Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater A question for the sub owners in the house...

*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*

Hi, Captain Pike.

I take it square rooms aren't ideal for Home Theater? Hmmmm... well if there is a remedy for this situation let me know. For now I guess I'll just have to grin and bare it. I suppose there could be worse situations to find yourself in than moving in with your girlfriend who owns a house with square rooms... I can't think of any right off hand, but I'm sure google could uncover SOMETHING!!!

The basement of my old house was quite a bit more suitable I will admit. The movie room measured 18 x 30. This alowed the 1st set of surrounds to be placed directly to either side of the sitting area, and the other 4 surround speakers set deep behind creating a huge pocket from which to shoot special effects sounds at you from. I remember very vividly watching 'Pearl Harbor', I could have sworn that they were bombing the city right next to us... Fantastically realistic! Another one of my favorite scenes to watch was in 'The Devils Own' where Brad Pitt is hiding out in that abandoned building from the IRA... It sounded as if that helicopter was literally landing on the roof of my house!!!

I will miss my basement.

Rooms that are the most problematic are ones with the dimensions the same, or easily divisible into each other:

10 x 10 x 10 (terrible scenario)
20 x 10 x 10 (not much better)
12 x 15 x 27 ( much better)

The remedy is treatments (bass traps/accoustic panels), multiple subs, followed by EQ as a last resort.

SERIOUS QUESTION ALERT:
A question to people who know/used that type of products (bass traps and stuff).

Are the ones from "Real Traps" really good? The price is not cheap. I was wondering if they are worth it. In other words, are they the "Monster Cables" of room treatments or the "Axiom" (not cheap, but worth every penny)? If the are the "MC", what are the alternatives?

Thanks in advance.

Eric. I don't know how they compare to other acoustic products, but from what I have read, they are a legit business.

Most of these traps are made of pretty basic materials, a high density insulation made from rock wool or fiberglass and, if you are handy, can quite easily be made.

I recently picked up a pack of 8, 2' x 4' x 2" sheets of 3lb/cu.ft. fiberglass for $60. For $20-$25 I can build a 4" 2x4 pannel trap.

If you are not inclined to build your own, Realtraps is probably a reasonable value.

Real Traps is a legit business, however, they use Owens Corning 703 for most of their traps. You can build your own a lot cheaper, that is what I did. Ethan, the owner of Realtraps, likes to promote DIY on other forums. I payed about $120 US for 12 sheets of 2' x 4' x 2" thick of 703 rigid fiberglass.

Pictures on my website.

Was that a comic genius moment or what? The combination of Mark's avatar plus his posting beep beep beep. I couldn't stop laughing!

Geez, two things in two days that I didn't get....

Though I've never been a huge Trekkie....

I have not used Real Traps but I do have the Tri-Corner traps from GIK Acoustic. I would say that they do improve the room acoustics but I probably still need to treat the first reflection points. The build quality is average for this brand (the top and bottom plastic pieces could have been designed better but the fabric covering is pretty good). The first indication that I needed treatments in the corner came a couple of years ago when I put my Christmas tree in the corner and my system sounded much better. Check out GIK Acoustic and Echo Busters as alternatives.