I've learned that most carpet is acoustically reflective in nature, due to the closed backing. Even if you use great padding, it will still be reflective and really lousy for room acoustics, thus sucks beyond belief.

Any recommendations /sources on the "right" carpet? Padding?

The trick to carpet it to make it diaphragmatic using the backing to create the layer.  This is done by using a commercial grade rubberized pad with air pockets under a 1/2 thick pile carpet.  In my opinion there is no better form of room treatment for the dollar.

Steve

Like this:

 

Steve is talking about the rubber pad that normally goes under the carpet, wall-to-wall but instead of the padding that's made up of fused together small pieces, the padding is a monolithic material that looks like an in-side-out waffle.  I've always seen it in green.

I think, anyway.

Thank you gentlemen!

That video is longer than I can invest right now so I didn't watch any of it.  But seriously, how could he say floors don't matter?  What's the practical difference between a floor, wall or ceiling when it comes to sound waves?

Edit:
Thanks for the time stamp.  I guess the only way it makes sense to me is figuring that our hearing evolved on the wide open plains of Africa where there are no walls and there is no ceiling -- just a floor (ground).  Now the typical ground is a lot more damped than a concrete slab but compared to unlimited air, not so much diff between dirt/grass and concrete.

I still find his statement strangely definitive.

I think Steve has a different opinion.  I'd go with that.

I watched a few minutes when he is talking about floors.

My guess is that he is talking specifically about a mixing environment, where you have a console and desk between you and the speakers. That would make sense to me.

You guys are right. I flew flatfaced on this one.

Thanks John, great to see you back on the forum.

I will take Steve's advice. Right now Im in the midst of making an array of room treatments and waiting on delivery of diffuser panels to which I will further tweak. I finally decided to no longer put up with leaving far too much on the table in an entirely untreated room, so its time to step up the game and get closer to hearing what the system is actually capable of delivering. I will further tweak with more  room treatments after getting some recordings done and the frequencies analyzed.

Also in the midst of painting the room and getting rid of some physical encumbrances to make it much more of a purposed listening room.

Sounds great, John! Looking forward to hearing more about your fabulous newly modded CSP3. The WAF problem is usually a significant one for many of us. Most women don;t even care to discern the difference between a 70's transistor radio and a modern high end 2 channel system, they think its a waste of time and money. And they definitely dislike any physical intrusion of our beloved hobby in their "space".

I followed Steve's advice.....and just purchased today a high quality 80 oz. 3/4" pile carpet, and 90 oz. rubberized waffle padding.

Warning: this padding was fairly difficult to find. After a TON of calls, I finally found a local family-owned carpet store who located a nearby distributor that sells this stuff commercially. Almost none of the retail outfits sell this kind of padding anymore, and haven't for a long time. You can find a couple wholesalers online, but the cost of shipping is unbelievable, 3-4 times the cost of the padding! I was lucky to find a local guy who was willing to go the extra yard and piggyback on a huge contract that the distributor had with a commercial entity, and the price was excellent.

As you may have noticed if you handled the pad, it's way denser than the typical pad.  Maybe you ought to cover your walls and ceiling with it.  

Have you done any definitive tests regarding Thorazine rolling, yet?

But a serious question; I used my old school method learned in the '70s when I worked as a schlepper with a guy installing equipment in recording studios. I was a smart teenager then who was beginning to learn just how much I didn't know, so I payed attention.

He swore by unbacked, woven material rugs or tiled carpet squares, bound but not backed, over thick jute padding for floor absorption. And, he actually did run it up walls and doors to about 3' or 4' high most of the time.
Before I even unpacked my first tube, I dropped coin on jute underpad and bought a cool looking woven rug. I was faced with a very nice tile floor over poured concrete foundation. I knew that would not work for a listening room.

Did I waste that $ with the jute pad? I'm keeping the rug. It's just too cool.

Should I get some of that inside out waffle padding instead?
I love Steve's idea of how the backing becomes a diaphragm, which I presume would absorb even lower frequencies than just a soft pad could.  Means I might need to buy a remnant with a backing, but I'm still using my rug.



I know every room is unique, but mine is clearly hard and reflective to start.
What do you guys think?