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Room treatment

I'm facing the reality now that I need to treat my listening room acousticly. I've had my system in the basement for at least a year now with concrete on three sides and one sidewall with wood paneling. The ceiling is tongue-and-groove. The room is about 12'x 20'.

Acording to my research, 50% of SQ is the room, costs of $4000-$5000 are common, and most audiophiles will spend those g's on gear before they will spend them on room treatment. Only one or two companies make foam that is actually effective since other inexpensive foams like egg carton foam are not dense enough.

It is possible to make low cost acoustic panels with Corning fiberglass blankets framed in 2 x 4's and covered with fabric, and one critic who hired an expert to treat his room shows a pic his ceiling hung with these panels in a pattern.

I am willing to make these fiberglass insulation panels but I want to run this info by the members first. Am I missing something or are my choices limited to either these low cost panels or the 5g treatment?

arnettpartners
buconero117
2,311 posts
 
Related to the ceiling, check into 'wave' treatment. What's that? Go to the Armstrong Acoustical site and you will see. However, no need to buy Armstrong, as you can make those panels up very inexpensively. I've been in some rooms where it has been used and the results, in the hearing are really good.
falconquest's avatar
falconquest
1,108 posts
 
If you are serious about acoustic room treatment check out some of the videos on you tube from this guy.

http://www.acousticfields.com/about/
mikewerner
118 posts
 
I second the ATS recommendation.
Their panels are well made, effective, and priced fairly.
Do get some without the wood panel on the back. They can then work to some degree as bass traps if mounted some inches from the nearest wall.
Absorption works best toward the speaker end of the room.
In the rear use some diffusion.
goose
668 posts
 
You can spend a lot of time and money chasing room acoustics. Some go overboard with acoustic panels and end up with a room that sounds dead. Usually corner bass traps can help and treating the first reflection points with diffusion or fiberglass panels is money well spent. The rear wall can benefit from some diffusers. Go slow and bring in a modest amount of treatment at a time to determine if it makes a positive impact.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Upper and lower room corners are quite problematic since they produce very high sound pressures, actually much higher than the average sound pressure in the room when music is playing.
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