$150 Panel project that you can't afford not to do.

I was in the mood to put together some budget panels that actually looked and functioned well without breaking the bank.

Enter:

6 - 2' x 4' x 3" Mineral Wool Board (basically the specs of OC 705 but cheaper and more rigid) - $85 to my door.

9 - 1" x 2" x 8' pieces of wood cut into 2’ and 4’ pieces - $9 total.

6 - 36" x 66" pieces of speaker cloth - $41 to my door.

All you need is a power drill, some screws, and a little time on your hands and you have 6 nice 2 foot by 4 foot panels for you listing room.

Attached are some pictures of the progress, more to come.

A picture of one of the finished panels hanging.

Looks good, I'm going to end up somewhere between the JonFo room of coolness and these panels.

I started my own project based on what is seen here, but after my wife saw the Xstatic theater, we had a design discussion. now off to do some more measurements.

Well, the cat seems to approve!
Where did you get the mineral wool? I haven't seen anything like that around here. What you've done looks like a great project, and for pocket money! Awesome!:bowdown:

Thanks for approval, this was a start and I wanted to do something cheap in case things went south.

Take a look on ebay for OC 705 or Miner Wool (I ordered through the ACOUSTIMAC store on ebay). I still see some active listings in their store for what I used. Also, take a look at the system link in my signature for how they look in my room (I will try to get some better pics of the finished product). They have made a huge difference along with the makeshift traps in my theater room.

For those of you who might not want to deal with Mineral Wool or Fiberglass, then Acoustical Cotton is the way to go. Here is a pic of my DIY HF 1st Reflection Traps.

Went to G-Street and found some fabric which was able to move/blow air through it - cannot remember the type of fabric. Much cheaper than Guilfords or the speaker fabric they had in stock, and had the same air pass-through abilities.

I built mine with the BAC on top of the wood frame (fabric you do not see stretches across the frame) and the BAC sits on fabric and the frame. This gave me about a 1/2 - 3/4" gap behind the BAC. This slight gap helped with some lower frequencies and also helped in hanging on the walls.

With the BAC on top of the wood instead of inside it, I also get the benefit of absorption along the sides as well as the front of the panel.

The improvement in sound quality with these reflection point/HF panels was significant as others have reported. Mine were installed on the wall behind my speakers (front wall) and along the wall besides the speakers and at first reflection points. The improvements in sound quality with this small investment in time and materials was significant. With the side wall panels (2 on each side) the channel separation became better and the sound stage became wider. The room sounds wider than it actually is due to the reduced comb filtering of the side and front wall sounds.

I used BAC because I did not want to use fiberglass.

Sensible Sound Solutions carries the Acoustical Cotton at a great price. While still higher than fiberglass or mineral wool, it does not itch and loose fibers (building or moving panels) are not an issue. I have figured out a way for mounting that makes it very easy for me to remove them if necessary.

For the ready made panels from sources we all know about, I liked the nice clean look of those, and with my DIY I achieved that nice tight fabric and nice square edges.

I would agree, the fibers are a bit harsh on the skin. I will take a look at the cotton for my future upgrade project.

tsmooth,

Could you please provide a link to the place you sourced that Mineral Wool Board from? I don't have the first idea where to try and find it locally. Is it a building material? Would I go to a contractor's supply store?

It sort of looks like the stuff they use in large-scale hydroponics farms. Should I ask the local Hydro-grow shop if they have something similar?

Help!

--Richard

http://stores.ebay.com/ACOUSTIMAC

eBay store ACOUSTIMAC, sorry for the late response.

A few pictures of the finished product in action.

Dreamer said:

tsmooth,

Could you please provide a link to the place you sourced that Mineral Wool Board from? I don't have the first idea where to try and find it locally. Is it a building material? Would I go to a contractor's supply store?

It sort of looks like the stuff they use in large-scale hydroponics farms. Should I ask the local Hydro-grow shop if they have something similar?

Help!

--Richard

Click to expand...

You can get this from ATS Acoustics as well. They sell both assembled products and DIY supplies. I have always gotten same day shipping (if ordered early in the day) and next day delivery for ground shipping prices (Peoria IL to Chicago IL, about a 2 or 3 hour trip). Currently four cases of mineral wool are on my front porch waiting to be framed and mounted on the media room walls. (More techincally to become the meida room walls, a room within a room project).

very nice job indeed! I have done a similar product with fiberglass ceiling tiles from Lowe's sandwiched together (3) and just covered with speaker cloth with no wood surrounds... Worked well also.

Yes those things are a very cheap tweak and make a bigger improvement sometimes that upgrading expensive equipment!

gordonmenninger said:

very nice job indeed! I have done a similar product with fiberglass ceiling tiles from Lowe's sandwiched together (3) and just covered with speaker cloth with no wood surrounds... Worked well also.

Click to expand...

I just saw your link, WOW. That looks just as good (if not better) and probably easier to throw together. Makes me want to get a few boxes and make like 6 inchers for the front