[satfrat]

Ya'know Bob how to kill a bird with 1 stone?

A GIK Elite Table Trap.




Not only will it help tighten up your bass Bob, it's a really great place to set a beer.

Or a houseplant. I have 2 of these tables myself, 1 in front of a window doing plant duty and 1 planted next to me. Every little bit helps and if they can be useful in other ways, all the better. When Real Traps were selling their 4' long Soffits, I bought 1 with some oak platforms and made a plant stand out of it, sits in a corner in front of a window and behind my right Lorelei. I also had Ethan cut up a 26" Soffit and using 2" thick oak platforms & 2" corner legs, I made a subwoofer stand. I gots me my tight bass,,, or is it bass in tights?

Cheers,
Robin

[Bob in St. Louis]

Good idea Robin. I do like the looks of that tabletrap. I however, don't have room for an end table, BUT since I now have 16 ("f"ing) remote controls for various pieces of equipment, I was thinking about a low coffee table that's full of "acoustic goody stuffing". Presently I use the fourth of four Berkline seating chairs to hold all the remotes. So essentially, I've got one Helluva expensive end table.  Having a coffee table would provide a good place to set them all.

Besides, my chairs have built in cup holders for that beer you mentioned.
Because that's how I roll. 

Bob

[satfrat]

Good idea Robin. I do like the looks of that tabletrap. I however, don't have room for an end table, BUT since I now have 16 ("f"ing) remote controls for various pieces of equipment, I was thinking about a low coffee table that's full of "acoustic goody stuffing". Presently I use the fourth of four Berkline seating chairs to hold all the remotes. So essentially, I've got one Helluva expensive end table.  Having a coffee table would provide a good place to set them all.

Besides, my chairs have built in cup holders for that beer you mentioned.
Because that's how I roll. 

Bob

Sweeeeeet

[doug s.]

Forget measurements and tests.  You got walls -- you got issues.  Most rectangular rooms with 2000 to 4000 cubic feet will benefit from bass traps in tri-corners, absorption behind speakers, diffusion behind listening position and absorption/diffusion on first reflection points.  Then you can blabber about how good your room sounds. 

you ain't heard nothing yet - wait until you replace everything w/the synergistic research analogue room treatment (art) system.  then, you will hear what good room treatment sounds like.   

doug s.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Photos as promised:

This is the rear and right walls (from a seated perspective).
- One panel thickness on the right wall at first reflection points.
- Four panels thick (8") as rudimentary bass trap in back corner sitting on a bookshelf.
- Two panels thick on rear wall behind seating (leaning against the rear surround speakers. One panel in the center).


Front, right and left side walls.
- One panel thick at first reflection points for right and left side walls.


Another view of the rear wall
- Bass trap (four panels thick)
- One panel thick in the center (sitting on my PC chair)
- Two panels thick on the outer panels. (propped up on camera tripods).



Didn't have much time for critical (two channel) listening last night before the wife came down to watch a movie, but am still very happy with the sound for music plaback.
Still amazed actually.

Watched "Batman Returns" on Blue-Ray last night. No listening impression for Home Theater yet. Still fiddling with settings, haven't managed to get all of the equipment on the same page and all of the settings tweaked yet. Blue-Ray source (PS3) arrived the day after the room treatments did. I'll need to go back to my original video source as a known reference point for Home Theater before I give any impressions on what the treatments did for multi-channel content.

DOUG - I won't be buying any of the 'ART' treatments, but I was thinking of DIYing some of Nathans "Knutbolt" thingies.  aa

Bob

[satfrat]

Better yet Bob, maybe you could send all them plain-jane panels to Nathan and let him paint you some art work. That would look sweet in that sweet room of yours. http://www.nathanmarciniak.com/ I especially like this one that would look awesome in that room,



And with that front line of drivers you have there, maybe GIF will build a coffee table bass trap(?) which would surely fit the bill in that room. Just daydreaming bob, or is it called brainstorming? 

Cheers,
Robin

[Bob in St. Louis]

Interesting idea regarding the artwork Robin, but that particular image isn't my style. The concept of artwork, or some form of image on a "sock" that could be wrapped or folded around a 2'X4' panel is a good idea. It would certainly raise the WAF. That's about the only area of "audiophiledom" that hasn't been thoroughly exploited to it's fullest extend.

Hmmm..... Maybe a thin waterbased airbrushed painting on transparent cloth.
Too bad I have zero artistic talent, or I'd send couple prototypes to Glenn, Bryan and Ethan.
Of course "art" is in the eye of the beholder, if I were to spray a couple patterns on some cloth I'm sure somebody is bound to buy them.  aa
Maybe some of Nathans black and white photos could be (somehow) transferred to the appropriate type of cloth.

Thanks for the complement on the room Robin!

Bob

[woodsyi]

You can cover with Batik. http://www.batiksplus.com/SuperStore/SuperStore-Assortment.asp?AssortmentID=46

You can also find remnant upholstery fabric at your local fabric store for cheap. 

Or you can do the Acoustic Art.

[Rob S.]

