I'm considering the addition of maybe an acoustic panel or two and came across these folks over on the Audioholics site ... GIK Acoustic Panels

These panels seem to be very affordable compared to most other I've seen, almost all.

Does anybody here use acoustic panels and if so, what are your thoughts? Seems to me the general consensus is the very least 'Oh they ecrtainly help' to 'These things are amazing'.

Rick, I've given it some thought as well. However, some of the other folks on here, including Alan, have given me reservations. Why are you thinking you need these panels, to help improve bass, etc.? Since my HT area opens into a larger room, I've wondered if these would help for me as well?

Thanks, Randy

Have you tried to use a house plant yet, to see if a trap would help?? If not, rap a wool blanket around one in a fiberglass pot and stick it in a corner. Really, it works……….

Randy and Mike, probably the single most reason I'm thinking about the panels is to spice up the back wall behind the speakers and thought no more than what a couple of these panels cost I would then kill two birds with one stone...in a very tasteful manner, mind you.

Mike I haven't tried the house plant wrapped in a wool blanket trick yet but I did stack about four or five big bed pillows (don't tell the wife!) in each corner and couldn't tell much of a difference but I also didn't spend much time with it either. I'm thinking the traps/panels may tighten the bass up just a smidgen, probably nothing worth mentioning though...who knows.

Also upon further review and after a couple of two, three or maybe a few more beers...I believe I remember reading somewhere here in the forums that the Axiom speaker test chamber is a location where one can actually 'hear the blood pumping throughout the body' and is also an 'eerie' place to be due to the sound deadening properties. If this is the case, wouldn't *any* type of acoustic panel, diffusion or sound trapping device in a dedicated music/TV environment be at the very least a means to absorb, trap or diffuse sound ... which, presumably in the music/HT environment is a 'good thing'?

Am I missing something?

Couple of quick comments...

My recollection is that an anechoic chamber is a better place to TEST a speaker than to LISTEN to a speaker. Having said that, I think all you lose is a few dB of sound level since you are basically giving up room reflections.

In that light, if acoustic panels were perfect and absorbed all frequencies equally (heck, I guess optimally would be even better as long as we are talking about magic panels) then adding a bunch of treatments would always help...

... but...

Since the panels tend to absorb over a specific range, adding too many panels gives you lots of absorbance in some frequencies and essentially none in the areas where the panels don't work, eg. frequencies below the cutoff point which is a function of material, thickness, presence of resonant membranes / panels (a la Real Traps) etc...

The result can sound worse than an untreated room, although I believe this is pretty unlikely. I think you are looking for maybe "half absorbent, half gently reflective" ie wood or drywall not ceramic tile. If your room is pretty live then sticking up a couple of panels is likely to help. If it is already pretty absorbant then maybe panels aren't the right addition.

what ever you do don't start gluing old egg cartons up on your walls

The easiest way to improve room acoustics is to start with bass traps in the corners. I built my own using 4" Roxul 2'x8' mineral wool boards enclosed in 1x4" pine boards and covered with speaker cloth. One of these in each corner does wonders for reducing peaks and raising nulls as well as lessening resonances and room echo. The materials cost around $50 and the results were immediately noticeable as tighter bass and clearer mid range.

After living with that treatment for a while you may want to experiment with front and rear wall treatments. Heavy curtains also work well.

I must agree with jakeman. Corner bass traps are the way to go when starting with room accoustics. I resolved a huge null in my room after I implemented 4 4" thick mineral wool traps

Are you guys saying to place these corner traps in the corners behind the left/right mains? I have no back corners in the HT area as it opens into a bigger area.