Room Treaments - Where To Begin...

Is your stereo in a dedicated listening room, or, living, shared space? 

Sometimes, you must compromise and are limited to what and where you can place things.

Another good all around audio book, which mentions acoustics and treatments is Robert Harleys book. 

You are on the right track!

Hi rixthetrick,

Difficult to apportion a budget as a percentage of total value of your system. I think of it as a case of taking X amount of $ to tame the room's acoustics which then will provide the correct acoustical environment to allow any and all systems to be heard at their optimum level of performance.

The room proportions do make a difference but are seldom found in the real world. The golden ratio or Fibonacci Sequence help with spreading the room modes so you do not get massive build up of certain frequencies. This is seldom found and is not an insurmountable problem. If possible avoid any one dimension being exactly twice or half that of another. So a cube would be absolutely worst case.

Any room, however, can be made to sound good. I made all my bass traps, diffusers and absorbers myself which does not cost that much. I used to visit demolishers and buy the insulation panels for peanuts. Look for Owens Corning 703 or similar.

Start with bass traps which need to be rather large but the divorce is worth it for good sound.  😎   These need to be big, you're dealing with long wavelengths so those dinky little scraps of foam Amazon sells are useless. Google superchunk DIY bass traps for an idea.

Corners are the place for BTs, any corners, the more the better. Usually the 2 front vertical corners are used for floor to ceiling traps but instating them horizontally along 1 or 2 wall/ceiling corners work just as well. This alone will make a very large improvement.

Place absorbers at the first reflection points. As I mentioned curtains, drapes or skimpy wall hangings do not absorb over a wide range of frequencies. Build or buy frames at least 4" deep to act as broad-band absorbers. The OC703 is available in panels 2'x4' so use frames to size or multiples. Panels 4'x6' or 3 panels 4'x2' with a small space between look smart and can be covered in different colour fabric.

A 'cloud' attached to the ceiling is a great way of eliminating the troublesome floor/ceiling bounce and does away for the need of a carpet or rug, though a rug will not harm anything. i helped a mate with a ceiling cloud and fitted an LED strip light around the perimeter on top. With the remote that came with it looked very neat, could change colour and dim to suite.

I am selling the old stone cottage and have abandoned any further work on the acoustics. I use Omnimic to measure which shows a consistently good T60 but also shows a slightly lumpy bass. Based on before, during and after screens that I need one more BT and job done.

Persevere with what you have started. You are clearly DIY capable so go for it and good luck.

@oregon +1
Yes, The complete guide to high-end audio, it’s a great book.
Chapter 4: How to get the best sound from your room.

 

@mike_in_nc  Yes, that is the fundamental beginning.   I custom built a room which addressed bass (built-in activated carbon filters).   After your 3 recommended fixes, Shahki Hallographs (unless you have really fantastic soundstage and imaging speakers, then I use Synergistic Research HFTs (or use expensive and bulky quadradic diffusion paneling).

@gnoworyta   Let me help you cut through the muck here - - I've been exactly where you are at, and it can be overwhelming and confusing (see the dozens of different opinions here; plus your own quandry just not knowing where to start):

After two years of reading, studying, interacting with acoustic engineers, and then beginning to make plans for traps and diffusers I thought I needed, I was almost back at square one.  In the end, I was so glad I was PATIENT.  Don't be in a hurry.  Buy once, cry once - - save yourself a lot of time and effort (and unstudied purchases or wasted building of trap designs).   

You must, absolutely, measure your room first.   Room measurement will not only tell you which type of treatment you need, but also where to place your speakers (and your listening position as well).

Here is the microphone you need $79...that's all you need. Period.  
Acoustic Measurement Tools: UMIK-1 (minidsp.com)  

Then for REW (Room EQ Wizzard) tutorial, you can learn to hook up the microphone and run the free software.   There are 3 good tutorials for REW that will get you well on your way to treating your room, placing your speakers in the room, etc,   Note:  Ethan Winer at RealTraps will also help you with tutorial links or advice.  He is honest and won't sell you anything by pushing, etc.  

John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum • View topic - How to use REW to analyze the acoustics of your room... (johnlsayers.com)

Take the time to do this first:  despite all the shortcuts recommended in the comments here, the fact is, there are none.  "The Elephant is the Room"

Do this and you will know your room, and you can then research which treatments will mitigate the room problems.  You cannot build or buy traps until you know the problem and its source or location.  This is proper application of a particular treatment product in YOUR specific room by the analysis you've performed.  

Begin patiently by buying (or building) the particular treatment "panels" and don't buy all of them at once.  One step at a time with just a few panels is a simple and much cheaper (and less confusing) way to solve the problem and get excellent results.   In addition, you may find you cannot afford to buy or build all the panels you need; or, you may find you don't want the looks of too many panels.  In this case, you would know where to get the most benefit for your room for the least amount of money (or time and materials), and get the best looking room.  

This process is not that complicated:  just take it step-by-step, approach it systematically and methodically, and follow the science....and be patient.  Forget all the voices.  Just take charge of your room, learn along the way, take your time, and you'll be proud of your room and the results in the end.  Feel free to PM me if you have questions.