Micah:
You'll hear several opinions on bass traps, as many people have strong feelings about them.
The purpose of the traps is to prevent bass (bassi or basses for the plural) from running around loose in your theater room, where they will eventually breed and make little mids and (what are affectionately called) little tweets. Cute as the little families are, they'll eventually annoy your neighbors, ruin your carpets and drink your beer.
Still, though, I think it's just cruel to trap your bassi in this style of bass trap:
(This photo illustrates just how cruel it is by actually showing a bass bone caught in the trap)
For me, keeping them out of the theater room but in a "humane" way is what's most important. This is the one that I use because it doesn't harm the basses, and I can later release them into the wild:
I don't mean to preach, but my take on it is that they both serve the purpose, one just allows you to sleep a bit more peacefully.
