Placing Acoustic Panels On Walls With Gaps

My idea for mounting rigid acoustic panels with a variable air gap is pretty low tech.

Placing acoustic panels on walls with gaps. Bass traps are in my future but starting with panels for now to address echo and first reflections. In summary i hope today s discussion helps solve the problem you are having. Determining the type of panel how many you need to use for your room usage and where. To get maximum effectiveness from a limited number of panels avoid placing panels on both points of opposing walls and instead stagger their positions as shown in the above picture.

To avoid this problem mount your acoustic panels flat on the walls and be sure to spread them evenly throughout the entire room. Assuming the rear wall is treated diffusers on the front wall are not essential but they make the room sound more spacious and enveloping making it an inviting space for spontaneous musical activities like practicing or recording. This particular design is perhaps unique to the panels i was using realtraps microtraps but the general principles should apply to any rigid acoustic panel. Diffusers would also be mounted on the rear wall.

In my research i had found that adding an air gap or standing the panels off the wall some will improve absorption and i believe it helps in the bass frequencies most. These are easily controlled by strategically placing broadway acoustic panels along the side walls to absorb these troublesome reflections. As a rule these are mounted at ear and or speaker height and positioned along the wall to capture the early reflections from the loudspeakers. Where the back can be undesirable is if you are trying to absorb bass and you want an air gap behind the panel.

It acts as a spacing block that both holds the panel away from the wall and creates a variable air gap. If this is centered on an 8ft wall for instance you now have the center 4ft of the wall covered. Possible alternative layout of acoustic panels. Working out where to place acoustic panels in your home theater listening rooms or professional recording studio is always an issue.

That is to say. Mounting the acoustic panels away from the wall allows for airflow on both sides of the panel and increases the amount of absorption since we are allowing airflow on both sides to occur. A 2ft by 4ft panel should be placed so that it is 4ft high. It s a fat wooden shim.

The minimum perimeter occurs if all 4 panels are placed so that their long sides are touching with only 48 of perimeter. Poor acoustic panel layout. Either way the sound enters the front of the panel is reflected by the back and or wall and exits through the front again. The variable air gap mounting solution.

Acoustically the solid back against the wall is about the same as the panel with no back against the wall.