Just Acquired 6 Large Acoustic Panels Help!!

Killer Fox

Super Member
I have been slowly working on my basement for the past few years and I am finally getting close to finished. It's now fully dry walled and tiled with a custom bar. Stereo in place. New-ish to me Cornwalls refurbed and rocking. Now I am down to treatments and decor. All of the furniture is hand me down from the main level living areas. The records in crates will be getting two new bins soon made from plans here.

I just inherited six "acoustic panels" from my dad. He had them in one of his businesses and is selling the building. He couldn't remember where he bought them but said he paid about $1,500 total for them. I want to utilize some of these in the basement. They are 48" x 48". I could cut them in half if needed to fit in some spots (use a curricular saw?). They are covered in a light sage green cloth. I'm not very excited about the color. What is a cost effective way to change these up? I could use some spray fabric dye but that can get expensive. I could cover them with different fabric or tapestries.

Where would you place panels? I don't really have "back corners" with the steps on one side and fireplace on the other. The room is kind of cut in half back/front by some duct work that we framed and dry walled around. Should I place some half panels at a diagonal to bridge the duct work with the ceiling? (If that description makes any sense)

Here are some photos of my room and one of the panels.

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hard layout to deal with...in the current position of your system..."half of the music will go away upstairs"...
 
hard layout to deal with...in the current position of your system..."half of the music will go away upstairs"...

Agree.

Be prepared to try a few locations (I would suggest keeping color as is, until you paint walls/ceiling). My initial suggestions are on the wall behind & above (or behind and slightly outboard) the Cornies with the remaining 4 evenly spaced on the ceiling ~1/2 way to chairs (recliners?) from the TV, or directly above the chairs butted up against the ductwork "beam". Would also suggest suspending from ceiling, not "on" the ceiling. Good luck.
 
Room Equalizer Wizard. Software to see how your room respond on sound and where is weak point. Also REW can to measure and advice how to adjust and equalize sound on your audio equipment to determinate that weak points and correct sound in your room.
REW is free software... https://www.roomeqwizard.com/
 
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From my own personal experience, I would suggest that you experiment around with placement before actually mounting anything. Behind and between the speakers are the first priority. Then the "back wall" or just behind the listening position. The side walls at the first reflection point is recommended too. When I tried the side walls the sound became way too dead for my taste. The more of these panels you add you will hear greater definition in sound from the speakers because the echoes are mostly being absorbed. But if carried too far the sound of the room will become dead.

One technique is to clap your hands, and listen for the amount of echo. Some people will prefer a large "live" sounding room like a gymnasium. Others will prefer a quiet "dead" sounding room. Season to taste. What I did was to add panels until my room became too "dead /un-reflective" then I took some away.
 
From my own personal experience, I would suggest that you experiment around with placement before actually mounting anything. Behind and between the speakers are the first priority. Then the "back wall" or just behind the listening position. The side walls at the first reflection point is recommended too. When I tried the side walls the sound became way too dead for my taste. The more of these panels you add you will hear greater definition in sound from the speakers because the echoes are mostly being absorbed. But if carried too far the sound of the room will become dead.

One technique is to clap your hands, and listen for the amount of echo. Some people will prefer a large "live" sounding room like a gymnasium. Others will prefer a quiet "dead" sounding room. Season to taste. What I did was to add panels until my room became too "dead /un-reflective" then I took some away.

Good points, thank you. How do I place panels up on a wall or ceiling temporarily without mounting them? Sounds like some magic LOL.
 
You do not need to place the panels onto the walls to audition them and to hear what they will do. Simply stand them up on the floor or put them up on a table. They won't absorb much differently on the floor or on the walls. Just move them around the room. Add more. Take some away. You will hear large differences in the rooms sound. Like I said front and back walls are most important and a good place to begin. If you want to try the ceiling (a good idea) just put up a painters ladder and put the panel on top of that. You will get a 95% idea of how many you need and where they need to be mounted. Keep clapping your hands too. You don't want a room that is too dead.
 
I'd try one on the wall behind each speaker, with about half of each one above the top of the speakers. Then one on the left wall, just left of the light switch, one on the right wall below the banister on the staircase. Then one on the ceiling between the speakers and the listening position. If putting the last one on the wall behind the listening position doesn't do much, double up on the ceiling ones. These are just guesses based on your photos - the idea is to tame early reflections which confuse the brain.
 
"the idea is to tame early reflections which confuse the brain." Yep - just experiment by moving the panels around. There are very accurate & technical analytic tools that may be overkill for where you're at now. Nice score on the panels. I'd just put new fabric over the old to change the color. I picked up some cheap fabric from a discount store when I built my panels. Have fun.
 
Interesting thread that I will follow. I have a newbasement room not unlike yours except my bar is wrapped in a berber carpet. Reflective, with echo.
 
Unless it's an optical illusion, that speaker looks awfully close to the fireplace and close enough to scorch the wood. Have you fired it up to check the amount of heat that reaches the speaker?
 
Great info guys. Thanks!! This is my first "room treatment" project and I had no idea where to start.

I'm right behind you, rebuilding my basement. And il be asking similar questions to you real soon. Congrats on all most being done as I k ow the hastle involved with drywall and all that fun stuff. One of my stereo racks is the identical one you have (the grey one). I also have the matching tv stand that I will prolly use as a rack also. I bought it years ago and man that thing is rock solid. Good luck on getting it all set up right, my room has a ton of echo so il be watching your thread closely. Did anyone mention the mirror trick? Sit in your listening position and have someone hold a mirror against the left and right walls and have them move the mirror till you see the speakers in them, and that should be your first reflection point. Hanging pannels there should make a huge improvement from what I understand.
 
OK I have 2 of the panels in my possession now (still need to pick up the other 4 out of my dad's storage). I placed 1 behind each speaker. Definitely more separation and bass. Seems kind of too "bass-y" now but that could be just compared to what I was hearing before?
 
Unless it's an optical illusion, that speaker looks awfully close to the fireplace and close enough to scorch the wood. Have you fired it up to check the amount of heat that reaches the speaker?

It's a little close but not too bad. I should get rid of that darn TV.

The fireplace is externally vented gas totally enclosed with a blower so it's not a threat.
 
I should get rid of that darn TV.
Or hang it on the wall to free up more floor space. You may be able to do away with the tall rack by relocating the receivers and turntables over to the rack where the TV once sat.
Then you can move the speaker over to where the tall rack once stood.
 
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