We do acoustic treatments and room design frequently. The question that comes up a lot is what can you do to improve rooms at a reasonable cost. The first thing is education, definitely HAA first and THX after you get your feet wet.

If you have a client that is asking you about acoustic treatments then I'm sure he/she knows there will be a cost to it and won't mind paying the extra for a designer/ acoustician to have it done correctly. So find a good one that knows about small room acoustics. Many acoustical engineerting firms deal mostly with large areas and not HT.

If you are trying to do something that is not as expensive but give some improvement, many of the suggestions here will work. I will mention one resource that can help. Auralex will do a room analysis for you if you can give them a floor and elevation drawing including speaker/sub and seating layout for the room. The analysis is FREE!. They will recommend where to put treatments, type of treatment and suggestions on placement. Here is the link [Link: auralex.com]

This of course isn't as good as someone who comes out with equipment and measures the room but it is surely a starting point for using the various techniques above, picking the right treatments and will certainly improve the room.

Hope this helps.

Bob

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Alan was right about you all along.

re: Auralex's free room analysis:

1. How long does this usually take to get a response?

2. What kind of results are you guys getting? Do you compare with your own measurements?

BobL

Great info re: Auralux free analysis! Thanks

1. How long does this usually take to get a response?

2-3 Business Days

2. What kind of results are you guys getting? Do you compare with your own measurements?

It is not as good as doing it yourself. There are factors they just can't figure such as dispersion response from a given model speaker. Depending on the off axis response of a speaker will help determine whether to use absorption, diffusion or no treatment at all. They don't have a database of speakers that I am aware of. But, their analysis it is much better than doing the mirror trick alone. Plus they will make general recommendations on how thick of a panel to use for a room and where to use diffusion instead of absorption.

As mentioned above the thicker the panel the lower frequency it will absorb. But too thick of panels throughout the room will definitely make a dead room and that is not always desirable. Although better than too live a room for sure. Using diffusion and aborption really makes a difference. Their analysis will help keep the room from being too dead and in general give a substantial improvement.

Bob

Uncalled for.

EJ. I'm not sure Alan is completely right.

Really kevin? Ahhh, who cares?

Why the hell aren't you out here drinkin' in Denver?

Seriously, Thon... Edit that post.


And edit the attitude while you are at it.
This isn't MySpace or some other bullshit, be nice or stop posting.

All you had to do was ask.


Look, I am just really sensitive to rude behavior. I was genuinely trying to give dave some advice and I get blasted by ej. The point about posting margins is taken although I didn't consider it to be a big deal for this thread. All anyone had to do was politely point it out to me and I would have gladly removed it.

I was polite as possible when I pointed it out to you you freakin' moron. This is a public forum and no margin discussion should ever happen here. But you already know that as you know everything, right? I blasted you just like i would have blasted any other idiot talking about margins and other business stuff in a public space here.

That's much better.

Yep, that was me - oh, and thank you for your support...

BTW, Dave - thanks for starting this thread, some really valuable info in here (ahem, attitudes notwithstanding ;)), and adding this directly to my fave list!

The RIGHT acoustical treatments, placed in the correct locations, installed in a room that is not a dimensional nightmare, WILL make a HUGE difference in how a theater will sound. I lived it for 3 years while I was at Acoustic Innovations. Previous posts concerning 2" vs. 1" are absolutely correct - stick with 2" panels if at all possible. And yes, mounting them off the walls helps a lot, but you do need to consider how they will look from an aesthetics point of view. A Good Rule of Thumb to follow - any room dimension should never be within a few inches of a multiple of another room dimension. So for example, if you have an 8' ceiling, your width or length should not be between 15'10" to 16' 2", and your room length should not be between 23'10" to 24' 2".

Last but not least, don't put speakers behind any acoustical panels UNLESS you get to see a graph of the sound attenuation between 6-20KHz with the fabric in question. Too many panel fabrics are supposedly "OK" that in actuality stink big-time. Go out and buy Bose speakers, etc. if you don't care what the room sounds like, but if you are selling a high-end audio system, make sure you treat it right..