GIK Acoustics 244 Sound Panel Review

[gene]

<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/GIKacoustics244panels.php"><IMG style="WIDTH: 125px; HEIGHT: 94px" alt=[gik] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/gik_th.jpg" align=left border=0></A>The GIK 244 panels are an outstanding bargain. Even the most dedicated shopper would be hard pressed to even purchase the material necessary to complete a DIY panel for the cost of the 244 panels. The fact that the GIK panels are tested and certified by the prestigious Riverbank Acoustical Labs is another feather in the cap for this cost effective panel. Room acoustics play a very significant role in how your system will perform and with the low cost of the GIK panels there is really no excuse why the budding or expert Audioholic should do without this import piece of the audiophile puzzle. </SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">[Read the Review]</SPAN></P>

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Nice reveiw Ray.

I have to admit I don't know too much about room acoustics other than the basics so the numbers in the charts don't mean much to me, but if Ray is impressed how can you go wrong at that price. I'm surprised that I'm the first to comment! Where's everybody at...I know it's friday but it's only 9:02pm eastern DST. Your not all out at the bar yet so...(well maybe Sheep got an early start trying out all those beer suggestions from the beer thead)

Anyway now to try and convince the better half that big black rectangles are "in".

SBF1

 

[ned]

Great product! Do I hear discount for Audioholics reader?

 

[Sheep]

Great product! Do I hear discount for Audioholics reader?

OOOh OOOh, That would rule.


SheepStar

 

[Buckle-meister]

Good review, and especially good to see that GIK backs up their product with certification. This is crucial if consumer confidence is to be won.

For those interested, I did a quick comparison of the absorption data of the GIK panels against my own RealTrap panels and the GIK panels specification appears pretty respectable given its price point.

 

[Ethan Winer]

Gene,

> there is really no excuse why the budding or expert Audioholic should do without this import piece of the audiophile puzzle. <

Indeed. Let's have a hearty round of applause for both Gene and Glenn Kuras of GIK.

--Ethan

 

[Slats]

I was a few months away from doing DIY panels but this has changed my mind. Going with the 244s I'll be able to do even more treatment than I was able to do with the DIY path.

 

[Vaughan Odendaa]

Hi all,

Can someone please tell me which would be more effective out of the two treatements, realtraps or 244 ? And what kind of differences would they be ?

About the 244 treatement, do they come in different colours ? I've heard a lot of wonderful things about realtraps but I think, for me, they are a bit too expensive. So I just would like to know what I would be missing if I go for the GIK acoustics 244 panels over the realtrap "minitrap" panels.

Hope someone can help me out.

Thanks.

--Sincerely,

 

[RLA]

About the 244 treatement, do they come in different colours

Yes please check the review and follow the link provided in the review.

Happy Listening
Ray

 

[Buckle-meister]

I just would like to know what I would be missing if I go for the GIK acoustics 244 panels over the realtrap "minitrap" panels. I hope someone can help me out.

I'll try.

There're a couple of differences that I can see.

• Realtraps have pressed metal frames as opposed to GIK's wooden frames.
• Going by the two manufacturer's data sheets and proportionately reducing GIK's data to compare it against RealTraps due to the difference in panel thicknesses which is a crude method and should be taken as illustrative only, then the principal difference between the two products is degree of absorption, with RealTraps appearing to absorb to a greater degree than GIK.

It is important to note however, as you yourself did, that RealTraps are (far) more expensive than GIK, and so it really comes down to your own balance of cost vs. absorption.

 

[Vaughan Odendaa]

How much more would the "realtrap" panel absorb compared to the 244 panels ? Is it a huge difference or a slight difference ? Some help on this question would be most appreciated.

Thank you.

--Sincerely,

 

[Glenn Kuras]

Hey guys,
Thank you all for the nice works and a big thank you to Ray for the write up..

Discount? Come on guys, how much less can we go.. hey If you are ordering more then 8 then yes please contact me for a price.. We really do not have the kind of profit in the product that we would like, but I will work with you the best I can..

