2. misc-audio
  3. 1426205529

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
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.
mesch
3,520 posts
 
I built my panels using products form ATS acoustics, Piper City Illinois.They have everything one needs. See their web site. They are very helpful. I used 1x3” pine for the frames, lighter in weight. Good luck!
ohlala
1,236 posts
 
Fiber glass is well known to be good at converting acoustic energy in to heat. The limtiation of that type of treatment is that the wavelengths that are actually absorbed is a function of the panel's thickness. That is an issue for bass frequencies as you can not make the panel thick enough to manage them. So a different, membrane-type of treatment is required to address low frequency room modes.
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.
More to discover