Wall Panel Materials

[Halon451]

Hey all: I'm looking to build a few DIY acoustic panels for my rear wall to help tame some reflections and maybe tamp down what I think is a bit of slap echo taking place (couch is right up against the wall).

My question is for those of you who've gone the DIY route for acoustic panels where do you get your materials from? I've been looking for Owens Corning 703 or 705 here locally (Tampa, FL) but doesn't seem to be a commonly stocked item anywhere in the usual stores (i.e., Home Depot, Lowes, etc.). I'm not married to that type but seems to be the material most often referred to in my reading up on the topic. Amazon has it but it's third party and not from Amazon themselves and I got burned bad ordering that way before, so I typically avoid it now.

There's a fabric store here locally so getting a wrap for them won't be a problem, just need to find a reliable source for the actual panel material.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

[rojo]

@Halon451 Have you seen these?

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/new-material-for-high-performance-and-cheap-diy-absorption-panels.104754/
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/diy-acoustic-panels.106059/#post-1163750

 

[Halon451]

Not sure if I caught those specific threads Rojo, but I've done quite a bit of reading where I can find it! I did just view those as well... not really in need of help constructing them, it's a pretty straightforward process and not too complicated - my question was more towards what's the best place to actually get the 703 material? I did see a link in there that took me to a site that sells the 6-pack of those panels for a pretty good price so I'm checking that out now!

Thank you sir!

 

[Halon451]

Ouch.. $35 shipping fee.... that's more than half the cost of the panels themselves! Unless that's like, next day delivery or something (it didn't specify), think I'll keep looking, lol.

 

[Halon451]

Okay wow, I didn't realize Acoustimac is actually located right here not very far from where I live. They were one of the main online dealers of the stuff that kept popping up in web searches but I failed to notice where they are actually located. Maybe a 10 minute drive from my house! No need to wait for shipping!

 

[Halon451]

So I went by the acoustimac location here locally yesterday and ended up picking these panels up on clearance. Got a great deal on them! I've got to give a shout out to those guys on this forum, they were great to deal with and hooked me up. Paid just over $100 for three fully finished panels to save me the trouble of making them myself and they are 2" thick 703, framed, rear wood panel and hardware all included.

Re-ran calibration after putting these up and I definitely notice it greatly tightened up the sound! Definite improvement!

 

[Halon451]

I think I'd be doing myself a favor if I could get those surrounds elevated a bit more as well. Maybe look at taller stands for those.

 

[rojo]

I think I'd be doing myself a favor if I could get those surrounds elevated a bit more as well. Maybe look at taller stands for those.

That's not a bad idea. Sometimes there are people selling stands on Craigslist for a bargain. white | black for example.

 

[Halon451]

That's not a bad idea. Sometimes there are people selling stands on Craigslist for a bargain. white | black for example.

Thanks for checking! Those look like good stands but I'm not sure they're quite tall enough to add much elevation to clear the back and sides of that couch well. I ended up picking up a pair of adjustable stands on Amazon - they look like they may work.. mostly good reviews, but those aren't big speakers and they'll never move so they should get the job done.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I think I'd be doing myself a favor if I could get those surrounds elevated a bit more as well. Maybe look at taller stands for those.

Yeah you would. IMO you'd ideally have them around the 6'(give or take) mark. Also getting them spread a little wider would help them image a little better. Some people will tell you surround placement isn't a big deal, but I disagree. Especially with modern soundtracks that have directional cues, and are almost always active. Be nice to get that couch away from the wall too.(I know you can't) That way your surrounds could be slightly behind, like a foot or so, and it would help tame your bass. Notice I didn't say reduce? Btw, the panels look really nice!

 

[Halon451]

Yeah you would. IMO you'd ideally have them around the 6'(give or take) mark. Also getting them spread a little wider would help them image a little better. Some people will tell you surround placement isn't a big deal, but I disagree. Especially with modern soundtracks that have directional cues, and are almost always active. Be nice to get that couch away from the wall too.(I know you can't) That way your surrounds could be slightly behind, like a foot or so, and it would help tame your bass. Notice I didn't say reduce? Btw, the panels look really nice!

Thanks! They even got the girlfriend approval. Yeah I'm REAL limited on surround placement unfortunately. If you look at the pic there are not one but two doors right in that corner so there's not even an option to get them up against the side wall without placing them too far towards the front. It is what it is - it sounds pretty terrific at this point; given the limitations and awkwardness of that room I'd say is a fairly decent accomplishment. Even if I could get them on the wall above that door aimed down at the listening area, I wouldn't be able to do the same on the other side (not shown), which is wide open to my kitchen/dining room area.

