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HOME STUDIO ACOUSTIC TREATMENT - PART 3

WenowneedtoworkontheSuperChunks.
Thesefixintothe2maincornersoftheroom,directlyinfrontandsideofthebayarea.ThesewillbemadefromthedamnRockwool.The
Chunkswillbefixedfromfloortoceilingandcoveringthewholecornerareas.
As we bought exactly enough materials for this job, it is important to note that because Rockwool is not available in 1 metre x 1 metre
dimensionsintheUKanymore,wehadtousesomeclevergeometry,orratherMaxdid,togetthefulllengthRockwooltobecutfrom1
metrex60cmdimensions.ThismeantthatweeitherhadtolosetheexcessRockwoolfromthecornershapecuts,orwehadtousethem.
Wechosetousethem.SohereisadiagramonhowtocuttheRockwoolslabstomakethetriangularcornerChunks.

Asthediagramshows,youhaveaRockwoolslabthatis1metreinlengthand60cminwidth.Bymeasuringin60cmintothelength,you
willhavea60cmx60cmsquare.Y outhenneedtocutdiagonally,fromcornertocorner,toform2triangularshapedChunks.
Theleftoveristhesegmentatthebottom,40cmx60cm.
Measure40cmintothewidthand20cmintothelength(Spare).Nowcutdiagonallyacrossthismeasurement(greenline).Whatyouwill
beleftwithisC2andC1.PlaceC2ontopofC1andvoilayouhaveanothertriangularChunk(picturebelow).
TheSuperChunksshouldnowmeasure60cmx60cm.

ThenextstepistobuildthedamnwardrobecornerChunk.

PlacetheRockwoolSuperChunksintothecornerofthewardrobe,making
sureyouhavepolytheneplacedunderthepolythenesheet.Aswewillbe
sprayingtheChunkswithPVA,weneedtoprotectthecarpetfromthe
adhesive,thusthepolythenesheet.
Thiscanthenberemoved.

PlacetheChunksintothedifferentlayersofthewardrobeandtightintothe
corners.

SpraytheRockwoolwiththePVAsolutionwemadeup,makingsuretocovertheentiresurfacearea.ThisistopreventtheRockwoolfrombreakingupand
gettingairborne.Oncedry,removethepolythenesheetfromundertheChunks.

AsyoucanseetheChunksarenowbeingcoveredinfabric.Apartfrom
aestheticreasons,thefabricholdstheRockwoolinplaceandpreventsitfrom
breakingdownandsagging.Weusedthespare2battensfromourearlier
framebuildingprojectandscrewedtheseontotheframeofthewardrobeto
holdthefabricinplace.Youwillprobablyneed2ofyoutodothisproperly.

Thisistheexactsameprincipleappliedtothelefthandsideoftheroom.

ThisisonecompletecornerSuperChunk.Thisproceduremustberepeated
directly on the other side of the room, on the opposing corner. This makes
foramatchedandsymmetricalshape.

Asthewardrobewasstillresonant,wecreated2morepanels,madefromthe

FloortoceilingSuperChunk,madefromRockwool,andbattenedinand
coveredwithfabric.

Rockwool,andplacedthemagainstthewallsofthewardrobe.So,wenow
hadonemuthacornerSuperChunkand2morebasspanels.Thepicture
clearlyshowsthatthe2panelsareplacedadjacenttoeachotheronboththe
wardrobewalls.Thisprovidesfurtherabsorption.

We now need to go back to the panels we built, that we fixed onto the MDF panels, and use these as suspended diffusion and absorption
panels.Thisinvolveddrillingholesintotheceilingandusingeyescrews.
Wethenmeasuredandcutfunkychainstoabout8"andusedthesetosuspendthepanelsfromtheceiling.Asweused2ply,wehadtouse
smallandthinscrewssoasnottodamagethe2plyandfoam.
Thesepanelswereplaceddirectlyabovethelisteningpositionintheroomandinbetweenthewardrobeandleftwalls.

Asyoucanseethesuspendedpanelisplacedjustinfrontofthebayarea,
whereIsit,andinbetweenthetwoperimetersofthebayarea.

ThesearethedoubledfoampanelswebuiltearlierandtheventedMDF
panelsprovidegoodabsorptionanddiffusion.

Ofcourse,youneedtwotocompletethebuild.Theseareplacedequidistantfromeachotherandfromthesidewalls.
WenowneedtoaddthefinalProcornerfoamtothelefthand
sideperimeterofthebayarea.

ThisisthefarlefthandsideofthebayareaandyoucanseethesuspendedpanelandtheProcornerfoamsittingjustbehindit.
Thefoamisjoinedontothelastcornerfoamontheedgeofthebayareathatwefixedearlier.
Y oucanalsoseethelefthandCornerSuperChunkinthebackground.

CornerChunk,lefthandperimeterandbayareaedging,andthelefthandsidesuspendedpanel.

Thisisthefinalpanelthatisfixedontotheceilingonthelefthandsideoftheroom.Itisthemirrorimageofthewardrobefoam.
Symmetry is crucial for a balanced stereo image, so we have duplicated left and right to maintain this balance. Acoustic treatment is not
only about proper frequency referencing but about a balanced and true stereo image. This now leaves us with all the bass panels we built
andalsosomemoreabsorptionpanelsthatwebuiltlaterforthewallsetc.
Thebasspanelshavebeencoveredearlierinthistutorial,soIamnotgoingtogointohowtobuildthem.However,theabsorptionpanels
arecrucial.Theseareeasytobuild.ItssimplyacaseofRockwoolplacedontosome2plyboardsandsprayedandsealedinwiththefabric.
Thetrickwiththesepanelsisthatwhenitcomestofixingthemontothewalls,airgapsmustbeleftbehindsoastoprovidebetterabsorption
andsomediffusion.
Thiswasachievedbyusingthesmallcircularwoodcutoutswehadleftafterwedrilledtheholesintothebattenswhenmakingthepanel
frames.Thesearelittleroundwoodencircularbitsthatlooklikethickcoasters.
Simplyglue5ofthemonthebackofthe2plyboard(oneinthemiddleand4onthecorners)andthenfixthisontothewall.Thiskeepsthe
2 ply away from the wall and thus provides better absorption and diffusion. However, you may have a better way of doing this, so
experiment.
Wethenplacedtheseabsorptionpanelsonallthewalls.
Thefollowingpicturesendthestory.
Allwallpanelsinplace,allcornerbasstrapsinplace,allabsorptionanddiffusionpanelsinplace,allchunksinplaceetc..


Well,thatsprettymuchit.Ihopethatthishelpsinmakingyouawareastothefactthat,withalittlemoneyandsomesimplehardgraft,
youcanbuildaniceacousticenvironmenttoworkin.
IwouldliketotakethisopportunityinthankingMaxtheMarvelforallhisselflesshelpanddirectionandforblockingouthalfthesunlight
intheBucksarea.
Iwouldalsoliketotakethisopportunityinthankingmylocalhospitalforseparatingmyfingersandeyelidsafter...ahem....alittleadhesive
incident.
Takecare.
Zukan(EddieBazil)
www.samplecraze.com
Foranyacousticquotes,consultingandbuilds,pleasefeelfreetocontactMax:
MaxHodges
ConsultantEngineer
MaxtechAudioServices
01865772528
07582567659
maxtech.audio@me.com