# My Cheap DIY Panels



## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

*My Cheap DIY Absorption Panels*
So I decided last Thursday that I needed a project for the weekend, and the one thing that I have been putting off has been acoustic treatments so, the first thing I did Friday morning was scour the internet looking for options for just such a project. I found a lot of opinions and options and in the end stuck with a couple of simple, low cost basics to build off of. To me, this was a learning experience and I fully intend to re-do these panels later, but for now, I just wanted to see what affect, if any, that these panels would have on my sound.

Here is the list of materials for five panels measuring 24”X48”. I bought all of the materials at Lowes except the fabric and batting which I picked up at Wal-Mart. The total was about $120 and took about six hours to complete.

*Materials:*

42.16 Sq Ft roll of Johns Manville R-25 for $30
2 sheets lauan plywood 48”X96” $20
10 eight foot 1X3’s $30
Box of ½” Staples for staple gun $3
Box of 1” wood screws $4
Box of 2” wood screws $4
Mirror Hanging Brackets $0 (I had several left over from our move last year)
2 Rolls of quilt batting $15
10 yards of black fabric at $1 a yard. Make sure that it is 36” wide. (I bought plenty of extra for mistakes and extra panels.) $10

*Tools Used:*
18Volt Cordless Drill
Chop Saw
Circular Saw
Staple Gun
Scissors
Gloves
Long Sleeve Shirt (insulation can be itchy!)
And my mitts…..


Cut five backing boards out of the lauan measuring 24”X48”.









Cut ten pieces of the 1X3’s each measuring 48” and ten pieces of the 1X3’s each measuring 22.5” (remember you will gain 1 ½” during assembly making it 24” wide.)









Assemble the pieces and at the corners using the 2” woodscrews. Make sure the corners are squared and SURE YOU DRILL PILOT HOLES. Don’t get in a hurry and bypass this step as you will split the wood and have to start over. Two 2” screws at each corner should be fine for the 1X3’s as the backing board will serve as additional support.









Attach the backing board to one side of the frame using the 1” screws and as before, drill your pilot holes. (I could have used 1” staples for this but do not own a pneumatic air stapler and a manual one would have been brutal.)
















Once the backing is attached, lay the insulation in horizontally and cutting it to size. I found that scissors works best when cutting the insulation, but if anyone knows of a better way, I am all ears. 
http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=4965[/IMG]
















At this point I suggest taking a step back and taking a few minutes to get all of the sawdust and bits of insulation picked up as well as doing a general clean up of your work area. I always add this step to any instructions because so many of us want to just plow through to get done which can lead to frustrations toward the end of the project. So do as Bill says, have a coke and a smile and relax for a few.








Now that that’s all done and you have a nice clean workspace, you can layout your batting and fabric and cut five pieces of each into sections measuring 36”X60”. 

I attached the batting first using ½’ staples and then came back and attached the fabric. I suppose I could have done both at the same time however, I was concerned that doing it that way would have prevented me from getting the corners tight.









Once the batting has been attached, you can now attach the fabric using the ½” staples all the way around the backer board.









*Placement*
Place panels at first reflection points. These are places where the sound can come from the source, bounce once, and reach the listener. For example, on the side walls of a home theater or listening room midway between the listener and the speakers. A generally accepted way of determining this placement is to have someone walk down the wall with a mirror while you sit in the listening position. When you can see the speaker in the mirror, this is your reflection point, simply place the panel on the wall at that location. Just repeat as needed for each location on the front, side and rear walls.
































For hanging the panels I used five Hangman brand aluminum picture frame hangers, but any typical mirror brackets would have worked fine as these panels do not weigh much at all.


*Subjective Listening​*
*Music:*
As I have said before, I am all about the heavy metal, and this day was no exception. I started my listening test with Paradigm Shift by Liquid Tension Experiment. My reasoning for this was that it has a lot of high distorted guitars that tend to bounce and can create confusion at high volumes. In this session however; the guitars were solid and very tight as you would expect. I could definitely hear a substantial difference as the room itself sounded a lot “deader” than normal with regards to reverb. The next song I played was End of Heartache by Killswitch Engage and again I was very impressed with what I heard. The sound was a lot clearer and less chaotic at the higher volumes. For the last song I threw in ‘Nightmare” by Avenged Sevenfold, and again I was very impressed with the tightness of the sound. Mike Portnoy’s drums were like machine guns during the chorus and the lead guitars were not as sharp and piercing as they seemed at higher volumes. 

