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About to invest in room treatments; GIK, RealTraps, DIY -- what is your experience?

I'm reaching the point soon where I'll invest in some treatments for my two channel listening room. Standmount speakers with tube amps. Room about 28x14ft with low ceilings, 6.5ft. Probably different kinds of treatments are needed. I'm not exactly sure yet what I'll need or how much to spend. This is not my final listening room, but I won't be able to configure another one for a few years.

I've seen many people tout GIK on this forum and I'm already communicating with them a bit. I will also reach out to Real Traps and possibly others. I do not feel bound to go with just one company or solution, so if you've mixed and matched, I'm curious about that, too.

Any recent comparisons between these two, or others? Do you have stories of good or not so good products or service? Any comments about the value of competing products? I'm not super handy or have a lot of free time, but DIY is also considered. 

128x128hilde45
hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
4,783 posts
 
I appreciate the suggestions so far. I have taken hundreds of scans with room EQ Wizard and have someone very experienced helping me look over and analyze the scans. I am managing to deal with the low frequencies pretty well and have optimized listening position and speaker placement. After a lot of experimentation I reorganized my room and set up along the short wall rather than the long wall. I understand that a variety of different treatments are likely necessary and the stillpoints product sounds almost too good to be true, because from what I have heard most rooms need to be mostly covered. Low frequencies have a lot of energy and need either a very deep trap or some kind of a dense trap that is a bit less deep. I have never heard of a product that absorbs from 40 to 40,000. 
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lt2917
7 posts
 
I bought a pair of GIK self-standing panels.
They are 24 x 60 inches in dimension and 4 inches thick.
I found experimenting with different room placements was a worthwhile education.

mesch
3,394 posts
 
Now that you have rearranged such that your speaker placed along the short wall I agree that the reflection points along the long walls are the 1st place for treatment. 

I made DIY panels from ATS Acoustics. They have a nice web site. They served me well as I live in Illinois and have visited their place. Saves on shipping costs. The Roxul Rockboard 60 I used probably could be found local to you.

You might build a couple 2' by 2' panels and place them diagonally against the ceiling at the corners of the front wall. I used this approach using 2'x4' panels however my ceiling height was ~8.5' 

I can't help to think you will like your new placement better. How far from speakers are you sitting? 
corelli
941 posts
 
I also had a good experience with ATS and also Audiomute (if you do not want DIY).
Might suggest starting with first reflection point treatments--especially your low ceiling.
Check out my virtual system page and you can see my DIY efforts, especially my bass trap.  A commerical product of that magnitude would cost thousands of dollars.  My cost was probably $300 in materials for the trap.  
These room treatments took my room from pretty good to excellent.
wfowenmd
70 posts
 
Lots of GIK purchases over 5 years, eg traps, panels, etc. Highly variable build quality ranging from no imperfections to corners not square, loose tacking of fabrics, and non-flat surfaces. Responsive and easy to work with customer service that always accepted returns. Their products make a strikingly audible improvement, but their quality control is disappointing (~25% construction failures). Good luck achieving your Audio Nirvana!
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