Glenn

 

[krabapple]

Gene,

> there is really no excuse why the budding or expert Audioholic should do without this import piece of the audiophile puzzle. <

Indeed. Let's have a hearty round of applause for both Gene and Glenn Kuras of GIK.

--Ethan

It was nice to see a review, but I'd like to have seen the x and y axes of the graph labelled, as well as which column the graph represented (I figured out by comparison that it was the 'corner mounting' data, but shouldn't have had to work that out). Better still would have been actual in-room measurements before and after treatment.

Also I would say this statement needs a bit of qualification:
"The 244 is very effective at absorbing low frequency information evenly from about 125Hz to 4000Hz," becase 1) calling 4 kHz 'low frequency' stretches the definition of low frequency and 2) the corner and wall mount data don't really show even absorption across that range.

 

[nibhaz]

krabapple, is a great name if your going to quote the producer of a product that is in direct competition with the product that he is complimenting and then complain about his congratulations. Seriously…especially when it has nothing to do with your follow up…

 

[krabapple]

krabapple, is a great name if your going to quote the producer of a product that is in direct competition with the product that he is complimenting and then complain about his congratulations. Seriously…especially when it has nothing to do with your follow up…

What I like best is how your post addresses none of the substance of mine. Good work!

Ethan's post (which also included another poster's thoughts) was a gracious thumbs up to both GIK *and* Audioholics (Gene). Mine (which quoted Ethan's, and the other poster's thoughts, as a jumping off point) is critical of Audioholics and says nothing about GIK. If you couldn't see the connection, that's not my problem, sorry.

 

[Buckle-meister]

How much more would the "realtrap" panel absorb compared to the 244 panels? Is it a huge difference or a slight difference?

I can't comment as I've only ever heard the difference RealTraps make and so can't make any comparison.

 

[ned]

Guys check this link, very interesting.................
http://www.recording.org/ftopict-29218-gik.html
http://www.recording.org/ftopict-10793-realtraps.html

 

[Ethan Winer]

Ned,

> Guys check this link, very interesting................. <

Understand that Kurt Foster was relieved of his duty as moderator there because of all the friction he caused over the years. I'm glad to discuss the science of acoustics, and I stand by everything I said in those threads. But please let's not have a rehash of that sort of name-calling here, okay? Thanks.

--Ethan

 

[ned]

Didn't even know he was a moderator, just found the above thread this AM. As an informed consumer with no background in acoustic engineer I would like to explore all aspect of this science and that would include proponents and critics alike, just as I thank Audioholics.com for thier speaker cable exposition.

 

[sh0]

I have 2 GIK Monster Bass Traps, 2 GIK 244 panels and 2 RealTraps MicroTraps. I'm very happy with the products from both companies. I can't give a comparison on performance of the RealTraps vs. GIK since I use the GIK for low freq and RealTraps for higher freq. Even a physical comparison may not be fair given the thickness required for the lower frequencies but I will say that the RealTraps are nicer looking and packaged a little better. The brushed metal framing on the RealTraps is nice. I don't mean to imply that I have a problem with the packaging or the appearance of the GIK traps, just that if I had to compare the two on things other than performance, that would be my comment.

If the numbers on their respective sites are comparable, I believe the GIK 244 panels had better or similar low frequency absorption ro the RealTraps MiniTraps. The RealTraps MicroTraps had better high frequency absorption than the GIK 242 panels and were thinner. Since I was placing the high frequency traps more "in the room" instead of the corners and since I wanted to place one on my low 7'4" ceiling, the 1.25" thickness of the RealTraps MicroTraps (compared to the 3.5" thick GIK 242 panels) was a plus.

Subjectively I felt the GIK traps definitely improved the sound. The most noticable difference to me was tighter bass drum. I made an attempt to take measurements using Room EQ Wizard to help with the placement of the traps and possibly my sub. In some cases the traps actually "created" nulls, I assume by absorbing a reflection that was cancelling a null. I decided to just ignore the frequency response, left my sub in its original position and used a low frequency waterfall plot to choose locations for the traps that minimized the ringing. It could be that now that I have the traps positioned to reduce ringing, I should revisit my listening position and sub position, I'm not sure.