Is soffit (flush) mounting monitors good?
ALL monitors that are traditional ‘square box type’ designs benefit from soffit mounting for the following reasons:
* Edge diffraction is eliminated so the midrange is smoother.
* Eliminates the cancellation reflection from the wall behind the monitor.
* Acoustical loading is increased so the monitor does not have to work so hard at low frequencies.
The following should be considered when soffit mounting any monitor:
* For the benefits listed above the wall should be solid however this can lead to reverberation time problems at low frequencies.
* If the wall is totally solid then some lower midrange boost may occur so make the wall slightly absorptive around the 200 to 500Hz region – use 10 to 20cm thick rock wool or foam plastic glued onto the front of the wall.
* Amplifier cooling should be sufficient if the amp is not separately rack mounted (rack kits are available for the Genelec 1032A, S30D, 1037B and 1038A).
* The monitor’s acoustical controls must support the change in acoustical loading presented by the soffit wall. If they do not then a flat frequency response may not be achieved.
* The flush mounting should be as smooth as possible otherwise the cabinet edge diffraction benefits will be wasted.
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