New Paint designed to absorb sound.

[RoyY51]

Agreed. However, if it were practical to paint two identical rooms, one with flat paint and one with semi-gloss, you would find that there would still be a discernible difference in the acoustic properties between the two. And since you are eventually going to have to paint your listening area anyway, why not do it with a more absorbtive and CHEAPER paint? Win-win!

Roy, the H.D. paint guy

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Agreed. However, if it were practical to paint two identical rooms, one with flat paint and one with semi-gloss, you would find that there would still be a discernible difference in the acoustic properties between the two. And since you are eventually going to have to paint your listening area anyway, why not do it with a more absorbtive and CHEAPER paint? Win-win!

Roy, the H.D. paint guy

There is absolutely no evidence that paint has any audible effect on sound waves. The paint would have to be at least 1/2" thick before any audible change on the high frequencies would be heard. Who puts a 1/2" thick coat of paint on any wall? In order to have a broadband frequency shift, the paint would have to be about 3-4" thick on the walls. Who paints 3-4" thick paint on walls? Nobody, and what is fact is that nobody has conducted any tests on the effects of paint on sound, so everything you are saying here is just hypothetical thought.

[GMichael]

Recently my father "painted" the floor of his garage. It's not really paint though, as he keeps pointing out to me. It's some sort of epoxy. It's very thick and feels spongy to walk on. Most of the echo that you would normally hear in a garage seems to have disappeared. Maybe worth some more research?

[RoyY51]

There is absolutely no evidence that paint has any audible effect on sound waves. The paint would have to be at least 1/2" thick before any audible change on the high frequencies would be heard. Who puts a 1/2" thick coat of paint on any wall? In order to have a broadband frequency shift, the paint would have to be about 3-4" thick on the walls. Who paints 3-4" thick paint on walls? Nobody, and what is fact is that nobody has conducted any tests on the effects of paint on sound, so everything you are saying here is just hypothetical thought.

Terrence:

Although the "facts" and figures (1/2" thick before any audible change, 3"-4" thick for broadband frequency change) that you have presented here are very impressive,they fall a bit short in the old "real world experience" catagory. I was a professional house painter for 5 years and a professional musician for 16 years prior to that. I have painted thousands of walls in a wide variety of products and sheen levels and have spent a lifetime engaged in critical listening. I have heard first-hand the differences that varying sheen levels make in the reflection of sound upon many, many occasions. This is more than "hypothetical thought". It is based on many years of observation and analysis. Ask any professional painter and he will tell you the same thing: flat paint = quieter room, gloss paint = noiser room.

So, before you again declare that there is "absolutely no evidence that paint has any audible effect on sound waves", I would suggest that you get up from your computer and go out and do a little critical listening of your own. I think that you will find that not everything worth knowing is listed on the internet.

Roy, the H.D. paint guy

[hifitommy]

is said to have an audible effect on the soound of a speaker painted with it.