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  1. #1
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    Any tips for DIY room treatments?

    My room is rather echoey. Wood floor and plaster (I think) walls and ceilings. So I'd like to quiet the room down a lot. I'll start with adding a rug and some furniture. But after that, what else can I do to quiet the room down? I've looked around and there are lots of panels, tiles, bass traps, etc. to buy. But they're really quite expensive. I'm somewhat handy and I like to build things. Any tips for where to look into DIY room treatments I could cook up?

    On related note, I was in a very fancy stereo store in the Boston area recently. And in one of the listening rooms, the first thing I noticed was not the $100,000+ Wilson speakers, but just how acoustically dead and perfect the room was.

  2. #2
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    You want to be sure not to make your room too dead. You could use wall tapestries or curtains. If you have a book case with books, that works very well to diffuse reflections. Anything else you can think of like that could work, you are looking for an un-even surface. I have an old book type case with LP's in the back of my room.

    I hung a wall tapestry about at the point I thought the wall was getting first reflection and it made an incredible difference in sound quality. So it is worth experimenting.

    You might also try a Google search to see what articles might be out there.

  3. #3
    Forum Regular Woochifer's Avatar
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    The improvement that a well controlled room can make with how an audio system sounds is huge. You don't need to make the room acoustically dead, just control the extremities and keep the tonal variations as even as possible, and limit the echoes that create time domain distortions. As mentioned, simple stuff like wall coverings and furniture can also help with the room acoustics. Typically, in small rooms, you want a combination of diffusion and absorption (and with the low frequencies, equalization as well).

    Different surface materials have different reflectivity/absorptive properties at different frequencies, and every room does not have the same combination of surfaces, hard boundaries, furniture, and coverings. All of this makes acoustical treatments very much a moving target. Alton Everett's Master Handbook of Acoustics is one of the most informative sources you can find on the subject. I highly recommend it if you want a comprehensive overview of the subject. Otherwise, link to the discussion below and go through some of the resources linked in there. The Hometheaterhifi.com site's overview of acoustical products is especially helpful.

    Room Treatments


    Some other links to look at ...

    http://www.realtraps.com/info.htm
    http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/a.htm

    And some of my early experiments with acoustic ceiling panels ...

    http://archive.audioreview.com/07/0EF8B7DD.php
    http://archive.audioreview.com/07/0EF8BD0B.php
    http://archive.audioreview.com/07/0EF98244.php
    http://gallery.audioreview.com/showp...cat=500&page=1

  4. #4
    His and Her Room! westcott's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JonW
    My room is rather echoey. Wood floor and plaster (I think) walls and ceilings. So I'd like to quiet the room down a lot. I'll start with adding a rug and some furniture. But after that, what else can I do to quiet the room down? I've looked around and there are lots of panels, tiles, bass traps, etc. to buy. But they're really quite expensive. I'm somewhat handy and I like to build things. Any tips for where to look into DIY room treatments I could cook up?

    On related note, I was in a very fancy stereo store in the Boston area recently. And in one of the listening rooms, the first thing I noticed was not the $100,000+ Wilson speakers, but just how acoustically dead and perfect the room was.
    The fastest way to improve the sound of your speakers after calibration and placement testing is to remove the primary reflections from the front two speakers. 1" rigid fiberglass panels work well on either side of the room. If you are lucky, thick curtains may provide an easy solution for some walls. A mirror is commonly used to locate these reflection points on the side walls. An internet search on base traps, room modes, flutter, absorbtion, diffussion, standing waves, and acoustic interference, etc. will provide the details.

  5. #5
    Forum Regular N. Abstentia's Avatar
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    I used the Auralex Roominators which aren't too expensive. $99 for 32 1'x1' panels. I sure couldn't have made something that works as good for as cheap....not to mention the time involved. You can see my roominators at in the link at the end bottom of this post.

    And like others said, well placed bookshelves work great. My CD rack is actually strategically placed, and believe it or not so are the guitars hanging on the back wall!

    But starting with a wood floor you're already fighting a losing battle. Get some rugs..lots of them. You can visit lots of stereo shops and the one thing you'll notice in the sound rooms...no bare wood floors.

  6. #6
    Loving This kexodusc's Avatar
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    I highly recommend:
    http://www.foambymail.com/Wedge.html

    Basically all the Auralex stuff at less than half the price, I've been very pleased.. Sometimes you can find the Auralex stuff for $50-$60 too. Either works fine.

  7. #7
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    Hey Folks,

    Thanks for all the info! Certainly I have to start with furniture and a carpet. And I’ve now got some good reading around to do. Good links.

    “Foam by mail dot com” For some reason, that name made me laugh. It’s a fun world we live in today. And their stuff is really quite cheap- cheaper than anything I thought you could buy. Does anyone have any feel for how much of a difference 1” versus 2” versus 3”, etc. foam panels make?

    And looking at those cylindrical bass traps for corners, I'm wondering if I could make some simple versions of those by rolling up some foam or something. I'll have to do some more reading on this.

    After being in a properly treated room, and hearing how incredibly it made a difference, I’ve got to work on the room. My house is 100 years old and quite pretty. So I’ve got to investigate some options that will treat the room, but still look nice. Maybe I could cover some foam panels with some nice cloth? Hmmm…
    Last edited by JonW; 12-20-2005 at 04:59 PM.

  8. #8
    Da Dragonball Kid L.J.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JonW
    Hey Folks,

    Thanks for all the info! Certainly I have to start with furniture and a carpet. And I’ve now got some good reading around to do. Good links.

    “Foam by mail dot com” For some reason, that name made me laugh. It’s a fun world we live in today. And their stuff is really quite cheap- cheaper than anything I thought you could buy. Does anyone have any feel for how much of a difference 1” versus 2” versus 3”, etc. foam panels make?

    And looking at those cylindrical bass traps for corners, I'm wondering if I could make some simple versions of those by rolling up some foam or something. I'll have to do some more reading on this.

    After being in a properly treated room, and hearing how incredibly it made a difference, I’ve got to work on the room. My house is 100 years old and quite pretty. So I’ve got to investigate some options that will treat the room, but still look nice. Maybe I could cover some foam panels with some nice cloth? Hmmm…

    Be sure to post some pics when your all done.

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