Bob,  very nice room- what color is on the walls?  I seem to remember it looking lighter the last time your room picture showed up on the gallery.

Rob S.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Rim - Thanks for the link, although those patterns aren't my style either.   
Admittedly, I'm not very 'artsy' though. 
Good idea though! 

Rob - Thanks for the complement. I would describe the walls as slightly darker than a medium gray, and fairly flat. The photo is darker than in reality. For some odd reason, if I use the flash on the camera the blue pigment in the paint REALLY stands out and the color looks nuclear blue, so therefor I don't use a flash when I take pics of the room. It's pretty ugly. For the wall color to turn out correctly in a photo, it take repeated attempts paying with the lighting (three zones on dimmers, 14 fixtures total). I took the photos this morning in one shot, no repeats.
But yes, to answer your question Rob, my walls are not as dark as they appear in these photos.

Bob

[nathanm]

Nice looking room, Bob.  You wouldn't want to mess that up with my artwork.  That is the problem with acoustic panels, they really put the damper on wall decoration.  I know there's fabric-printable inkjets out there, but I am not sure if the substrates are acoustically transparent or not.  My canvas prints are highly reflective of sound, it wouldn't be good.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks for the complement Nathan. 
But yea, as a matter of fact, I WOULD like to "mess it up" with your artwork.
I still have your black and white "tree in the park" as my desktop here at work.
I'd love to find a way to get your 'prints' (or whatever they'd be called at that point) on some material.
Granted, canvas and oils (and the like) would destroy the point of the panels, but I have no doubt that somewhere, somehow, it would be possible to merge art and panels.

Bob

[oneinthepipe]

Bob:

Sal @ acoustimac.com carries 2X4 zippered covers in various thicknesses in a variety of colors.  Sal also carries assembled wood frames for between $11.00 and $14.00.  The frames protect the OC 703 et al and make mounting a lot easier.

Don't forget about the first reflection points on the ceiling.  When I placed absorption panels on the ceiling, the vocals moved out to the front of the soundstage.  When I was trying to place my bass traps and acoustic panels, which I purchased from acoustimac, Sal stated, "Isn't it funny that moving one panel can make such a difference in sound?," to which I replied, "No."  In truth, Sal was a great help, and he stressed the importance of the first reflection point on the ceiling.

[DanTheMan]

Bob, look at these:
http://www.cazdudedesigns.com/grill/
http://www.amplates.com/grillecloth.html

Good stuff......

[Bob in St. Louis]

Another question for you guys: Mr. Pipe brings up a good point about the frames. I've wondered about building wooden frames (like the ones on acoustimac) but was concerned what framing the panels would do for the 'efficiency' of the panel. I assume since acoustimac is selling them then wood frames might very well be a viable option??
Any clarification?

Mr. Pipe and Dan, thanks guys! 
There's three good recommendations for panel wraps. Good to know. The "amplates" site is interesting since they can use photographs. However, since these are designed for guitar amps, the material they use is vinyl. This seems bad for panels that are placed in the first reflection points but might be ok for other locations.

Thanks guys,
Bob

[oneinthepipe]

Another question for you guys: Mr. Pipe brings up a good point about the frames. I've wondered about building wooden frames (like the ones on acoustimac) but was concerned what framing the panels would do for the 'efficiency' of the panel. I assume since acoustimac is selling them then wood frames might very well be a viable option??
Any clarification?

Bob

Bob:

The frames from acoustimac that I referred to only surround the sides of the 703, leaving the fronts and backs open, and therefore, I believe, have little effect on the sound absorption qualities of the panels.

[bpape]

Bob.

A common thing to do is build frames from 1x3 Poplar and then drill a series of holes in the sides to open them up for a little extra absorption.  Won't look any different behind the cloth though.

Bryan

[Bob in St. Louis]

Alright, good deal.
I was thinking of wrapping the panels with the typical black speaker grill fabric*, and then installing them into some painted frames. Having exposed frames might look kinda neat. Although, with holes in the sides, that may not look as cool.
I'll think about that one for a while.
In the mean time, I think I'll build the frames and hang the panels just to get them off the floor. It's looking kinda crappy with panels leaning against walls and speakers. 
I'll "pretty them up" later.

Thanks again guys,
Bob

* Dispite the fact we (I) have been talking about these super cool looking painted panel coveres, ultimately for the short term I'll use the cheap stuff. Speaker fabric will cost about $10 per panel as opposed to $30, $60 or $100 for the type with photos on them.

[nathanm]

I thought they looked quite "finished" when I saw them.  I actually thought they were covered in fabric at first.  If this image is in fact closer to what the color actually is then I really like the combination of the forest green walls and the yellow fiberglass texture.  If you had wood frames to match the wood trim of the windows and just the bare panels, I dunno, call me crazy but that would look really good.  I suppose you want some kind of covering to contain the fibers, though.  Hmmm.

[doug s.]

you could also consider burlap - cost will also be $10 or less per panel.  i'd think the lighter the weight the better...

http://www.eburlap.com/burlap_rolls.htm

doug s.