To verify, I pulled all of the panels off of the wall and compared and re-played Paradigm Shift and could definitely hear a difference in the quality of the music. With the panels off of the wall, the music seemed brighter and less cohesive as it did just minutes earlier with the panels on the wall. 

*Movies:*
One of my new favorites for reference listening is ‘How to Train Your Dragon’. The opening scene lends itself extremely well to encompassing a vast array of lows, mids and highs. There is a lot of opportunity for detail throughout that first scene and I really feel like it was there a lot more than before. Again, the sound didn’t seem as bouncy vitriolic with the panels on the wall. That same “deadening” with regards to reverb was there and really gave everything a very tight and consistent sound. 

My second and final movie to test was Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, another newer release that has an absolutely awesome audio presentation. I chose the twin battle near the end of the movie because of the multitude of varying frequencies that it uses. There are some very sharp highs and mids that will bounce quite a bit if given the opportunity. Again I was very pleased with what I heard and could really hear a difference in the before and after of the panel placement. 

As I said early on, this was really more meant to be a learning experience for me as I have never stepped off into this kind of thing before. When I was 17 I worked with my different bands to hang carpet on the walls of our “jam rooms” that were really just storage sheds with concrete walls so it shouldn’t come as a shock at how much difference hanging the panels made however; I am equally surprised that it took me this long to realize it. It was a very good learning experience and I look forward to doing it again, actually this weekend when I make some bass traps. I will say that for a little more money and a lot less time, I could have had some great absorption panels delivered and saved myself a day, but then I would have had to wait until the following weekend, and that wasn't happening. I plan on taking some measurments after I complete the bass traps this weekend with and without all of the treatments. So until next time campers have a good day, and in case I don't see ya later, a good afternoon, a good evening, and a good night! :wave:


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## taoggniklat (Mar 30, 2010)

Thanks for sharing!

Couple questions. You said you researched making these panels. How did you decide on the absorbtion material (insulation and batting) and how much to use? Also how did you determine what size to make the panel? Is there a formula you used or just make it to whatever size fit your space?

Do you think a different stuffing material would change the outcome? Such as eggshell foam instead of insulation?

What would you do different if you did it again?

Thanks again,
Jared


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

Hi Jared, I will do my best to answer your questions.
How did you decide on the absorption material (insulation and batting) and how much to use?
I went to the following site and used it as a reference on what type of coefficients normal insulation provided. 
I saw that normal OC fluffy Pink R19 had a fair rating even if it was low on the 125Hz side.http://www.bobgolds.com/AbsorptionCoefficients.htm

Also how did you determine what size to make the panel? 

This was really more of a matter of seeing what others had done. I didn't use any scientific formula to get there, I just repeated what I had seen others do by using google.
Is there a formula you used or just make it to whatever size fit your space? 

I really went with a "more is better" thought process. I looked at areas that would be most susceptible to reflection and put a panel there.

Do you think a different stuffing material would change the outcome? Such as eggshell foam instead of insulation?

I am sure it would but I am not sure how noticeable it would be. I may have a better idea after the bass traps this weekend.

What would you do different if you did it again?
I would probably try to build the frame in a manner that left the sides without having a 1X3 to reflect off of.


I hope this helps.


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## taoggniklat (Mar 30, 2010)

Thanks Dale!

I need to get some panels up myself but the GIK art panels are too much for me right now. This may be a lower cost alternative I can do.


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

They definitely work. My wife said I will have to change them soon to a pattern that she likes though.....:rolleyesno:


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## taoggniklat (Mar 30, 2010)

Dale Rasco said:


> They definitely work. My wife said I will have to change them soon to a pattern that she likes though.....:rolleyesno:



As long as the pattern isnt pink or froofroo!  

I would love to be able to screen some sort of image on it, to make it more art. Have to try and find a company that would do that for me at a reasonable cost.


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## Sabby (Nov 10, 2008)

I made similar panels with a couple of differences that people might want to consider. As you mentioned I made the side from 1 by 3/4 frame so there is a side opening for sound to enter. I also did not put a back on the panels and used cloth and put little legs in place so that the panels would sit about an inch off of the wall. This I believe increases the panel effectiveness since it allows additional trapping. Your panels and room look great - just wanted to offer a few ideas people can chew on.


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

That's great Rick, thanks for the insight! :bigsmile:


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## lesmor (Dec 30, 2009)

Well I have just listened to my first movie "Knowing" since positioning my home made panels in my dedicated room ,and I was blown away by the sound.
Even the wife had a few WOW moments.

I had heard that this movie had a good sound track anyway so without removing the panels and listening again it would be hard to say that it was definitely the panels that made the difference 
That said I have been underwhelmed by my system up till now considering I have spent a small fortune on it and was even considering a new amp.

A few more movies might confirm that room treatment might be the best upgrade I have ever made


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

I was pretty amazed at the difference in sound quality when I added mine as well. Makes a world of difference.


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## 1scienceguy (Nov 4, 2010)

Why did you not use rockwool or OC703?

Thanks


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

Availability and a lack of patience on waiting for it to get in. Like I said in the thread, I made the decision to build them over the weekend on a Friday morning which doesn't leave a lot of time to locate the materials so I used this link  in order to get an idea on how much of normal insulation it would take to deaden the reflection. But to answer your question, I did consider it but didn't feel like waiting.


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## 1scienceguy (Nov 4, 2010)

I'm hoping to make several next month. Hence the questions.

What about bass traps in the corners?


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## Theresa (Aug 23, 2010)

Nothing wrong with pink "fru-fru" as far as I'm concerned but would prefer lavender, perhaps with flowers.


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## 1scienceguy (Nov 4, 2010)

I have read that rockwool is better for absorbing waves below 125. I'm going with rickwool because of that.


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

Theresa said:


> Nothing wrong with pink "fru-fru" as far as I'm concerned but would prefer lavender, perhaps with flowers.


Yeah, not really seeing that one in my future. 



1scienceguy said:


> I have read that rockwool is better for absorbing waves below 125. I'm going with rickwool because of that.


You are correct however; as I mentioned in my post, I didn't have the time, ok actually patience, to wait for an order to be delivered as it wasn't readily available in town. I have since had some OC 703 delivered and am going to build the bass traps soon. :bigsmile:


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## 1scienceguy (Nov 4, 2010)

I understand that the the hypotenuse length is key (depth to the corner) to trap the low frequencies. anyone ever read anything about a shorter hypotenuse (2' vs. 4' panel in the corner) but with stuffing between the panel and the corner?


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

That sounds like what I am basically doing with mine. Here is a link to the overall idea I was going with but will be using the 703 instead of the rockwool shown in the picture. 
http://www.bobgolds.com/TrapHarder/home.htm


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## bjmsam (Sep 12, 2010)

Dale Rasco said:


> I would probably try to build the frame in a manner that left the sides without having a 1X3 to reflect off of.


Don't the hard edges conveniently improve diffusion?



Sabby said:


> I also did not put a back on the panels and used cloth and put little legs in place so that the panels would sit about an inch off of the wall. This I believe increases the panel effectiveness since it allows additional trapping.


This makes good sense.


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## fractile (Mar 15, 2009)

I've been reading Master Handbook of Acoustics. This goes into curved versus flat surface, re the panel raised edges. That spacing of things from the wall, etc., is mentioned.

It's fun to imagine what it sounds like with the room acoustic tamed, so the speakers can speak.


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

fractile said:


> I've been reading Master Handbook of Acoustics. This goes into curved versus flat surface, re the panel raised edges. That spacing of things from the wall, etc., is mentioned.
> 
> It's fun to imagine what it sounds like with the room acoustic tamed, so the speakers can speak.


You guys are killing me! :bigsmile: Just kidding, but I am going to have to take them down and add the little feet now. :doh: 

Seriously though, I really appreciate y'alls input. That's exactly what this forum is all about and I am anxious to see how this will help. It makes sense, curious to get some before and after readings. I will definitely be checking out that Master Handbook to Fractile, thanks for the information, much appreciated. :T


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## fractile (Mar 15, 2009)

The latest, 5th edition of that book was published last year.


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

johnberg said:


> If you don't like the Quad, scotia looks good fixed the same way, of coarse you'd try to do a better job on the miters than shown in the quad picture.


Hi John, could you elaborate a bit? I am a little confused on the Quad/scotia comments.


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## ojojunkie (Jun 23, 2010)

I did built couple of these panels 3'x2' made of John Manville Thermal and Sound Insulation. Same problem, material availability made me decide to use the said materials rather roxul or corning 703. After installation, found big improvements on my fronts speakers. It brought new life to music and movies. cleaner and smoother mid-high region. Have plan to built for other areas and bass traps to the corners.. :T


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