[spence]

I've got 18 GIK traps, and I'm dealing with an uneven back wall (underground side of the house) in my basement studio control room. I've got a bathroom wall (9 ft. wide) that is 16 ft. from the front wall that I can put 3 244s on, spaced 4" out. I'll probably put another 244 on the corner door in the left corner as shown in the first picture. The other side is an alcove (6 ft. wide) that is 22 ft. from the front wall. I'm building 17x17 soffit traps in the corners of the alcove. I'll probably put a 244 in the center between the soffits, but I'm not sure what to do with the side walls in the alcove. Should I just put a couple more 244s there? I've got 16" of insulation above the drop ceiling. Am I on the right track with this setup?

[Glenn Kuras]

Sure a couple more in that area would be fine.

One other tip, if you have not done this yet, is to fill the empty space above the drop ceiling to create a HUGE bass trap. 

[spence]

Thanks Glenn,
   I've got 16" of fluffy above the drop ceiling. Should I place the 244s closer to the floor to catch the floor/wall corners better, or should I just center them on the wall? My monitors are angled down slightly, the left one shooting towards the bathroom wall, and the right one shooting towards the alcove. The 244 on the far left is actually mounted on the wall about 2" off the floor. How high on the wall should I have them?

[Hipper]

One thing I read somewhere was that when putting fibre materials in the corners as you have it is best to place each layer or two on supported shelves otherwise their weight starts to compress the lower bundles and so reduces their effect.

[spence]

Hi Hipper,
   I used wire in an "X" pattern between each layer. It's working perfect with no sagging at all. I've also got 2 strands of wire from top to bottom of each side to keep to keep the insulation from bulging out.

[Glenn Kuras]

Wire or a shelf should work fine.. Don't over think it though. 

[spence]

Glenn,
  You're so right about not overthinking, or even overbuilding. After all, these things are only supporting light fluffy insulation, so no need to use wood for shelves, unless it's something really thin like luan. The question I have would be this: would it be of any benefit to put a layer of 703 with frk (or OC 420 which is readily available at Lowes) over the face of the insulation in the soffits, or just spray glue some brown contractors paper on there? Would there be better performance with the ridged layer? The rigid layer would cost a minimum of $100 more - the stuff ain't cheap!

[Glenn Kuras]

Actually the best thing to do is to use our products , but you can DIY with some kraft paper and spray glued to the front.

[spence]

Like I stated in my first post, I've got 18 Gik traps that I'll be using on the walls. I was just curious about the benefit of 703 or equivalent on the face of the soffits. If there's little to gain by doing that, I'll just paper the fronts and cover with material.

[Glenn Kuras]

I was kidding with you.. sorry about that. I think the paper or FRK would be fine. No need to put higher density on the front.

[spence]

I know you were kidding   I really appreciate your opinions, both here and over at the GS site. Do you think the bathroom in the back of the room will give me problems or might it act as a bass trap itself? I'm hoping the 244s will provide enough absorption.

[Glenn Kuras]

If you have a thin door or it is open some of the low end will go into it. You would just need to test with the door open or closed to find out the effects.  I would think it would be mostly positive.


 

[spence]

Thanks again Glenn - Here's a pic of the bathroom wall with the 244s on it. It's hard to see in the pic, but there's a dark brown one on the door. Since there's 16" of insulation above the drop ceiling, should I keep the 244s closer to the floor, or centered on the wall? I've also got 2 diffusers (like the white one in the pic). I could put them above the 244s, but I'm not sure if they'd do any good since I'd be sitting about 9 or 10 feet from them. I guess I'll just have to figure out REW and just try things out.

[Glenn Kuras]

I would leave the trap where it is. The diffusion above the other traps is not a bad idea.

[spence]

I'll give them a try above the 244s on the bathroom wall. I'll probably be sitting a bit less than 10ft from the bathroom wall. The alcove sits 6ft. deeper. I thought about putting them vertically between the soffits, but maybe the deeper alcove would need more absorption than diffusion.