Jon Risch's DIY Acoustic Panels and Bass Traps (1 Viewer)

[Gerald LaFrance]

Hi, I was looking into Acoustical Panels and was interested until I seen the Price of them hehe!! AnyHow I did a Google Search and Stumbled across Jon Rich's website about these DIY Acoustic Panels.

here is the Link:


http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/a.htm


I was Wondering if they are as effective as He is claiming or Has anyBody here Built these panels and Bass traps. If you have them How much of a difference did they make?? I have a 19'x11'x7' room and was wondering will it be a good Idea to build a few Panels and SubTraps??

Also How would I Determine How many Acoustical Panels I would need for my Room, I know How many Bass Traps I need.



EDIT: I founf these Very Well Priced Acoustical Panels here,seems I will NOT be Making the Acoustical Panels but will still make the Bass Traps:


http://www.atsacoustics.com/


THNX
-Gerald

 

[Gerald LaFrance]

Hi Alot Of Views and NO replys ?? Is there any word on Acoustic Panels in General?? Are they worth it and do they really Work??


THNX
Gerald

 

[Phil A]

I've talked to people who have done all kinds of stuff. My room is fully measured and treated. I personally prefer the stuff at www.readyacoustics.com or similar sites. I use the midrange absorbers (Owens Corning 703) I got there with bags and built stands for them from pre-cut oak at Lowe's. I know others who have used Owens Corning 705 for bass treatments. I have several other brands (ASC and acousticsfirst.com which also has a nice wide selection of products) and homemade stuff (that a friend made) that is similar to Risch's design made from 17 inch pipe insulation. You should know what qualities your room has and then go about treating those things that can be.

 

[Gerald LaFrance]

Hi Phil, THNX for that link they have some nice panels. I guess I should Ask them as they have Free Advice and I just might buy from them!!

With your Room before the treatment to After was there a Noticable difference? If so, What were the Differences??

I also Am Such a Noob I am Not sure How to describe How my Room Sounds?? I know I do need a Sub, as the Bass is Lacking.


-Gerald

 

[Mike Keith]

Yes, it makes a difference, but for lower bass control you need almost complete coverage of wall celling and corner junctions.

 

[Phil A]

Gerald my room was treated for bass before I bought the midrange absorbers from them. I have a one-third octave RTA (real time analyzer) to measure. If you don't have access to an RTA then a test disc or test tones (which can be downloaded) along with a SPL meter would be good to see where your problem points are. rivesaudio.com makes a $21 disc that compensates for the Radio Shack SPL meter. Delos Records also has a disc entitled "Surround Spectacular" which has one disc of music and one of test tones. Keep in mind you measure from the spot where you listen. In some rooms even a foot away can have drastic differences in bass response.

I have a friend (I actually met him delivering his system with another friend who worked for a store at the time) who lives nearby and who has made a whole bunch of prototypes as he has a difficult room (and probably should have bought different speakers) that is not that large. His last set of stuff improved his room dramatically using the rigid fiberglass panels (and he even bolted some to the ceiling in front of the listening area). While my room was treated for bass, I have glass doors on my racks and other things that were more bothersome in the midrange area. For a bit, I used quilted mat'l with velcro to stick over the glass with holes cut so I could use the remote. I was looking for something like the readyacoustics.com stuff as I wanted it to look decent. The stuff my friend made is OK looking (he used burlap to cover the panels) but not that great. The readyacoustic.com covers come with plastic corner pieces to help mount the bags (they have a pdf file on their website with instructions you can look at) and straps and big hooks (I did not use these as I have them free standing). I merely got pre-cut 2 foot sections of 1x6 (for the stand base) and 1x4s (which I screwed into the base to make 2 sides to hold the panels at the bottom) of oak at Lowe's and stained it and they look nice.

 

[Phil A]

The midrange panels are just less dense (rigid) than the bass ones. They are both made from Owens Corning fiberglass. Attached (as a picture is worth 1,000 words) are picture of the front and back (showing the straps for the hooks) of the panels along with the stands I made. I bought and use 6 of the midrange panels in my room. Basically by DIY it cost you the price of 2 ready made ones to get 6 so it's not a bad deal and not that difficult.

 

[Gerald LaFrance]

I do have a SPL Meter I setup my Speakers with the Test Tone's but How else would I Test my System?? Also I sent in a Layout of my HT and ReadyAcoustics suggested I use 12 all 4” thick broadband absorbers – either the Chameleon Bass Trap or the RT424.:





Is that All I need?? I thought I would need less?? I am Hoping ReadyAcoustic is Knowlegable about this stuff??

 

[Phil A]

You can always get multiple opinions. www.tubetrap.com will take you to ASC's web site. rivesaudio.com as noted is good too. I'm not talking about test tones for level of the channels - test tones for frequencies are different.

 

[Kevin Magee]

Jon's stuff works well. I have built all of them. Still I prefer the rigid fiberglass OC703 panels and use pipe insulation for bass traps. I find the OC703 less bulky than Jon's designs. Also using the pipe insulation, I have been able to make a bass traps that I feel is clearly superior to Jon's trap.

 

[Gerald LaFrance]

Do you have an instruction page for the Bass Traps you built?? any info would be helpfull!! THNX!

 

[Phil A]

There are a variety of things to do. I've attached a couple of pictures of round trap a friend of mine did (which I use and is in the corner on a ledge next to some midrange absorbers). He made a variety of things from 17 inch pipe insulation, incl. full rounds, half rounds and quarter rounds. On the below I believe he removed the paper on one side of the fiberglass (to have one side more reflective and one more absorptive), tucked the fabric on the inside and glued (round cut) MDF to the top and bottom.

 

[Phil A]

While I bought this trap from acousticsfirst.com they are not hard to make. I talked to an engineer from the co. They are called barrel-shaped bass diffusers. I got the 2x4ft. size to treat a problem in the 125-130HZ area. A 3x6ft. size would treat something about half that range. They can be made from thin sheets of masonite curverd so they stick out about 7 inches and attached to a frame to hold the curve shape along with your covering of choice and insulation in the back.

 

[ThomasW]

http://home.comcast.net/~thomasw-2/S...ndEQpage9.html

 

[Joel DuBay]

Guys,


For what it's worth, I have heard good things about that ATS acoustics pricing as well. I've never seen one of their units so I cannot comment on them however.
Some additional good information and discussion about room acoustics takes place at StudioTips. (Google search will find the site)
Lots of real acousticians there who help (willingly and without trying to sell anything) and who's brain you can pick (virtually).

I'm happy to try and help if I can.



Cheers,


Joel DuBay
Ready Acoustics LLC