GIK Tri Traps Ordered

InfernoSTi · « **on:** 12 Aug 2011, 04:24 am »

Just posting to thank GIK for hosting this circle and posting the acoustics circle regardless of manufacturer or DIY...that certainly helped me select the GIK Tri Traps when I decided to order professional bass traps (a small but meaningful order: a pair in coffee). I'm certain I will order more as time, space, and money permit!

John

firedog · « **Reply #1 on:** 12 Aug 2011, 10:30 am »

Enjoy! I'm sure you'll think it is money well spent.

bpape · « **Reply #2 on:** 12 Aug 2011, 12:17 pm »

Thanks John. Much appreciated. Drop me a note if you have any questions once you receive them.

Bryan

InfernoSTi · « **Reply #3 on:** 12 Aug 2011, 01:08 pm »

Thanks, Bryan! I do have a somewhat long question for planning purposes.

Some (most?

) of us have "imperfect" listening rooms that don't have four corners that can accommodate the Tri Traps, yet their performance appears to be one of the best "bang for the buck" of the GIK line. You have an interesting product in the soffit trap and the cost on one soffit trap is similar to two Tri Traps. So this begs the question of which is the better performer in a mid-wall location?

My goal is smoothing bass below 300Hz and improving decay times below 300Hz.

So if I were to place two Tri Traps in an alternate "non" corner alignment, would they work the same, less, or more than one soffit trap in a similar location?

1. Tri Traps "on their side" with the right angle meeting the floor/wall intersection lining the rear wall?

2. Tri Traps "in reverse" with the long side against the wall and the right angle sticking out like a point?

Or would the benefit from one soffit trap out perform the two Tri Traps used in this manner? I ask because if I add the sabins for two Tri Traps at 50Hz (6.5 x 2 I get 13 sabins) vs. one soffit trap (8.6 x 1 is 8.6 sabins). I'm not sure if this is how this works or not.

I hope the nature of my questions makes sense....

John

bpape · « **Reply #4 on:** 12 Aug 2011, 01:46 pm »

You have to remember that when treatments are tested in the standard way, only one surface is exposed and the others are masked off. The soffit trap will not only reach lower, but has all 4 sides available to be exposed to the room rather than just the one side of the Tri Trap.

So, instead of 1 surface at 47"x24", you have 2 surfaces that are 47" x 17" for a total of 47x34 - or approx a 45% increase in surface area at double the average thickness.

The Soffits are a lot more flexible in room placement and really shine in the bottom couple of octaves. IMO, they are the most effective absorbers we make. The Pillars are the same thing but with the decorative wood top, bottom, and corner trim pieces.

Bryan

rw@cn · « **Reply #5 on:** 12 Aug 2011, 05:37 pm »

But are they worth the extra $400 if you buy 4?

bpape · « **Reply #6 on:** 12 Aug 2011, 05:40 pm »

In my opinion, yes, purely for the flexibility and how much lower they'll reach as long as you have the space.

Bryan

InfernoSTi · « **Reply #7 on:** 13 Aug 2011, 02:06 am »

Everyone, thank you for the discussion. It really helps me plan both space and budget. I will look at adding one Soffit Trap at a time to spread the cost and make incremental improvements. That being said, I really like the clean look of the Tri Traps for the corners, so I still would have started with the two Tri Traps over the one Soffit Trap.

Cheers,
John

InfernoSTi · « **Reply #8 on:** 14 Aug 2011, 05:36 am »

Bryan,

If you have a minute, take a look at my first attempt to measure my room acoustics.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=97494.msg977622#msg977622

The good news is I have a solid "before" snap shop and then I can monitor progress as I add Tri Traps and (in the future) Soffit Traps. If you have any comments or suggestions besides "Good God, Inferno, run, don't walk to the Soffit Trap order form NOW!!!" let me know! Even I can see that I need them badly!

I am going to try to "tune" my plate amps (just crossover, slope, and level) using the RTA feature on REW to see if I can get better performance while waiting for my GIK traps.

John

InfernoSTi · « **Reply #9 on:** 18 Aug 2011, 10:07 pm »

I posted on the acoustics forum thread but wanted to post here since I am so pleased with the early results from the two Tri Traps. I won't repost the graphs but if you are interested, take a look at the thread linked above. The wide 70Hz peak became a narrow/steep valley. Very interesting stuff...

First, shipping was really quick. Second, fit and finish is very nice. Third, there is a little more bass detail as well as more clarity across the whole range. Fourth, the measurements show good improvement from 65Hz and up. Obviously, I need more bass trapping to address the 20-65Hz range still but it is great to see one of my two problem areas (70Hz peak) tamed with just two Tri Traps added!

The early verdict is that my expectations on sound quality, appearance, and measured results have been exceeded! That gets two thumbs up!

John

gooberdude · « **Reply #10 on:** 18 Aug 2011, 10:43 pm »

Over the last few months i've purchased 4 Tri-Traps, 1 monster trap & (3) 242 panels. I also have absorption panels from other mfgrs (Michael Green & ATS), but am 100% satisfied with GIK's products & customer service.

