Acoustic panels

[ParadigmDawg]

Well, I was trying to wait until “Company X” refunded my money on the acoustic panels before I wrote my thoughts on the panels but this has proven to be a long wait period.

Now the plan here was to start out with 2, 244 panels directly behind the speakers and then add 2 more 242’s above the display after she approved the first set. This was pretty much a one shot attempt as she didn’t want any panels in the house. I told “Company X” to make the nicest set they ever have made because she was going to be picky.

When the panels arrived at my house the boxes had a lot of damage; I wasn’t home and they were just left at my doorstep. Upon opening the boxes it was difficult to tell if the panels were damaged or if this was simply a DYI type of product. My first action was to take pictures and send them to “Company X” and get their thoughts; the responding email said it was likely a little of both. The fine European linen looked little more than burlap sack but smelled much better, none of the edges were squared or even and my biggest complaint was the way the material was spread over the frames. Instead of the material being tightly pulled from all angles to create nice corners, it was more flapped over like a kid would wrap a Christmas present. My wife was furious the second I pulled these out of the box and said there was no way they were staying in the house.

She finally agreed to let me stick them behind the speakers to just see if they made a difference. After putting them in place and re-cal’ing the system it was quite obvious what even a minimal amount of room treatments would do. They tamed down my overly bright room and tightened up my bass so much it was hard to believe. I have never heard my sub sound so good and the separation and detail of every instrument from my speakers was unbelievable.

This whole experience has left a strange taste in my mouth. I am now a big believer in room treatment and will continue to search for something that will work for me and the WAF but I am disappointed in the product I received on my first attempt. If “Company X” would rethink the way that they cover their frames and box the frames where they would provide shipping protection (they were single boxed and placed on top of each other with no protection of the corners) then they could deliver a better product without increasing their cost by much.

 

[avaserfi]

Man, if I was around Texas more often I would offer to build you some exactly to spec per your wifes orders and yours, but alas next time I am there I will be consumed with my speaker build. Wish I could help more man! We might just have to limit that to the SMS-1 set up.

Do you have any sort of budget planned for room treatments?

Good luck with "Company X." Also, if you want to keep who it was quiet, perhaps using a pretend product code would work too instead of the one they have posted on their site .

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I was going for something in-between...

Good luck with "Company X." Also, if you want to keep who it was quiet, perhaps using a pretend product code would work too instead of the one they have posted on their site .

 

[Tomorrow]

Hey Andrew....come to Oregon. I'll put you to work, lol!

Greg, my experience with Company "X" products is the same. They work great but belong hidden behind entertainment systems and speakers...out of sight. Your description of looking like a kid-wrapped package is perfect. But maybe that's why these are also the cheapest of the highly ranked, tested treatments. My missus wouldn't allow any of these on-wall either...and I agree.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Would room treatment work for bipolar speakers?

 

[avaserfi]

Would room treatment work for bipolar speakers?

Why wouldn't they? Room treatments can help pretty much every type of speaker if the room needs the help. The topic of room acoustics is a very complicated one. I would recommend reading this as it is a great source of information that will help you place the panels. Also, if you contact many reputable panel manufactures and give them room dimensions with speaker location and seating location they can help you with acoustic panel placement.

I have noticed large increases in clarity from my speakers in all ranges from low to high from my minor additions in acoustic treatments. Not only that I have better imaging and a more enjoyable experience with my speakers. I would strongly suggest you look into them as your next upgrade. I would say they are the most important addition to my system since my main speakers.

 

[zildjian]

Would room treatment work for bipolar speakers?

Sure, but I would be hesitant in placing just any ol' panels directly behind the bipolar speakers as that could be detrimental to the intended design and sound of the bipolar speaker. We want to hear that sound coming from behind our Def Techs! Dampen it too much and you might as well have just unplugged the rear drivers. If you were to place panels directly behind, I'd carefully chose the proper panel, so as not to overly dampen the rear output of the bipolar speakers. Panels placed else where in the room should be fine, and maybe placing panels just near the main bipolar speakers, but not directly behind them may be what's needed, I don't know exactly w/ the bipolars. Good question. I acoustically treated my stereo room several years ago with purchased panels on the walls and built sound diffusers placed in the upper corners of the room and along parts of the ceiling, but that was a different house than I live in now, and it was before I had any bipolar speakers to play with, so I never got to use my panels w/ the bipolars. Planning for bass traps of course would be no problem/no different working with a bipolar design speaker.
Brad

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Why wouldn't they? Room treatments can help pretty much every type of speaker if the room needs the help. The topic of room acoustics is a very complicated one. I would recommend reading this as it is a great source of information that will help you place the panels. Also, if you contact many reputable panel manufactures and give them room dimensions with speaker location and seating location they can help you with acoustic panel placement.

I have noticed large increases in clarity from my speakers in all ranges from low to high from my minor additions in acoustic treatments. Not only that I have better imaging and a more enjoyable experience with my speakers. I would strongly suggest you look into them as your next upgrade. I would say they are the most important addition to my system since my main speakers.

To think that my sound can be even BETTER than what it is now is very
exciting to me. I'm going to have to study this more.

Bloodstriker was asking about his speaker "crackling" at certain frequency & volume. Could this be due to poor room acoustics?

 

[Davemcc]

This whole experience has left a strange taste in my mouth. I am now a big believer in room treatment and will continue to search for something that will work for me and the WAF but I am disappointed in the product I received on my first attempt.

It may be time for a DIY project. You can get the build quality you want and it's really not that hard. I'm a terrible handyman, but my DIY panels turned out perfectly acceptable with the help of a neighbor and his tools.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Could this be due to poor room acoustics?

Highly unlikely. Either cone travel limitation reached or in the soundtrack, or the audio stream has issues?