Making acoustic panels and other general room treatment questions

SCompRacer

Toolfan66 wrote: »

Received an email from GIK that my panels will ship out on the 18th..

Kewl!

Sal, some ways to measure room response.

XTZ Room Analyzer.
http://www.acousticfrontiers.com/XTZ-Room-Analyzer-II-Standard.html

Room EQ Wizard
http://realtraps.com/art_measuring.htm

Mike (Face) told me about this Dayton Audio OmniMic. IIRC he uses this to measure speakers but it can be used for rooms.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=390-790

I've made some acoustic treatment believers by removing the treatments while they sat in the sweet spot.

inspiredsports

Toolfan66 wrote: »

Received an email from GIK that my panels will ship out on the 18th..

I'm happy yours are on the way!

I felt a bit guilty being second in line, but I gotta tell you that after completely filling my van with them, it would have been almost impossible for Ricardo to package and ship his panels for less than a small fortune.

It was almost 2 years ago I researched and got the help here at CP to know treatments were mandatory. At that time I achieved some relief with blankets and rolls of insulation stacked in the corners, but the GIK's are ridiculously better!

Now the fun begins as you get to accumulate some of the response measuring gear mentioned above, listen, and re-evaluate every tweak you've ever made in your more new, more accurate listening environment.

Phasewolf

Has anyone tried read rta? It is a really nice program and with a good Mic you can do a lot with it. And the best part is there is a demo.

Toolfan66

inspiredsports wrote: »

I'm happy yours are on the way!

I felt a bit guilty being second in line, but I gotta tell you that after completely filling my van with them, it would have been almost impossible for Ricardo to package and ship his panels for less than a small fortune.

It was almost 2 years ago I researched and got the help here at CP to know treatments were mandatory. At that time I achieved some relief with blankets and rolls of insulation stacked in the corners, but the GIK's are ridiculously better!

Now the fun begins as you get to accumulate some of the response measuring gear mentioned above, listen, and re-evaluate every tweak you've ever made in your more new, more accurate listening environment.

It's all good I don't blame him and it wasn't like I don't have treatments just not 4" thick Gik's

inspiredsports

Toolfan66 wrote: »

It's all good I don't blame him and it wasn't like I don't have treatments just not 4" thick Gik's

Actually, half of them were 6" and half 4", and the Tri-Traps are just massive. I'm on the hunt for more Tri's now.

inspiredsports

quadzilla wrote: »

. . . the back wall also has a 6x6 bookshelf filled with records, so I expect that should act somewhat as a diffuser . . .

Having that on your back wall is perfect! I've heard of folks truly getting a diffuser effect with LP's by pulling serveral inches of them out a couple inches, leaving the next four inches all the way in, then pulling out the next several inches out and alternating that pattern over all of the shelves for a 3-D checkerboard effect.

I guess it wouldn't be the best solution if you're OCD about your LP shelves being neat

FTGV

While no longer commercially available these apparently very effective active bass absorbers are reasonably easy to DIY.I,m in the process of building a scaled down version using a single driver per column,one each for my front corners. http://www.monarchyaudio.com/PDF/Phantom.pdf http://www.stereophile.com/roomtreatments/1289phantom/

A similar product is now marketed by BagEnd called the E-Trap.http://www.bagend.com/

Toolfan66

My GIK acoustic panels just showed up and at first glance they look fantastic and the quality looks top notch as well, lokking forward to getting them home so I can take them outta the box and get a real good look at them..

nikolas812

Heres a thread I started a while back on some acoustic panels that I built... They were VERY effective and not hard or expensive to build...


http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?65330-DIY-Acoustical-Treatments



Nik

EndersShadow

nikolas812 wrote: »

Heres a thread I started a while back on some acoustic panels that I built... They were VERY effective and not hard or expensive to build...


http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?65330-DIY-Acoustical-Treatments

Nik

Subscription added for later use .

audio_alan

Toolfan66 wrote: »

My GIK acoustic panels just showed up and at first glance they look fantastic and the quality looks top notch as well, lokking forward to getting them home so I can take them outta the box and get a real good look at them..

Cool, Larry. I'm sure they will make a big difference in your room! But you know what they say....

Pics, or it didn't happen! :cheesygrin:

Toolfan66

nikolas812 wrote: »

Heres a thread I started a while back on some acoustic panels that I built... They were VERY effective and not hard or expensive to build...




http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?65330-DIY-Acoustical-Treatments



Nik

Nice job Nik!!!!

Toolfan66

audio_alan wrote: »

Cool, Larry. I'm sure they will make a big difference in your room! But you know what they say....

Pics, or it didn't happen! :cheesygrin:

I will take some pics tonight.. The bass trap is huge about 6" thick..

Toolfan66

WOW!!! I am so glad I picked these up they put my cheap/DIY ones to shame, my room sounds so much better the speakers sound more level volume wise the center vocals are more forward and the bass is fuller and tighter, the one cool thing about the bass that shocked me was it hits me harder in the sweet spot, and I don't even have then hanging yet I just placed them around the room about the areas I want to hang them..

Very happy with my purchase now I feel I can focus more on gear then speaker upgrades, cables, and an audio rack. My list is getting shorter..

SCompRacer

Toolfan66 wrote: »

the one cool thing about the bass that shocked me was it hits me harder in the sweet spot....

Kewl! Congrats!

Same thing happened here when I stacked two GIK Tri-Traps in each corner and stuck three GIK 244 panels behind the speakers. Startling, articulate nuanced bass. Trentemoller's Vamp and deadmau5's Sofi Needs a Ladder never sounded so good.

Phasewolf

Toolfan66, you said that the new traps work a lot better then the ones you had made were they all the same thickness old vs new or were the new ones thicker. Also did you use the same amount and type?

