Acoustical Solutions or Auralex LENRD bass traps

Just before Thanksgiving I bought a box of eight Lenrd Traps from Guitar Center and installed them in the front corners as two stacks if three.

Wow what a difference. These are an exceptionally cost effective way to tame a large room if you don't mind their appearance. I find they look nice but depending on your room and WAF this could matter.

The soundstage increased greatly, there is more detail and depth to the music and the bass seems like it is now diffuse, non-directional, and all the texture and extension can be heard. I think they are good at removing phase cancellations. Overall I am very satisifed with this purchase and I highly recommend them to all agoners.

I would use Acoustical Solutions assuming I could get fiberglass panels instead of the foam Auralex uses. Foam absorbs the highs but does not do as well with the rest of the frequency spectrum. I think rigid fiberglass has better specs for room treatments than does foam. Sucking out the highs without managing the rest of the spectrum can actually make the room more unbalanced and worse sounding that no treatments at all.

I have been doing lots of research like yourself...tons and tons of reading. Broadband absorption is probably the safest bet...unless you are aiming at a particular issue. As Bulldogger points out, there is a risk to make a room worse sounding if you go for something that absorbs mainly in one region. Products that absorb in one region are generally meant to be used to tackle a specific problem or to be used in conjunction with other products. (For example tube traps can be very specific in their absorption)

From my research, foam can be excellent too....especially the Auralex LENRD traps as Stevecham reports (others mail order foams may not be as good...be warned!)....but you will probably need more foam than fibreglass treatments to achieve the same impact. Dow Corning 703 or 705 fibre has higher density (roughly double) than foam and this gives it an edge in the LF absorption per unit of treatment. Realtraps web pages is another good resource to read up on.

Placement is another crucial factor. You can "tune" to a certain extent using the quarter wavelength rule in distance away from a wall (often this is impractical in most domestic settings) If you can't tune by going far from a wall then placement a couple of inches away helps and straddling corners works good too.

I have ordered four of the new type GIK triangular corner traps - so I'll let know my findings when I set 'em up. I believe this is a bare minimum of treatment in order to have some small impact. In theory they should work quite well but I have not seen many reviews, as the triangular versions are new. I liked their prices, which is probably why I took the leap. I won't lose much if they dont work well in my particular room setting.

For the moment, what I am telling you is all based on extensive research and thats it....and we all know the value of first hand experience - so take my comments for what they are worth...two cents!

G'luck and thanks to let us know how many you installed, where they were added, and what was the impact.

Check these out.
http://www.thefoamfactory.com/acousticfoam/acousticfoam.html

They are the identical(as far as I can tell) to Auralex but MUCH cheaper. I paid $96 for 16 linear feet of the corner traps.

FYI- I'm not affiliated in any way, just passing on a deal.