrive at the sweet
spot without refl ecting off of room surfaces.
2. Primary refl ections. Off-axis sound waves from the monitors refl ects off
the side walls and into the sweet spot. These refl ections combine with the
direct sound and cause phase cancellations. Control Columns reduce the
amplitude of side primary refl ections.
3. Secondary refl ections bounce off of two or more room surfaces and eventually
fall-off into room reverb. If left untreated they can create chatter echo where
several distinct repeats are heard instead of a smooth reverb tail.
4. Soft Diffusion helps break up refl ections returning from the rear wall controlling
standing waves while maintaining a natural room ambience.
5. Low frequency energy wraps around objects and is guided into the corners
by the room boundaries. The corner mounted Broadband panels absorb bass
in the corners and deaden the front wall to control primary refl ections and
standing waves between the front and back walls.
6. Flutter echoes bounce back and forth between parallel walls across the sweet
spot. Control Columns on the sides and front walls eliminate fl utter echoes
and control standing waves that set up across the sweet spot.
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10’ x 12’ x 8’ (120 sq./ft.) 3m x 3.6m x 2.4m (11.2sq./m)