Somebody starting out in this stuff should NOT read the Master Handbook of Acoustics. Thats ridiculous. It'd be like getting the Ferrari F1 team car construction manual to build a go kart.

There is so much basic acoustic information out there that can get you started. The high end designers like Grimani and Erskine will cost a lot - most likely a lot more than someone who only wants panels on the wall wants to pay.

here's my quickest and dirtiest recommendation for improving sound in a small room for someone who doesn't know anything on the subject:

1. panels - 1 inch think panel only absorbs to 1000hz, 2 inch thick to 500hz. the trick is to use 2 inch panels but mount them an inch or two off the wall and they now go down to about 100hz. Much better.

2. Nothing much you can do with bass below 100hz - other than proper placement and setup.

3. First reflection points are critical and the mirror trick works - don't forget the ceiling and the floor.

If you were to put two inch think panels one or two inches off the walls and ceiling at the first reflection points you would do more than what most people do and would go a long way to improving the sound quality in the room. While no way to quantify the improvements over the internet, I bet it would sound at least twice as good for only a few thousand dollars list. And you can get finished panels with your choice of fabric from many places on the cheap. There's not much to them. Just rigid fiberglass with some fabric and some glue.

With all that said, a square room is a sonic disaster. You have to find some way to change one of the dimensions. Hell, make it shorter and build a screen wall and put your nice big floor standing speakers behind the wall.

So much for Mr. nice guy. I have to admit, the degenerate in me wants to agree a bit with 1arm. See my previous "harsh" posts in other recent threads.

Oh, and what dope posted the dealer margin for AI on a public website? Thanks man. Thats a really smart move.

And to answer the original posters question in the title of the thread - I put panels and treatments in every theater room I do. Well, every dedicated room i do.