Titanic Mkiii 15"

[kexodusc]

$155 for 6 panels ain't bad!!! I think the cheapest I've seen is $38 per 2'X4' panel - 6 of those will run you dandy to $300 shipped. And they're just the same as what you did by yourself.

I ordered my fiberglass from a heating/ac distributor and got it for $0.65 per sq ft - that's about $5.20 a panel....6 for $31.20 - you do the math. So I ordered 100 sq feet of it (condition of getting the good rate). Shipping added another $30 - so $1.80 per panel I have a bunch of fiberglass I still need use in my basement now (and a bunch of burgundy foam). But I think buying the bulk allowed me to do it a wee bit cheaper than LJ. I think I worked it out that $4 of fabric will do one panel and change. That's $11 per panel + $5-$10 or so for the lumber and hardware...
$20 per panel? The more you buy the cheaper it gets. $200-$300 can do a room quite nicely.

This has got to be one of the most effective home theater upgrades you can do.
I have a lot of explaining to do when people walk in and see 12 big panels around my room hanging on walls...my Dad makes fun of me and my inlaws think I'm crazy....they just don't understand.

[L.J.]

This has got to be one of the most effective home theater upgrades you can do.
I have a lot of explaining to do when people walk in and see 12 big panels around my room hanging on walls...my Dad makes fun of me and my inlaws think I'm crazy....they just don't understand.

My wife thinks they look good and even suggested I put up a few more. She's even open to adding bass traps. I did get a raised eyebrow from my sister though.

I think they'll make a nice conversation piece when company is over.

I still have to calibrate my sub and do some room measurements, but so far everything is sounding extremely well. This Titanic has some serious BANG and can take over the room easily. I'm VERY happy with this sub.

I noticed in some pics at ATS that some were using bass traps with a square shape to them. It almost looked like a stack of foams bricks. I liked the look of those rather than the triangular foam wedges. Do you have any idea where I can find those?

[kexodusc]

My wife thinks they look good and even suggested I put up a few more. She's even open to adding bass traps. I did get a raised eyebrow from my sister though.

I think they'll make a nice conversation piece when company is over.

I still have to calibrate my sub and do some room measurements, but so far everything is sounding extremely well. This Titanic has some serious BANG and can take over the room easily. I'm VERY happy with this sub.

I noticed in some pics at ATS that some were using bass traps with a square shape to them. It almost looked like a stack of foams bricks. I liked the look of those rather than the triangular foam wedges. Do you have any idea where I can find those?

(hey, those beige/natural panels look just like my small panels - that's the color I got)

LJ,

Those look to me like big dense foam blocks. You are better off (cost and performance wise) to stick with Rigid Fiberglass. You'll want the OC705 or equivalent, 6lb density fiberglass - or use twice as much OC703. Bass traps are expensive.
Even another 4' X 2' panel across your corners would produce good results...double up the fiberglass thickness (or more).

I like the corner trap designs:
http://forum.studiotips.com/viewtopic.php?t=535
and
http://forum.studiotips.com/viewtopic.php?t=534

I just made narrow, tall panels, chamfered the edges so they fit in the corner flush, about 12 wide for my corner traps. I will go the corner "chunk" route some day...but no rush, the BFD and the corner traps I do have yield great results now, so I'm not as motivated to tackle that project.

(edit - oh yeah, this place here sells foam corner treatment for decent prices:
http://foamforyou.com/foam_corner_kits.htm
You can find the blocks down the page some...
Here's another - a
http://www.foambymail.com/CornerSolutions.html
gain, not quite as good as Auralex and the super high-end foams, but for this price you can buy two or three times as much).

[Scott R. Foster]

snip...

...You are better off (cost and performance wise) to stick with Rigid Fiberglass. You'll want the OC705 or equivalent, 6lb density fiberglass - or use twice as much OC703. Bass traps are expensive.Even another 4' X 2' panel across your corners would produce good results...double up the fiberglass thickness (or more).

I like the corner trap designs:
http://forum.studiotips.com/viewtopic.php?t=535
and
http://forum.studiotips.com/viewtopic.php?t=534

snip

(edit - oh yeah, this place here sells foam corner treatment for decent prices:
http://foamforyou.com/foam_corner_kits.htm
You can find the blocks down the page some...
Here's another - a
http://www.foambymail.com/CornerSolutions.html
gain, not quite as good as Auralex and the super high-end foams, but for this price you can buy two or three times as much).

Hi Kex:

Thanks for the links to our DIY designs, but I wanted to tweak your advice a little if you don't mind.

1) 703 need not be doubled in thickness versus 705 to achieve similar performanace... in fact for a properly proportioned broadband device 703 is a superior choice [costs half as much / weighs half as much/works as good or better]. The reason is that the gas flow resistance of 703 is just about optimal for a 4 to 6" panel, and anything thinner [regardless of what type of foam / mineral fiber you use] will not perform at lower frequencies. You can directly compare the manufacturer's absorption specs for 703, 705 and many other flavors of mineral fiber here:

http://www.bobgolds.com/AbsorptionCoefficients.htm

2) Acoustic foam is a perfectly good choice for porous absorber desgin - but the material is not cheap. If you find an extremely cheap price for foam panels, there is a good chance it isn't acoustic grade foam and therefore no bargain - as it just won't work like the real stuff will. More on the foam versus mineral fiber here:

http://forum.studiotips.com/viewtopic.php?t=48

PS: them's some nice looking panels... good job matching the couch

[kexodusc]

Hi Kex:

Thanks for the links to our DIY designs, but I wanted to tweak your advice a little if you don't mind.

1) 703 need not be doubled in thickness versus 705 to achieve similar performanace... in fact for a properly proportioned broadband device 703 is a superior choice [costs half as much / weighs half as much/works as good or better]. The reason is that the gas flow resistance of 703 is just about optimal for a 4 to 6" panel, and anything thinner [regardless of what type of foam / mineral fiber you use] will not perform at lower frequencies. You can directly compare the manufacturer's absorption specs for 703, 705 and many other flavors of mineral fiber here:

http://www.bobgolds.com/AbsorptionCoefficients.htm

Hi Scott, it's a real pleasure having someone from studiotips visit our little corner of the world wide web...I've been a long time lurker there...I know your site's been extremely informative for me. Just curious how you ended up here?

I think you've just echoed the advice I've tried to give for the most part. Let me ask you though, since LJ was discussing the foam blocks used in a corner in his post, which I can only reasonably assume is to act as a bass trap rather than a broadband absorber, isn't the 705 actually a better absorber below 125 Hz than the 703? At higher frequencies I'm less concerned about the performance differences in the corners between 705 and 703, but say at 40-80 Hz in particular? Maybe the 703 at 6" or so effectively matches the 705 performance? I sort of envisioned a 2" to 4" or so diagonal panel across the corner? Just trying to find the optimal cost/performance balance here....

2) Acoustic foam is a perfectly good choice for porous absorber desgin - but the material is not cheap. If you find an extremely cheap price for foam panels, there is a good chance it isn't acoustic grade foam and therefore no bargain - as it just won't work like the real stuff will. More on the foam versus mineral fiber here:

http://forum.studiotips.com/viewtopic.php?t=48

Guess the ol' "buyer-beware" warnings applies to acoustic foams, too....

Hope to see you stick around in some fashion, thanks again!

[E-Stat]

I have a lot of explaining to do when people walk in and see 12 big panels around my room hanging on walls...my Dad makes fun of me and my inlaws think I'm crazy....they just don't understand.

I get the same reaction with the main system. What are those big black things? And why do you have all those cylinders in the room?

rw