Bass traps - too many choices!!

Just be aware that the efficiency of traps at absorbing bass frequencies is very low; it takes a lot of them, and the larger in diameter they are the lower in frequency are they effective to. I’m investigating the cost to build a room within a room (garage, actually). It might be cheaper to build one to Golden Ratio specs than to outfit a poorly-dimensioned one with traps!

What you may need for your problem may simply be a pair of Cathedral Sound Panels. They are tiny, a snap to install, inexpensive and very effective on frequencies south of 200 Hz, even down close to 20 Hz.

But beware, they operate on a completely different principle of physics than the usual bass traps, manufactured or DIY and therefore scare off most audiophiles. They’re just a shallow, cloth-covered box with layers of ’pegboard’ inside with many air-holes drilled into them and offset at a particular distance from each other in order to set up a sort of sonic ’maze’ for the sound pressure to travel down into before becoming ’diffused’ and their energy is absorbed. The science is not new. It’s actually just a reasoned application of Bernoulli’s principle (high school physics) in which air (a gas) speeds up when flowing through a constriction (like water speeding up through a spray nozzle in a garden hose). The panels end up being a bit like a Helmholtz radiator for your room...they trick your woofers into thinking the room is larger than it is. But, with such an efficient use of surface area, the device need not be large, even with bass frequencies because what we’re dealing with here is wave pressure, not wavelength...this is where, I think, the whole bass trap idea/industry, comparatively at least, and certainly from any price/performance ratio, has gotten it all wrong. Unless your particular room is some kind of unholy challenge, then I’d say this is your best bet.

This solution is:
effective
fast
simple
cheap
a breeze to transport
good resale value

what else is there??

One thing I should point out, a clarification really, lest anyone wants to follow up on my post above. There is only one real sticking point with the Cathedral Panels and that has to do with the fact that they deal with wave pressure and not wavelength. This necessarily means that the listening room has to be used as a 'sealed' room, i.e. doors and windows must be shut and there should be no areas open to the rest of the home. If so, it would undercut the effectiveness of the panels that can only operate in the presence of dynamic changes in air **pressure**. So it really depends on each end user's own situation. Can your room be easily sealed when listening or do your circumstances prevent this? When the room is sealed, the panels should do fine. If that's not an option, then the traditional approach should be more appropriate.

Ivan...you beat me to it. I was just going to comment on your above post. I’ve recommended and even tried the Cathedral Sound Panels myself, but they only work in a sealed room which most people don’t have, unfortunately.

IMHO, they still don't work as well as traditional materials.  YMMV.

If any are going to the Newport Beach Audio Show June3-5, GIK will have a demonstration room and will be glad to answer all questions. Good people with good stuff.

David Pritchard