Face

SCompRacer wrote: »

Kewl! Congrats!

Same thing happened here when I stacked two GIK Tri-Traps in each corner and stuck three GIK 244 panels behind the speakers. Startling, articulate nuanced bass. Trentemoller's Vamp and deadmau5's Sofi Needs a Ladder never sounded so good.

Trentemoller almost put me to sleep, fortunately deadmau5 woke me back up.

SCompRacer

Face wrote: »

Trentemoller almost put me to sleep, fortunately deadmau5 woke me back up.

You mean like too much foreplay versus just getting right to it?:cheesygrin:

Toolfan66

Phasewolf wrote: »

Toolfan66, you said that the new traps work a lot better then the ones you had made were they all the same thickness old vs new or were the new ones thicker. Also did you use the same amount and type?

My old ones were all 2" thick and hung flat to the wall yes they were all the same material, these were panels I picked up for $3ea. I picked up 10 of them, but they were not pretty so the wife picked out some material to cover them (the DIY part) and even though they did the job and tuned the room they don't touch the GIK's.

The room kit I picked up from GIK came with 1 Bass Trap that is 6.750" thick, 4 Bass Trap's that are 4.500" thick, and 3 Acoustic Panels that are 3.500" thick. All panels are built to keep a gap of about 1.500" on the back side from the wall they are also built to absorb from the sides of the panels not just from the front or back. The quality is top notch as well as the design..

I was always in the room treatment camp but I cannot recommend it enough now. I would say if one is going to build there own I believe the 1.500"-2.000" gap from the wall is a must..

EndersShadow

Toolfan66 wrote: »

The room kit I picked up from GIK came with 1 Bass Trap that is 6.750" thick, 4 Bass Trap's that are 4.500" thick, and 3 Acoustic Panels that are 3.500" thick. All panels are built to keep a gap of about 1.500" on the back side from the wall they are also built to absorb from the sides of the panels not just from the front or back. The quality is top notch as well as the design

Which room kit did you go with?

Toolfan66

EndersShadow wrote: »

Which room kit did you go with?

Kit 1

Polkie2009

awesome job on the panels Nik!

tommyt21

I dont mean to thread jack, but i just recently became aware of room treatments. In my situation would a product like this work behind my front speakers? http://www.amazon.com/Auralex-WEDGIE-24-Wedgies--Panels-Charcoal/dp/B0002D05KA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1327540306&sr=8-2

I have to have my speakers in this placement nowhere else to put them. They are estremley close to the wall on twoo sides. I tested it with some bed pillows directly behind the A7's and I thought I noticed a difference in the mid range, but I don?t know if that?s my mind playing tricks on me. Theoretically acoustically treating the Niche(it's 11 inches deep) where I have all my equipment should that help with what I perceive as muddiness in the midrange?

Also I have a corner loaded sub on carpet/pad/Concrete would a subdude/Gramma pad help with some of the boomieness I get?

Attachment not found.

tommyt21

Regarding my above post would the Acoustimac DMD panels be a better choice than the Auralex foam? http://www.acoustimac.com/index.php/acoustic-panels.html

inspiredsports

I would reccomend you stay away from foam and concentrate on GIKAcoustics.com, RealTraps.com or home-made panels using their designs.

audio_alan

inspiredsports wrote: »

I would reccomend you stay away from foam and concentrate on GIKAcoustics.com, RealTraps.com or home-made panels using their designs.

+1 on avoiding foam, unless you are just going for hi-mid and highs control. They don't do much to bass. Rigid fiberglass is definitely where it's at. They help absorb sound through the entire sound spectrum.

Regarding Larry's point about spacing the panels off the walls, I've read that with rigid riberglass you should space them away from the wall as much as the panel is thick. So 2" panel, 2" off the wall, 4" panel, 4" off the wall, etc. That will ensure that it absorbs the most sound, and evenly, but it can also eat up a lot of space. As Larry suggested, at least make sure they are 1.5"-2" off the wall. Corner traps are the best because they are at an angle to the 2 walls, making a varying-width gap.

Congrats on the new traps, Larry!

Polkie2009

+1 on avoiding the foam also. I looked into trying foam when I first got interested in room treatments,but after learning more, found panels are much better. there are a number of folks who make nice sound treatments as mentioned above. If you like the acoustimacs, try them out,they seem fairly priced and have decent specs. If you don't like them, sell em and try the GIK's or RealTraps, ATS, etc...:)

thejck

I have large 5 feet tall glass windows behind me about a foot from where I set. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to live with this? My wife recently made some roman shades for the windows. They are cloth with a product called warm window fabric that consists of thin layers of foam to insulate the glass. They have helped some but i dont think they work as room treatments are supposed too.
Any ideas? move? I soo wish I had followed my plan to build my house instead of buying this one.

EndersShadow

thejck wrote: »

I have large 5 feet tall glass windows behind me about a foot from where I set. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to live with this?

Thick curtains are about all you can do honestly. Its what I have had to deal with in the past.

tommyt21

I just got my Auralex Gramma in and WOW:eek::eek: I'm a believer, bass cleaned up like crazy, Nice tight even more in the chest style thump. My Hsu sounded good before but this was like throwing a freaking awsome switch on. Instant things I noticed less rattling around the room, greater accuracy, super clean hits, less bass nulls through the room and the biggest improvement was the boom I would get especially with the really low end its all but gone. Even though the Gramma is greatly over priced ( if we look at the materials used) It was probably the best dolla for dollar improvement in my system yet.

I orderd some 2 inch acoustic panels to go behind my A7's now i'm really excited to get them in. Then I think I will give a whack at some DIY panels...:razz: