I recently hired Dennis from Acoustic Fields. Has anyone heard of him, liked or disliked his service?

I briefly spoke with Dennis when I was buying acoustic foam from him. He is very direct and to the point. He was excited when we found a way for me to spend less money (spend less money with him.) After our call my take away is he really wants people to have great sound.

His foam is fantastic! I replaced 703 DIY panels with his foam and it was as, or more dramatic than putting the 703 panels in.

My brother has his diaphragmatic absorbers and they are incredible. I'm adding them to my system in the future.

BicycleJoe, Let us know what he suggests.

I'm recommending the Acoustic Fields foam. It is so much better than 703.

Watched a video of Dennis talking about using only vertical diffusers on the back wall these days. My fiberglass ceiling tiles give me about 7.5' clearance in my room. With that low ceiling would using horizontal on the top or bottom part of the front wall be beneficial.

Planed on using 703 DIY panels on the back wall and to address the rest the absorption issues. Almost have the room empty to start..

Using the Acoustic Fields foam would put a big dent into my budget. Guess I'm sticking with the 703. The best I can do for now.

With the your front wall diffused Nigel does it affect your speaker placement? With a focus on soundstage boundaries? Moving speakers back and forth increase or decrease the benefits using the diffusers?

Thanks, Joseph

Hi BicycleJoe,

I'm 6' tall and can't raise my arms all the way up in my room. Have a plan , did a little home work last night. Found the areas that needed to be addressed with absorption. Rubbermaid 6' lockers filled with blankets and quilts moved about in the room. Have the room empty almost and was able to move my speakers into a new location. My plans started 2 years ago when I painted this room 36'x20' with some little out coves. Painted a lot of empty rooms in my day to realize this would be fantastic room for a HIFI system. Don't have any windows to worry about. Asbestos tile with few coats of paint must help with reflection.

Front wall diffusion: My thinking it's going adjust the front boundary. Plan is doing a whole wall buildout. My son's been helping and wants to get his hands dirty so win win for sure. So far we are all very happy with the direction it's going. Been out voted so a 70" TV will be living on that wall. So that is one problem to overcome.

All in all back in the day people used curtains and drapes in the rooms with artsy tapestries hanging on the walls . 1973 sounded real good. Now that I'm aware of where that sound came from things are looking bright. lol

Thanks,

Joseph

I highly recommend Acoustic Fields foam. The foam is for mid and high frequencies.

According to Dennis stacking the foam 3+ sheets thick will start to manage lower frequencies. He offers a product for the ceiling—CPA Ceiling Perforated Absorber that looks like he took a sheet of peg board and stacked 3 pieces of foam on it. If there is peg board between the layers of foam I do not know. Stated absorption is down to 65hz.

If you are handy you might try making a similar design for managing upper bass.

I’m moving into a new home. The room I’m going to use for the stereo is 20x40x8 with a “low” vaulted ceiling.

I’m going to be adding ~20 of the Carbon Panels. Dennis will be getting back to me next week with a plan.

Bass is some powerful stuff! Car stereos 100’s of feet away can be heard thumping inside a house.

The room “sees” energy. Dimensions drive the treatment more than speaker size. If there is a +12db peak at 40hz I don’t think it matters if it was generated by 1x 12”, 4x 6" or 4x 15” drivers.

He never said anything about 8x 15” drivers. If I had a 12x16x8 room he might have mentioned something about too many drivers?

In a shed you will need to manage the low frequencies. What about noise reduction from outside? If going the shed route spray foam insulation is the way to go. In your current home Retrofoam injection insulation will lower outside noise transmission and give better insulation, win win!

Joseph, Consider building a rig with absorption that is easy to move. Place it in front of the TV when not in use.

Bob, Yes it’s a ton of absorption! (actually 2 tons.) They weigh 200 lbs each!

I did and still do have DIY 703 based absorbers in my room.

Often people will comment that when too much treatment is used the room starts to sound dead and dark. That is the sound of 703.

I slowly added the DIY 703 panels. 2-4 at at time. I got to a point where the sound stopped getting better and started to notice the limitations of the treatment.

Removing 4 of the DIY 703 and replacing them with larger 25x72" the room took a large jump in sonics. The dead and dark that was creeping in was gone. Subtle nuances came out in the mid and highs. The depth of detail and information  is spectacular.

I’m very excited to get rid of all the 703 and use exclusively Acoustic Fields Foam.

4 Carbon panels might provide significant improvement. Add in an order of the foam and you might have your socks knocked off! ? Treating the first reflection points and a bit of LF absorption should be really sweet.

Due to supply chain issues the DIY foam is only available in XL sheets 55x75”. If you are comfortable with DIY. That would be the cheapest option.

If you buy the Foam Frame Panel they are spendy.

If possible go with Acoustics Fields Foam. It is far superior to 703. If budget is an issue I would suggest wait and getting the foam when finances allow it.

DD, What did you observe when you had too much absorption?

BicycleJoe, Have you come up with a plan?

703 does work for increasing resolution and reducing reverb time. If the Acoustic Fields Foam is out of the question the 703 panels are worth it. It's a fine line with the 703 until it starts to mess with the sound.

When setting up in an asymmetrical room it seems like a crap shoot. Some people have really good results and others not so good. Some folks recommend setting up in an asymmetrical room.

When I had a symmetrical room I had the best sound stage I've ever experienced. Currently in an asymmetrical room the sound stage shifts with volume level. The sound stage is more expansive on one side than the other. It's also out of body experience good! If only perfection was the goal then there would be no happiness.

The challenge is that there is no perfect room. Everything is a trade off. Even if you have control of 100% of the design, dimensions and treatment it is not going to be perfect. There are trade offs.

Groovy, I'm still working on things.
You know how we all try to describe that air between instruments and how we actually listen to the "quiet" as much as the sound. The quiet was beginning to feel wrong.
Too much fluff was like that feeling you get when you're on an airplane and you can still hear fine, you think, but then you swallow and things open up.
It sounded like I needed to swallow.

Even in small rooms, I believe there still needs to be a degree of ambience. The speakers can't do it all. My mind felt like my ears were lying to me when I had too much fluff in there.

Bob, I’m looking forward to hearing about your project, please update us.

DD, Very well said. Similar experience after I installed too many 703 panels.

One thing that makes a great room is that it feels pleasant to be in it. Some home theater demo rooms feel wrong when you walk in.

The plans have changed for my new listening room. The room I’m going to use for the stereo is much smaller than I was told. It’s actually 19x27x8-10’ vaulted ceiling goes to 10 foot in the center.

Dennis worked up a treatment plan for me. Tomorrow we will complete it. Then I need to wait a few months. Glad it’s not as long as the Decware waitlist!

Tony, Thank you!

I asked about the vaulted ceiling. He said it didn't change much. It will give me a little more room when hanging the overhead treatment which will be nice.

He didn’t provide a drawing, I also didn’t ask. Once I have the treatment he will instruct me where to place it. My guess is it will be 2 QDA-17 + 4 ACDA-10 on the front wall. 2 QDA-17 + 2 ACDA-10 on the rear wall. 7 CP on each side focusing placement closer to the front wall.

6 - ACDA-10,  Front / Rear wall
https://www.acousticfields.com/product/acda-10-studio/

4 - QDA-17,  Front / Rear walls
https://www.acousticfields.com/product/qda-17-quadratic-diffusor-absorber/

14 - Carbon Panels, Sidewalls
https://www.acousticfields.com/product/carbon-panel/

3 - CPA,  Ceiling
https://www.acousticfields.com/product/cpa-ceiling-perforated-absorber/

A quote from Dennis. “This room will have the resolution of a near field set up with a room that sounds twice as large as its physical dimensions.” On the phone he said that with the diffusion it’s going to be close to the resolution of a mastering room.

I'm going to have non-expanding foam insulation injected into the walls and ceiling of my home. It will increase the R value and make the room / house more quiet from outside noise. This is my doing, not from Dennis.

I’m very excited to get the room setup! I’ve been dreaming of a room like this for a very long time.

Groovey Sauce asked
Quote:


For now just for my front wall and window, diy carbon panels low end and acoustic foam on the windows, when I get my JBL's back from getting the surrounds redone and the crossovers upgraded  I'll be able to start taking measurements for the rest of the room.

GS said:

I realized it has been over a year of looking for a new home

What took so long? First, find a place that has a good room that can become the best listening room ever. Everything else is optional,   bedrooms, kitchens, garage, etc.  

Tony (also, congrats)

Groovy, bless you, Man, and good luck with your new digs!!

After six months, I'm still finding things to spend even more on.
All the BIG stuff was good to go, but replacing a ten year old water softening/treatment system and such is a something (cost as much as a Tori).
Small somethings.

But, we are happy!
Hope you are, too!

Rather than beginning a new thread, I am taking advantage of the nice generic name of this one and adding a thought and question of my own.

I had decided to go with Grimani's Sonitus brand of Decosorber Mini Eva Acoustical Absorber for my ceiling.

I think I can make a really unobtrusive, pleasant looking gridwork of juxtopposed panels attached to the ceiling. I was going to order one set of twelve as a start and build upon that if needed and as I can budget.

Has anyone tried these perforated front panel deco looking products, anywhere, ceiling or walls? Available in many sizes and styles, but all seem to be out of stock.

I noticed a lot of the products they offer were "Out Of Stock" so I assumed that most larger products are made to order and with quick consultation available, no need for vast stocks of products, right?

I start to check out and it clearly states "sold in quantities of 12." No problem, that's a good start, but I did not want to order twelve dozen. I tried 1 and they are not sold in that qty, so I try 12 and the "Add To Cart" grays out and nothing more is available to change.
So, I cancel and try again. Hoping it is just that the Walnut color variety is out of stock, but same deal.

I am hoping they are just having a bad day at their site and things are normal tomorrow, but I am troubled about literally EVERYTHING showing as out of stock.


Anyone dealt with Sonitus recently?

Thanks, Tony, but either their system works in a day or two or I'll continue to look elswhere as well.
This is not something I have tried before, so it will be a blind buy to assess. I tend to do that a lot. That's the only way I know to truly evaluate something I think I might want.

I am still a little enamoured with the PIAudio panels that Geno is using.

Hey, thanks, though. I'll cool my heels a bit. Other distractions continue for a while longer.
I am in no hurry.

That would be amazing to actually be able to go there and maybe meet The Guy behind these products.
I've only seen him on the internet, but I've learned a lot just trying to understand what he has shared.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisai607-pi-audio-group-diffusers-room-treatme...

Back in June I spoke with them it seems they are having shipping problems from their suppliers but this is a new ad for August.