I've used tan Auralex and been unhappy with the way it discolored (yellowed) over time. Sonex is too expensive. The quantity discounts show that the markup is high. One lesson: latex-based glues will discolor foam less than most other contact cement.
My old house had rectangular rooms with length and width dimensions that were multiples of the height. Bad, bad. I had large foam blocks in the wall corners, and decent-sized foam strips wherever wall met ceiling, installed sort of like crown moulding or a printed border strip. I spray-glued (contact type spray or brush-on glue) 4 pieces of 2' X 4' acoustical ceiling tile together to make a really strong 4' X 4' square and then put 4 pieces of 2' X 2' foam on it, and hung several of these like paintings a little off the wall...actually tapered off the wall a bit so the distance from the wall wasn't constant. These were near the speakers and placed where mirrors would reflect to the "sweet" listening area to stop early reflections like a LEDE room. Kind of like you might see on the walls of a movie theater. I put a diffuser behind, at an angle on the back wall, not quite an exact prime-number RPG panel but similar idea.
Losing sizzle from treble absorption, I wanted to absorb more bass and not absorb all the high treble, so instead of tuning up some low-WAF tube traps I put acoustical ceiling tiles on the BACK sides of my paintings hung ON (against) the side walls.
The truth seems to me that acoustical ceiling tile panels work OK and are cheap. Cut into cute shapes and covered with fiberglass batting and felt or colored burlap it's really effective, which is why you see it in movie theaters placed strategically spaced slightly off concrete-block walls. That spacing from the wall is critical for tuning what you absorb.
So, I'm up for a group buy on some acoustical room treatment materials. First, good-looking but CHEAPER foam in darker colors that won't discolor or won't show it much if they do. I don't know why the heck nobody makes foam in really long pieces shaped like crown moulding!
I think if there's interest we can find a good buy. If nothing else, if there's interest, I'll get a bulk shipment of dark grey Auralex or a competitor for SoCal peeps and we can all enjoy the bulk discount rate. Problem is, shipping can kill the deal as mfgrs don't want to drop-ship to multiple addresses AND give a bulk-order discount unless we buy a franchise or something like that. But maybe a national US distributor like Guitar Center would work with us, with multiple local branches for pick-up, just to get our business. I'd still hope an industrial supplier might be the low bidder.
I also used to get cheap thick open-cell (NOT closed-cell) foam mattresses and glue them under the table, behind paintings, behind burniture, etc. REALLY helped absorb the bass (in proportion to treble) if only the edges were exposed (and completely hidden from sight). So I'm interested in cheap ugly foam to hide, or attractive pro stuff cut into nice shapes with a hot-wire.
Any interest? Enough to open your wallets or help shop? Anybody near Long Beach, CA. intersted in splitting a big order? There's some foam mfgrs right here in SoCal which might make it possible to save the shipping cost entirely, if we put togehter an order large enough to get them to give us a good price and sell direct.
My old house had rectangular rooms with length and width dimensions that were multiples of the height. Bad, bad. I had large foam blocks in the wall corners, and decent-sized foam strips wherever wall met ceiling, installed sort of like crown moulding or a printed border strip. I spray-glued (contact type spray or brush-on glue) 4 pieces of 2' X 4' acoustical ceiling tile together to make a really strong 4' X 4' square and then put 4 pieces of 2' X 2' foam on it, and hung several of these like paintings a little off the wall...actually tapered off the wall a bit so the distance from the wall wasn't constant. These were near the speakers and placed where mirrors would reflect to the "sweet" listening area to stop early reflections like a LEDE room. Kind of like you might see on the walls of a movie theater. I put a diffuser behind, at an angle on the back wall, not quite an exact prime-number RPG panel but similar idea.
Losing sizzle from treble absorption, I wanted to absorb more bass and not absorb all the high treble, so instead of tuning up some low-WAF tube traps I put acoustical ceiling tiles on the BACK sides of my paintings hung ON (against) the side walls.
The truth seems to me that acoustical ceiling tile panels work OK and are cheap. Cut into cute shapes and covered with fiberglass batting and felt or colored burlap it's really effective, which is why you see it in movie theaters placed strategically spaced slightly off concrete-block walls. That spacing from the wall is critical for tuning what you absorb.
So, I'm up for a group buy on some acoustical room treatment materials. First, good-looking but CHEAPER foam in darker colors that won't discolor or won't show it much if they do. I don't know why the heck nobody makes foam in really long pieces shaped like crown moulding!
I think if there's interest we can find a good buy. If nothing else, if there's interest, I'll get a bulk shipment of dark grey Auralex or a competitor for SoCal peeps and we can all enjoy the bulk discount rate. Problem is, shipping can kill the deal as mfgrs don't want to drop-ship to multiple addresses AND give a bulk-order discount unless we buy a franchise or something like that. But maybe a national US distributor like Guitar Center would work with us, with multiple local branches for pick-up, just to get our business. I'd still hope an industrial supplier might be the low bidder.
I also used to get cheap thick open-cell (NOT closed-cell) foam mattresses and glue them under the table, behind paintings, behind burniture, etc. REALLY helped absorb the bass (in proportion to treble) if only the edges were exposed (and completely hidden from sight). So I'm interested in cheap ugly foam to hide, or attractive pro stuff cut into nice shapes with a hot-wire.
Any interest? Enough to open your wallets or help shop? Anybody near Long Beach, CA. intersted in splitting a big order? There's some foam mfgrs right here in SoCal which might make it possible to save the shipping cost entirely, if we put togehter an order large enough to get them to give us a good price and sell direct.
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