A few soffit traps would be great to have. I'll probably end up buying a few more tri-traps as well. The quality & look of the GOM fabric they use is a lot nicer than what's on my other traps.

matt

InfernoSTi · « **Reply #11 on:** 21 Aug 2011, 06:11 pm »

Quote from: gooberdude on 18 Aug 2011, 10:43 pm

Over the last few months i've purchased 4 Tri-Traps, 1 monster trap & (3) 242 panels. I also have absorption panels from other mfgrs (Michael Green & ATS), but am 100% satisfied with GIK's products & customer service.

A few soffit traps would be great to have. I'll probably end up buying a few more tri-traps as well. The quality & look of the GOM fabric they use is a lot nicer than what's on my other traps.

matt

Thanks Matt, I agree entirely on the quality and look. Very impressive.

John

InfernoSTi · « **Reply #12 on:** 21 Aug 2011, 06:21 pm »

I've taken Bryan's recommendation and have ordered one GIK Soffit Trap.

I'm posting a rough floor plan showing my OB speakers and listening chair and the room treatments I have currently in place and where I plan on putting the Soffit Trap (unless there is a better recommendation). The total room size is 13 (front)/18 (rear) wide x 26 long x 9 high and includes the living area, dinning area, and kitchen in an open layout. I have my listening chair and speakers off-set from center to avoid the middle room null area.

The Tri Traps are stacked in the front left corner. In front of that is a 3'x4' wide DIY curved diffusor (I get a nice balanced image with this placement). I have a 2" OC 703 panel in front of the TV when listening to cover up the first reflection point (the sofa handles the other side). I have a 4" OC 703 panel in the middle of the rear wall (but angled into a nook) and a stack of R-13 (floor to ceiling) in the true rear corner (but was going to move them to the rear/side corner as shown).

I was going to place the Soffit Trap vertically in the true rear corner unless someone recommends a different location. Comments?

Thanks,
John

PS: Here is a photo showing the layout and the curved diffusor that "equalizes" the distance to the front wall. I also placed a small sleeping bag rolled up on the top of the two Tri Traps to see if there was any value to getting rid of the 3 plane corner.

bpape · « **Reply #13 on:** 23 Aug 2011, 01:23 pm »

The Soffit is certainly easy enough to move around and try in different locations - though I suspect where you're going to put it will work well. The other place would be in the corner behind the right speaker/rack as an experiment.

Bryan

InfernoSTi · « **Reply #14 on:** 27 Aug 2011, 05:19 pm »

I received the Soffit Trap very quickly (apparently, a hallmark of GIK is FAST delivery which is great). The appearance is, again, high quality and suitable for use in a much nicer listening room than I have currently.

The Soffit Trap itself is a little different than I had imagined: I was expecting the really heavy mass of material. But the trap is more elegant than that. I assume there is some type of membrane to allow the measurements and improvements that quite clearly result from placing the Soffit Trap in one's room, because it doesn't appear to simply be a box of dense material.

I played around with things a bit and settled on the exact location that I thought would be effective. I have done a measurement and it tests really well, continuing to improve the peaks/valleys below 300Hz. More importantly, I am really starting to hear bass lines I haven't been hearing before (kind of an odd realization). I suspect a few more bass traps and I will reach a point of diminishing returns but for now I am continuing to hear noticeable improvements (and see them on the measurements).

More interestingly to me, however, is I am still hearing improvements across the entire range of music. It is like as I clear up modes and ringing in the lower register, it is allowing me to hear the middle and upper registers more clearly. I would liken this to when a loud AC system is running and then turns off or when a loud diesel truck is idling outside your listening room window and then it turns off, if that helps describe what the effect has been like.

Two thumbs up on the Soffit Trap!

John

Glenn Kuras · « **Reply #15 on:** 30 Aug 2011, 01:36 pm »

Hey John,
Thank you very much for the kind words. Mind commenting over on our comment page?

http://www.gikacoustics.com/comment/comments.php <------- comment page.

InfernoSTi · « **Reply #16 on:** 2 Sep 2011, 03:24 am »

Quote from: Glenn Kuras on 30 Aug 2011, 01:36 pm

Hey John,
Thank you very much for the kind words. Mind commenting over on our comment page?
http://www.gikacoustics.com/comment/comments.php <------- comment page.

Glenn, I happily gave you a set of comments! Thanks for the opportunity to share my experience with a wider audience. John

InfernoSTi · « **Reply #17 on:** 9 Sep 2011, 03:21 am »

I'm addicted to better sound....I just ordered my second Soffit Trap (bringing me to two Tri Traps and two Soffit Traps upon delivery)!

John

bpape · « **Reply #18 on:** 10 Sep 2011, 02:38 pm »

It is certainly addictive to get the ringing bass energy out of the room tightening things up and allowing more details, low level information, and imaging cues to come through without being masked.

Bryan

InfernoSTi · « **Reply #19 on:** 24 Sep 2011, 02:55 pm »

My second GIK Soffit Trap arrived quickly and has been set up for a while now. I have it paired with the first Soffit Trap in the right rear corner (stacked).

I have not yet done any measurements but can say that yet again the improvements are audible and positive. I know that folks want to see a measurement to say if there is a change or not, but in the end, it is always a matter of does it sound better or not. And sound better it does!

I will post a curve at some point but for now I just wanted to say am happy with the results. Thank you, GIK!

John