Article: A New Listening Room Part One

[firedog]

Chris, really interesting. In terms of the topic, excuse me for saying so, but I think it is great that you are resource constrained - both physically and financially for this project. That makes it a lot more like what most readers have to deal with. 

 

My present listening room is quite small, but sounds good. I think you will be amazed at the difference those acoustic treatments will make. Done right, it will add lots of clarity and you will wonder how you thought the untreated room sounded good.

The once a year or so I play the lottery, I dream about having the funds to setup a no - holds barred listening room with a system to match. 

[firedog]

3 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Hi Chris - I have extensive experience  with Vicoustic products through friends of mine and I know the US Distributor very well. It's very nice to pick up the phone and talk to either friends of the distributor if needed, and have direct access to Vicoustic as needed. I'm sure GIK makes great stuff as well, but I don't have any experience with the products and don't know anyone there. 

 

If they have an online project request similar to Vicoustic I should complete that as well to get two opinions.

 

https://www.gikacoustics.com/acoustic-room-planning/

 

They will go into as much or as little detail as you'd like. Will also give you different solutions based on budget. 

 

I found them easy to work with. They gave me 3 solutions, each at a different price and effectiveness level. Absolutely no hard sell. They were happy to help and answer questions, even if I didn't buy. 

[firedog]

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Thanks for the continued input guys. 

 

This project is getting more and more frustrating for me. I assumed this would be more of a science than an art, but given the wide range of feedback about what's right, what's wrong, and what I "should" do, it seems like much of this is an art. If this was as easy as swapping in a component to test it, I'd be enjoying the process. Unfortunately installing an acoustic package is much more difficult. 

 

I've now brought in another consultant to look at the two proposals I received from Vicoustic and GIK. As you can probably guess, his opinion differs from both of these. I'm itching to get this done because I'm not happy with the current sound of the room.

 

Thanks again for the feedback everyone.

I'd be curious - what's the essential difference between the proposals of the two companies? 

No, it's not like swapping out components - but you can measure results and move panels/add panels/subtract panels till you get a measured response close to flat. So at least at the end, you'll know by measurement in addition to by ear. 

[firedog]

And how does it sound different? That many panels should make a big difference.