Thanks everyone for your input. Blackout curtains helps a lot, not perfect but helps ....
Acoustic treatment for side glass doors / please, need ideas.
Sadly, wife's home renovations forces me to move my audio system from the family room (not the best place anyway) to a small room but with side glass doors (sadly yes, BOTH sides). Room is small, 15"(L) x 10"(W) x 9"(H) . I was considering install drapes (maybe better, roller shades) because in that area cant have fixed solutions. I really need some advice here because this change can ruin my relax moments listening my records and having a glass of scotch.
Thanks in advance
Thanks in advance
58 responses Add your response
The problem is a lot worse than people suspect as windows vibrate, walls vibrate, and there are a whole bunch of sound pressure peaks distributed around the room including room corners and the 3D space of the room. Room acoustics requires an in depth analysis and a multi pronged attack. If it was easy everybody could do it. |
Post removed |
Try www.acoustic-curtains.com they might have what you need and maybe wife approval as well. |
For sound absorption, over a glass door or window look for Noise Absorption Coefficient NRC rating. In absence of this the thickness and density of a curtain would be two factors that contribute to lowering reflections. For a specific solution for this check out Quiet Curtains tested curtains. There also maybe be one or two other companies that have this information. |
Jorsan, Again, from an overall acoustics balance, they are awesome. They will reduce resonance modes, and allow better room/speaker/woofer integration, which will make everything sound in better balance, and improve the perceived signal to noise by reducing the resonance time fairly broadly. They just happen to be a lot better in the bass than most devices their size. I'm not suggesting these as your 1 thing to do. Strongly encourage you to ask GIK for help directly. But also, you may learn a lot by throwing some pillows and blankets around the floor. It's free and you'll get a better idea of how interrelated room acoustic treatments really are. Best, E |
Just a reminder - there are (at least) three issues for windows and sliding glass doors. One is reflections, the second is the vibration of the glass produced by acoustic waves. Therefore, multiple methods must be employed. The third issue is RFI/EMI for which glass is transparent. RF enters freely from the great outdoors or, in the case of interior glass doors, from adjacent rooms. |
In my listening room I have 8' sliding door on left side, 3' x 6' window directly behind equipment and 4' x 6'8" doors on right. My first approach was the Marigo Window treatment on all. That took a noticeable bite out of the muddiness/bounce I was hearing. I then put vertical fabric blinds on the doors and fabric venetian blinds on the windows behind the gear which helped dampen the LFs and lessen the glass bounce. The real improvement however came with finally adding ASC Thermal tube traps in each corner. The traps cleaned up remaining ugly acoustics in the room - not just those caused by the amount of glass. Plus by rotating them (top & bottom) independently, I can fine tune them to the music I'm playing (e.g. digital v analog). I took it step by step assessing each one along the way. That's my experience, FWIW. Good luck |
Not on the doors, but anywhere else. :) Again, I really like black out courtains. When shopping, a neat trick is to put your ear next to the curtain. Not ON it, but next to it, you'll get a good idea of how absorbent they are. Also, remember, deficits in some areas can be made up for (imperfectly but well) in others. Best, Erik |
Is going to be very difficult to cover the sides with pannels because aesthetics so I think this would be the only real option: https://phys.org/news/2011-05-curtains-quench-noise.html |
They are doors and run almost all the long walls. Basically I have 3 ft of wall then 9 ft of glass doors, and again other 3 ft of wall. Front and back walls are regular, no glass. This is the same for both long walls. Relative to speakers the glass doors starts about 1ft after the speakers (speakers are about 2ft from the front wall and 1ft from the sides). Hope I explain it correctly for you to understand. |
...a hammer... I know, not practical...;) Lots of better above, and the nearfield approach can work if your space and the other accouterments will allow it. Tends to a low SAF, since your space is small....but since her 'embellishments' have backed you into a corner, you hopefully will get slack in the 'decorative scheme' of things... |
Blackout drapes are good ideas. Used them myself. Work really well. I also want to suggest, that while imperfect, treating what you can can make up for what you can't. For instance, extra thick rugs, ceiling treatment, and diffusors between the speakers may not fix the glass, but they can make things so much better. Best, E |
Ummmm...blackout drapes. You can even buy the material and have them custom made. You can work out a suitable method for temporarily hanging them and removing them like velcro, etc. I'm sure we're similar in that my wife controls the decor (she has great taste), with my final cut, except for the A/V wall and my office/listening room where I have all my mounted heads (just kidding). If she can find a heavy enough material she likes she might let you install them permanently. Or you can impress upon her you haven't asked for much in the remodel so she could make this concession. Good luck. Having owned a Custom High End install/dealer business (just for info, not bragging-if you can get someone to pay you for something and is happy about it...) I have used drapes like these and some I have on a drop down roller used for movie screens that is also triggered by the HT remote to auto drop for movie time. Lots of good options, but heavy drapes are great. A little more A/V dampening never hurt anybody. |
Post removed |
Thanks to everyone who post here helping me to find the best option. Definitely I will go with drapes because looks like blind shades will not do the job correctly if they are not thick enough. Just found this: https://www.moondreamwebstore.com/soundproof-curtains-10?gclid=CJzH2rPY2dQCFYFEhgodo5MDew#s[10][]:17... Maybe this would be the solution, what do you think? : |
"You might want to look at groffkait’s website, he sells very small adhesive copper strips, that tune the glass, highly effective & inexpensive, work well with pretty window treatments." The 1" copper Flying Saucers for windows (1 per window) and sliding glass doors are not dampers or tuning devices. Flying Saucers for Unused Wall Outlets which are copper on plastic inserts are their companion product. Both products should be placed in ALL rooms of the house. |
Post removed |