Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Just an article

I found this article on a sound room makeover with acoustic treatment interesting enough for posting.

I have three things to say:

This guy is a slob.

There is no way he's married.

Those chairs have got to go.

Other than that, it was an interesting read.

well, if he is married, then his wife has got her 'own room', that she gets to do whatever she wants with.

interesting article with functional results, but for the average guy, all that dont serve much purpose. my HT is in my main den, so i cant be having it look like the inside of a space ship. those with dedicated HT rooms, more power to ya.. hope you got some good ideas.

bigjohn

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so i cant be having it look like the inside of a space ship

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Priceless!

Well, if it's going to look like that anyway, why not just air staple egg cartons to the walls? They're cheap, effective and... wouldn't look like that! *laughs*

Bren R.

You know, you can call me a heretic if you want, but I just DON'T CARE about improving the sound that much. Or at least not in that way. I mean, that place is hideous!

I love the cinema display, mouse and kb on the floor. Yeah. That looks like a comfortable place to use a computer.

Indeed the room is hideous. I'm not sure if it is the soft baby blue paint, candy striped chairs or the symmetrical yet random placement of the lego blocky sound panels that really throws me.
I don't mind some of the white side wall panels though, if there weren't so many.
Integration of sound panels is key to keeping a nice room decor.

I like the room itself but not much else after that. Total overkill if you ask me. I didn't read it all but does he ever give a total as to what all that crap cost? By crap I mean all the panels etc.

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There was a huge sound change as a result of the room treatment. I can hear details in the music that were masked before by the multiple arrival of the sound. Bass is now very tight, and it is much more localizable to where the subwoofers are sitting, and this surprised me. I knew it would be less boomy, but did not realize I would be able to tell where those low frequencies are coming from.

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Hold the phone here! He is happy he can now tell where his subwoofers are located? Last time I checked that was not a good thing.

You have a nice room for a HT but what a bloody mess!

For starter, get rid of those 70s chairs and build yourself a rack for those equipments. Those egg cartons on the wall have to go too. Clear out the rest of the crap. After all that, get yourself a decent chair and you'll be amazed on how much more you'll enjoy your music.

Sorry Cheesero,

My earlier comments were not meant for you but the owner of that room.

You also have to remember that the owner of the room is a reviewer, and he probably uses that room to listen/review equipment.

That's ok.
On any given day with the kid toys and dogs toys, my room sometimes doesn't have a floor. Who needs sound panels? Squishy stuffed animals on the laminate floor do amazing things for sound dissipation.

The stuff on the ceiling would never fly at my house. Ditto for those tan foam things (bass traps?). Same with the chairs.
IMO, he could have saved his money and bought a kegerator instead. That would have been a nice addition to that room.

My bet is that the guy is the type that dresses up for Star Trek converntions or got married as a Klingon.

Come on, I like my audio but that is a little overkill. Imagine bringing a date home to that.

I can see the white wall panels blending well with some modern style interiors, but how much of that stuff would you need to hear some significant changes?
The only bare wall surfaces I have available are behind the speakers (won't help there will it?), and the ceiling. I know the ceiling is off limits.
Definitely looks like a bachelor pad product.

btw, it's CheSSeroo (common mistake...)

We're being a bit harsh here, aren't we? I wouldn't want it in my own house, and I don't really care enough to do it, but just because this guy does...

Oh, no. I think we're probably being charitable. I'm sure it sounds terrific, but it is pretty f#$'in awful to look at.

Some of it didn't look too bad - the white panels if they are lined up at the same height and size. Even on the ceiling if it blends with the white on the ceiling.

And, yeah only do as much as will look okay. Like someone said - it will sound terrible if you can't stand to look at the room.

If I was an AV reviewer??? I might do some of it if my wife had her own area of the house. Then I could tell people exactly what they would never get to hear.

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Then I could tell people exactly what they would never get to hear.

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Like the cacophony of laughter and choruses of "dumbass" from people you invite into the room?

Bren R.

I assume that the panels would work if you bought some bulk fabric at the store that matched your decor. You could wrap each panel in fabric before installing it.

If those corner bass traps were covered in white fabric, you'd never see the "fins", and it would probably blend in pretty well.

Of course if there were any young boys in the house, you would have to find a way to stop them from running across the room "bass trap diving" into the corner.

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Of course if there were any young boys in the house, you would have to find a way to stop them from running across the room "bass trap diving" into the corner.

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Attach them with double-headed nails. Easier to get them back off... and would only be used as a wrestling turnbuckle once... would be like getting run over by a really big studded snow tire.

Anyone want to venture a guess as to whether I have kids, and if I do, whether or not they're in my custody?

Bren R.

I certainly hope you're planning on having children. My high school US History teacher implored the entire class to reproduce, saying it was the duty of intelligent people everywhere to spread their genes.

Also, your mischievous streak would be a great asset as a parent.

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My high school US History teacher implored the entire class to reproduce, saying it was the duty of intelligent people everywhere to spread their genes.

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Can you imagine the US with 1.3 billion people like China, but all like Bren?
Heavy thought to process i know.

But the point is that they are ridged. If you covered the ridges, they'd be totally pointless!

I believe he was talking about the flat wall panels.

If the wall panels are flat, then they're not going to change anything. AFAIK, everything he put on in that room had a texture.

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If the wall panels are flat, then they're not going to change anything. AFAIK, everything he put on in that room had a texture.

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Especially since I'm sure those panels were all "computer engineered" (does it count if the guy drew up the plans in Autocad?) to fully maximize the sinoidal dispersion of dynamic air movement from a powered radiator, or some other such technobabble.

Bren R.

The unmatched precision of the computer-assisted fabrication process utilized in fabricating the reverberation damping modules in this room can only be fully realized once the modules are precisely time aligned with respect to the room's characteristic audio-spatial modulus and have been allowed to reach equilibrium with ambient environmental conditions.

I assumed that anything soft and/or textured on the walls would help reduce reflections. Wrapping those panels in fabric would probably still work, right?

Yeah, fine, I was ignoring that part. But it won't work as intended.. with all the little ridges and things.

I was thinking that the sound waves would easily pass through the fabric and allow the traps to work as intended.

Speaker grills are made of "acoustically transparent" fabric. I'm not sure what snake oil it is that transforms regular fabric into acoustically transparent fabric, but I suspect that most light fabrics would be close enough.

True, I suppose that's possible.

Acoustically transparent fabrics basically woven just densely enough to block light, but loosely enough so that they don't significantly hinder the air molecules jostling against each other as the sound waves move through them. No snake oil needed.