Office partitions as sound panels

Those 1" Auralex panels are effective for high-frequencies and will have an audible consequence. However, much thicker panels are needed to extend the absorption into the midrange or lower. An excess of thin panels can make a room sound dead without doing anything to tame modes and resonances.

Mapman, I wonder if placing 2" panels on opposite walls works the same way as 4" panels on one wall? It should.

Kr4, I have a lot of reverberation between tall walls (cathedral ceiling). It would be ideal to space panels away from the back wall but I cannot do it being forced (by layout) to set my speakers and sofa on long walls. I can always control amount of reverberation by removing or adding panels.

Kr4,

Sounds right essentially. The product literature claims high and mid frequency effects. The bass trap panels they sell (currently showing huge discount on amazon) appear similar but 3" thick, which makes sense.

"Mapman, I wonder if placing 2" panels on opposite walls works the same way as 4" panels on one wall? It should."

I don't think so in that these are for controlling flutter echo and slap back, which are artifacts of more directional higher frequencies, as I understand it.

I have these placed at primary reflection points for my two main listening positions (my OHMs are omnidirectional and I listen from multiple locations normally). There are two such points on one side wall and 1 on the other (an open area extends out on that side in my L shaped room where I would add a similar second panel on that side if it were needed otherwise).

As I mentioned above, Aurelex has a similar 24X24X3 inch (same width and height, but thicker)bass trap panel product. Added thickness makes these more effective in attenuating longer wavelengths of low frequencies, as I understand it. These (for bass) might work equally well or maybe even better perhaps with greater thickness near one side corner rather than less on two side corners.

Here is some useful information -
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/tweaks/messages/17/174817.html
Here are some of my thoughts for your consideration -
Most dedicated audio rooms I see are overdamped. The outcome is people have chosen brighter sounding equipment, and play at too loud levels to overcome the "dead" room. The overall sound becomes oppressive and compressed.
Most audio writers and manufacturers recommend placing speakers in dead spots - antinodes. Examples of these types of speakers placement are the rules of thrids, rules of fifth's etc.
I do the opposite - I start by placing the speakers in the most resonant part of the room, and then moving the speakers off the resonant node just enough to balance the sound. This way the speaker is balalnced, but not "fighting" against a dead spot. You will find a full description of this methodology as espoused by the designer Joahcim Gerhard in the Stereophile review of the Audio Physic Virgo's.
http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/147/index.html
"In fine-tuning the room for both frequency response and imaging, Gerhard first divides the room into two grids. One is even divisions—halves, quarters, sixteenths, which represent reinforcement nodes; the other is odd—thirds, sixths, ninths, which represent cancellation nodes. These measurements should be done to the inch with a tape measure and not be guesstimates. Ideally, you'd draw out each grid in a different color and overlay the two.
If your room is such that you can put your speakers at the halfway point in the room with the speakers against the side walls, the next move would be to move them laterally closer together to the quarter point on each side. That would be your ideal starting point for maximizing bass pressurization and creating a credible soundstage.
Now begins the battle of optimizing imaging and frequency response. If bass is too strong, you could go to an anti-node that could either be forward or back or side to side to one of the "third" points. While the trend is toward more bass as you move the speaker closer to the back or side walls, there are cancellation points as you go toward the walls."

I used to be a high end importer many years ago, and have a wide range of experience with speakers such as Martin Logans, Apogees, Duntech's, Proac's etc and in every instance following this methodology has improved the system and given the most natural and transparent view of the soundstage and spectral balance. I strongly suggest you have a read of this review and think about it.