Doubting Sound Treatment ?

I too received great results after installing prescribed room treatments by GIK. I have a 12x24 bonus room over the garage with a cantilever ceiling that I’ve turned into a HT for the family. Pursuing improvements and upgrades led me to Acoustic Fields - anyone have any experience with them?  They conducted a room analysis and told me the treatments previously prescribed by GIK were not correct for my specific room needs. They’ve provided their suggestions - which is significantly more than the initial GIK investment.  $16k vs $4k.  I believe their analysis to be sound and their products to be of premium quality, but I’m struggling to come to terms with the expense. Does anyone have experience with Acoustic Fields and their products?

I am a doubter no more. It wasn’t that I did doubt room treatment, I was just unsure how much effect it would have in mine, full of furniture, large rug, and ‘stuff’. I didn't see a need for more dampening.

Thus, I went to the basement and found a few sheets of styrofoam, and started temporarily handing them on various wall surfaces, and was surprised by the result, some good, some bad, but a definite affect.

What I didn’t have was anything to use as diffusers, but still, realized there could be a positive to using something more permanent and was willing to experiment further. So, I bought some acoustic tiles, and also a box of 3D tiles, which some had used as diffusion panels in their own listening rooms.

For me, with my Vandy 2CE Sigs about 3’ from the back wall, I ended up with some absorption panels at the rear behind each speaker, and applied the ‘diffuser tiles’ to each side wall *behind* the Vandys, (exactly the reverse of what I thought I would do), and after playing around some more, put up more ‘diffuser tiles to the sides in front of the speakers. And finally more of the ‘diffuser tiles’ on the rear between the speakers.

I believe what I realized was my room was probably ‘dead’, too dampened overall, and the various diffusion panels, along with some absorption directly behind, finally did what has bothered me the most about the Vandy’s in my room after trying all types of things; it actually helped them to, finally, disappear within the soundstage, while also expanding its width and depth by a fair degree. The overall imaging and separation of instruments is far better now than anything I believed I could accomplish with equipment all by itself.

Is it perfect? No, not yet, but glad I took the plunge, because I’m now convinced how much our space, and not treating it, can deprive us of what our equipment is capable of, and how good my music can present itself, at a fraction of the cost of said equipment.

You might try tweaking speaker placement first. I've tried a lot of formulas...the best one for me was placing the speakers against the narrow wall in the room firing down the longer length of the room and placing them one fifth in from the side walls.  Measured to the center of the front baffle or to the tweeter or half way between the tweeter and the mid-range/bass driver.  So if the room is 160"w, for example, you would have the center of the front baffle 32" in from each side wall.  It's a starting point...then tweak from there. 1/5 front to back too...but that was not possible for me...but I got excellent results regardless.

Speaker placement first, then acoustic treatment. Best sound I got was having nothing between the speakers (except a thick Persian rug)...so placing the equipment rack along the side wall.  Most people can't do this...but this really helps imaging. 

Also avoid any picture frames with glass. Art with canvas or wood carvings are helpful but anything hard/shiny/smooth is problematic. 

Charlie you are out of your depth unless you have lost wax cast a trigger guard, swamped and rifled a blank, logged your own walnut tree and then bandmilled her down, dried it five years, stickered in natural air, etc....make your own sights because Redfields while good are not Hammerli quality, ya know low standards

but ya know in an olive branch of peace , you are welcome to come shoot an elk with my diy Hawken some day

But yes there are people who work differently some buy, etc

my apology if my post came across as denigrating

i am sure there is something I can learn from you

For the DIY set, work diffraction just as hard! As most dedicated audiophile rooms I encounter lack natural and engineered diffraction. You can build replica RPG diffuser fairly easily.