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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
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"Acording to my research, 50% of SQ is the room, costs of $4000-$5000 are common"

There's no way something like that is accurate. Each system is different, as well as each listener, and each room. Better off to focus on your system's needs and do what's appropriate for you. Maybe you'll spend more, or hopefully, you'll spend less.

"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."

That's a really good way to go. Those panels work, and they're cheap. You really have very little to lose by trying them. I don't know what happened to mine, but The Audio Perfectionist Journal had an article giving you step by step instructions on how to make the panels. If you know someone who has any copies of the APJ, the article was in one of the first 4 issues. I don't remember exactly, but I know its in one of those.
brauser
526 posts
 
There are a lot of relatively inexpensive products that can improve the performance of a system dramatically without going to the trouble and expensive of redoing a room. High-end 'tweaks' offer serious remedies for system upgrades. Do some research and give some things a try. Most companies offer a 30 day return policy.

I will go out on a limb here and make the statement that some tweaks will make as much difference as spending twice as much for new components or speakers. Many audiophiles never know the true capabilities of there system(s) because they've never taken the time to really maximize performance. I have been particularly impressed at the last two Rocky Mountain Audio Shows where manufactures have taken the time to turn notoriously bad hotel rooms into 'concert halls' with the use of a variety of tweaks.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
These are very affordable and attractive panels usually hung at 1st reflection points, behind listening area, and sometimes in combination with bass traps...

http://www.acoustimac.com/acoustic-panels/?pid=5&gclid=Cj0KEQjwlYqoBRDajuaTvsyq1PQBEiQAEhSjnBS4rN_RFb6bEajJFoagAlddKQTrYx92j0sLKm0aAB0aAuMe8P8HAQ

Then there are the higher priced GIK Acoustics; used by pros and many Agon members.

http://www.gikacoustics.com/products/
zmanastronomy's avatar
zmanastronomy
738 posts
 
Check out my virtual system. I made my panels. It will be the best thing you ever do for your system.
Gigantic improvement in imaging and 3 dimensionality.
I will concur that the room treatments were the single biggest improvement I made in audio.
arnettpartners OP
312 posts
 
Thanks, guys. Zmanastronomy, outstanding, really cool. There aren't enough adjectives. I will check out that material. Glad I asked.
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