First off, I want to talk about the concern with the bass traveling throughout the house. What you’re looking for in that regard is sound isolation or sound “proofing”. Unfortunately, that’s not what our products are designed to do. For true sound isolation, you’ll need to add mass in the walls, which is a construction concern. Additional layers of drywall, more insulation, etc.. Our products will help in reducing bass build up in key points and lowering reverb, but that’s the only problem you’re trying to solve, sound treatment isn’t what you’re looking for. But, if you’re trying to make the space sound better/cleaner, this is how I’d approach that project!
Reflection points are essential to treat to clean up the stereo imaging and enhance the depth & detail of the soundstage for listening, and the clarity & focus of the recordings for tracking. Reflections reaching your ears very shortly after the direct sound can generally create an inaccurate listening environment. These reflection points are located along your side walls and ceiling and are easiest to locate using
the mirror trick. Treat these reflection points with the thickest FlexRange (full range) absorbers you can.
244s are a common choice and give a great balance between performance and thickness (and affordability).
Monsters are thicker and therefore better, and
242s are thinner for places where desired (such as to preserve maximum ceiling height).
Bass builds up at any boundary such as a wall, a floor, or a ceiling. Corners are efficient because they are the ends of 2 or 3 boundaries.
This listening test can help you identify the bass hotspots in your room, which are often corners. Placing bass traps in as many hotspots as possible will improve low end decay times, frequency response, and Imaging. To understand how bass traps work, I recommend checking out our
video on bass traps. The more coverage area you have with all the bass traps in the room working together, the better your results will be.
This said, here’s how I’d approach this space. First off, I’d get those front corners dealt with, as that will yield the biggest improvement in low end clarity and response consistency. I would look to stack Corner Tri-Traps floor to ceiling there. For the sidewall first reflection points, go with the thickest panels you can tolerate there, two per side. I’d push for the 244 Bass traps for a wide range of coverage, but if you need to go thinner like the 242s, I would understand. Finally, in the ceiling, we make dedicated ceiling panels designed to replace the tiles in a drop grid ceiling, and would fit perfectly here. Find those reflection points (mid point between you and the speakers, and replace those panels with these! Overall, this layout will yield a cleaner soundstage, sharper imaging, and a more consistent response. It’s also easily built on, if, in the future, the budget opens up and we want to explore getting even more out of this room. Price wise:
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Tri-Trap Corner Bass Trap© Full Range @ $135.00
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244 Bass Trap w/FRT (Rectangle) Full Range @ $74.99
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Acoustic Ceiling Panels 4” Rectangle @ $68.99