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Room treatment success story

A couple of months ago I asked the forum for advice about what may make the best upgrade for my system (e.g., better amp, sub woofer, etc.) One of the responses was to focus on room treatment/room acoustics. While I had seen mention of the importance of room treatment, this was not originally on my list of possible upgrades. However, it got me thinking and doing more research.

A few days ago I took delivery of 5 GIK Acoustic 244 bass trap panels. WOW, WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I knew my room had a little too much slap echo (e.g., clap of hands echoed a little too long than it should), but I was not prepared for the dramatic change that the bass trap panels made. They not only took care of the slap echo problem, but the bass in the Magnepans have completely come to life.

A few of the very noticable differences:

-- Bass lines are much more prominent and it is much easier to distinguish individual notes (rather than low notes that sound more the same).

-- Vocals are clearer and more focused. For example, Mark Knopfler's vocals on the Get Lucky CD are now much more easily understandable and clearer.

-- Listening to Keb Mo's Slow Down CD, I realized that there were certain guitar notes that without the traps would seem to disappear or have such a lower volume as to almost not there, but now I am hearing notes that I simply could not hear before.

-- Some of my rock CDs that I thought were simply very poorly recorded (and perhaps are) are now much more listenable and actually sound pretty decent.

Before getting the bass trap panels, I had borrowed a REL sub from a friend for a couple of weeks. It sounded great. However, the roughly $400 spend on these bass trap panels made a MUCH more significant difference in the bass in my room than this $1,500 REL subwoofer. (Again, the REL sounded great, but I now realize that I was not able to hear what it or the Magnepans were truly capable of.)

GIK Acoustics was great to deal and was very patient in answering my questions. I am in no way affiliated with them, just a satisfied customer.

So thanks to Lenny_zwik for pushing me in the direction of improving my room acoustics!

By the way, I would still like to get a better amp and a sub woofer, but I plan on my next purchase to be a rug for hard wood floors and a few more bass trap panels (I have a large room).
edge22
edge22 OP
31 posts
 
Moonguy,

The 5 panels are all on the back wall (that is, the wall behind me). I have them hanging on the wall -- similar to how you would hang a picture. They can be straddled in the corner. However, in talking with the folks at GIK, they suggested hanging on the wall. I think this may have been in part because my room is very large, and a large room generally has fewer bass issues than a small room.

My next step will be to follow GIK's recommendation and put diffusion behind the maggies (with a little absorption on the center of the front wall, but not directly behind the maggies).
rrog
1,958 posts
 
Are you confused yet?

ASC (Acoustic Sciences Corporation) is the original and IMHO still the best.

RPG and GIK came later.

Eventually all audiophiles realize the benefits of room acoustics and when compared to component upgrades room treatment is a bargain, yet most audiophiles buy the cheaper product.
rrog
1,958 posts
 
Every room is different. I clap my hands and listen for the live areas in the room.

An open fireplace between the speakers can be a problem area as it will cause an echo.

A wall or other hard surfaces in close proximity to the listening position will cause reflections and distort the sound.

Something as simple as a leather chair in the listening position can cause problems with the sound since leather is a reflective surface. If you don't believe me, try covering your leather chair with a blanket and see what happens.

Placing a rack for your equipment or anything else between the speakers is the quickest way to destroy the sound.

Certain types of window coverings can make good room treatment too.



shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
I have heard a marked improvement through the addition of four GIK corner tri-traps. There was a notable improvement in the mid range. Most people are unaware of masking - where lower frequencies hide higher frequencies to our ears/brain system. (Masking is what allows us to listen to MP3 compressed music and have it to sound quite good - our ears actually miss lots of information due to limitations in the tiny hairs/nerves)

By cleaning up the bass you hear a lot more mid range. This is one of the reasons panels give so much detail (the lack of bass in these designs allows you to hear more mids).

A speaker design with a damped bass (very tight) and a well treated room will allow you to hear much more from your music whilst still enjoy music that is rich in LF material.
ltodd
14 posts
 
I've had success with GIK panels also, maxxed out at (5) 244 panels and (2) 242 for sidewall reflections. More than that started to deaden the sound. A wool carpet was another substantial improvement.
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