About to invest in room treatments; GIK, RealTraps, DIY -- what is your experience?


I'm reaching the point soon where I'll invest in some treatments for my two channel listening room. Standmount speakers with tube amps. Room about 28x14ft with low ceilings, 6.5ft. Probably different kinds of treatments are needed. I'm not exactly sure yet what I'll need or how much to spend. This is not my final listening room, but I won't be able to configure another one for a few years.

I've seen many people tout GIK on this forum and I'm already communicating with them a bit. I will also reach out to Real Traps and possibly others. I do not feel bound to go with just one company or solution, so if you've mixed and matched, I'm curious about that, too.

Any recent comparisons between these two, or others? Do you have stories of good or not so good products or service? Any comments about the value of competing products? I'm not super handy or have a lot of free time, but DIY is also considered. 

hilde45

Showing 3 responses by pdreher

@nolojunko is correct regarding the long lead-times and paying up front with GIK, however, from a value standpoint, GIK's products sell for roughly half the price that RealTraps do... so not necessarily an apples to apples comparison.   I've heard nothing but good things about RealTraps products... I just didn't want to pay more (2x) when I know from past experience that GIK's products are effective and a better value for me.
I've used GIK Acoustics twice for two different homes over the last 12 years.  Good advice/service, highly effective products at very reasonable prices.  Their business is booming right now, so you may have to wait 8 weeks, like I did, to take delivery.
I used ATS panels with the coffee bean bag covering in my current room, prior to replacing them with GIK 244, Alpha 4 and Tritraps.   While the ATS https://www.atsacoustics.com/item--ATS-Acoustics-Coffee-Bag-Acoustic-Panel--3001.html satisfied my wife from a WAF standpoint, their performance from an acoustics standpoint was lacking.   The difference in sound quality with the GIK vs. ATS was night and day in my experience.