Recently I moved to a new house. The new living room is box-shaped and reverb times were very long. So I took the opportunity to apply acoustic treatment before moving in.
I thought it might be helpful to share my findings in case you are interested in room acoustics and/or considering acoustic treatment.
Acoustic treatment
1. A certified company installed 20 square meters of Rockfon sound absorbing panels.
The wall behind my setup and the wall at the right hand side at the picture were treated.
This Rockfon system is a “Monolithic system comprising a 40mm stone wool panel, filler and refined acoustic render”.
It has 100% WAF because it is seamless and sprayed coating looks very good.
2. Stone wool panels on the wall at the left hand side. Together the panels cover 4 sq.m.
3. And a thick carpet on the floor covers another 8 sq.m. of the floor surface.
I estimated 32 sq.m. should be enough to absorb the high and mid frequencies.
Result
The room is nicely muted now, but certainly not anechoic.
Without the "painting" and carpet the room is still echoing too much.
The sound has improved a lot. Soundstage and imaging have improved significantly.
Voices and instruments are better separated.
Was it worth the investment? Yes, certainly it was.
E.g. this investment makes a larger improvement in sound than upgrading from D200 to D220.
And no esthetic compromises.
This treatment does not take care of dampening bass nodes. Bass in my room is still a problem to be solved.
I thought it might be helpful to share my findings in case you are interested in room acoustics and/or considering acoustic treatment.
Acoustic treatment
1. A certified company installed 20 square meters of Rockfon sound absorbing panels.
The wall behind my setup and the wall at the right hand side at the picture were treated.
This Rockfon system is a “Monolithic system comprising a 40mm stone wool panel, filler and refined acoustic render”.
It has 100% WAF because it is seamless and sprayed coating looks very good.
2. Stone wool panels on the wall at the left hand side. Together the panels cover 4 sq.m.
3. And a thick carpet on the floor covers another 8 sq.m. of the floor surface.
I estimated 32 sq.m. should be enough to absorb the high and mid frequencies.
Result
The room is nicely muted now, but certainly not anechoic.
Without the "painting" and carpet the room is still echoing too much.
The sound has improved a lot. Soundstage and imaging have improved significantly.
Voices and instruments are better separated.
Was it worth the investment? Yes, certainly it was.
E.g. this investment makes a larger improvement in sound than upgrading from D200 to D220.
And no esthetic compromises.
This treatment does not take care of dampening bass nodes. Bass in my room is still a problem to be solved.
Grimm Audio MU1 (Roon+Qobuz) ~ D220 Pro CI ~ Magico A5
Digital Cables: Audioquest Diamond ethernet; Audioquest Diamond AES/EBU
Speaker Cables: Nordost Tyr - Power Cables: Shunyata Alpha EF (D220); Shunyata Alpha NR (Grimm)
Resonance Control: Bassocontinuo (rack); CeraBase slimline (footers)
- The Netherlands - - August 2023 -