I've griped about this before and I'll go ahead and gripe again. Home builders need to start considering speaker placements when designing living rooms!!

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Thanks! They even got the girlfriend approval. Yeah I'm REAL limited on surround placement unfortunately. If you look at the pic there are not one but two doors right in that corner so there's not even an option to get them up against the side wall without placing them too far towards the front. It is what it is - it sounds pretty terrific at this point; given the limitations and awkwardness of that room I'd say is a fairly decent accomplishment. Even if I could get them on the wall above that door aimed down at the listening area, I wouldn't be able to do the same on the other side (not shown), which is wide open to my kitchen/dining room area.

I've griped about this before and I'll go ahead and gripe again. Home builders need to start considering speaker placements when designing living rooms!!

Lol. And quit building living rooms with a fireplace to put your tv on.....9' off the ground. All builders should shave an AV consultant on staff! I'm lucky enough to have built my house. And to my wife's chagrin we built a pillar to hold my right surround. Open concept. I can see you'd have trouble on the left side surround placement and I think the taller stands will help. If you did make a run for it, Omni mount has some nice options like these. Might help for the right side anyway.

 

[Halon451]

Lol. And quit building living rooms with a fireplace to put your tv on.....9' off the ground. All builders should shave an AV consultant on staff! I'm lucky enough to have built my house. And to my wife's chagrin we built a pillar to hold my right surround. Open concept. I can see you'd have trouble on the left side surround placement and I think the taller stands will help. If you did make a run for it, Omni mount has some nice options like these. Might help for the right side anyway.

Vaulted ceilings. lol

Seriously, my room is f'ed for a proper HT layout. It's as if the builders at the time sat down and tried to come up with the worst design and layout possible for a good home theater setup. Then again my house was built in 1985, back when people were rocking giant CRT TV's without any kind of cinema sound to implement at the consumer level.

 

[Halon451]

It sounds good.. really good.. now. My previous AVR woes are history, the system is rocking out superbly. Could I gain a wee bit more by really getting those surrounds up high, maybe figure out a way to hang from the ceiling or mount on a shelf from the rear wall.. etc.. maybe. But at this point it would require far more effort than I think would yield enough improvement to make it worthwhile. I think simply getting them up above the level of the couch and either more in-line with the ears or slightly above would help quite a bit without any more added trouble or expense. The stands I found on Amazon were 40 bucks and can adjust up to about 55". I know 40 bucks isn't getting me top of the line, but as long as they hold them in place and don't fall over I'm happy. And if they don't even do that much, well, I'm only out $40. lol

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Vaulted ceilings? Yep got those too.

I think you're doing great. So many guys don't take the time and just plop it down, and wonder why it's not that good.
Nice work.

 

[Halon451]

Vaulted ceilings? Yep got those too.

I think you're doing great. So many guys don't take the time and just plop it down, and wonder why it's not that good.
Nice work.

Yeah... I can easily see with those dual SVS PC's you are definitely not talking anything in terms of bass reduction!!! Are those dipoles up on the top shelves behind the couch? Kind of hard to make out.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

No those are jbl E10's. As of now I moved them down a shelf to test them in a lower location. I'm not a fan of bi/dipoles, except for something like electrostats as mains. The E10's are part of a long story involving a Polk psw505 that I use up front as an mbm. Btw, wanna make sure I'm not hijacking your thread. People like pics so since you're so generous I thought id share too. Sub is not actually stuffed that tight lol.

 

[Halon451]

No those are jbl E10's. As of now I moved them down a shelf to test them in a lower location. I'm not a fan of bi/dipoles, except for something like electrostats as mains. The E10's are part of a long story involving a Polk psw505 that I use up front as an mbm. Btw, wanna make sure I'm not hijacking your thread. People like pics so since you're so generous I thought id share too. Sub is not actually stuffed that tight lol.

Nah man by all means, feel free! I found my solution from my OP, so I'm all for the general chit chat and swapping photos of our systems

I really wish I had the space to include an actual 7.1 system, but with the new Yammy I may end up installing some front height speakers at least if I can get the wires through the wall (I love a clean finished look without wires showing lol). Take advantage of some of that Atmos content and whatnot.

 

[Halon451]

Btw, I have similar JBL's performing Zone 2 (patio) duty at my house. They are the JBL Venue Balconys, and I'm not sure what technical differences or differences in specs exist between those and the E10's, but mine are nearly identical in every way except they are ported on top instead of on the beveled edges like yours. They are actually quite terrific little speakers and able to provide quite a bit of punch given their size and drivers. Obviously wouldn't be good for any reference listening, but as background music on my patio they perform quite well!