Acoustical wall panels

Thick wool and or cotton design blankets work well. I use IKEA Indian (2 x 4) area rugs with *excellent* results on walls, too. The rugs are comprised of sewn 'rolled' cotton bundles which act both as absorbers and diffusers. Them rugs come in real funky color patterns and are a mere $4.95 each! As for slap echo, I use Golden Sound Acoustic Discs in ceiling corners. Awesome little gadgets they are.

Disclaimer: I am a nomad. Otherwise I would just pay Rives Audio. Seems everybody's happy with him...

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I did the level one service. Once the blueprints came in, they were speced out right down to the inch, including placement of gear and listening chairs. The plans called for the types and brands I used in the room right down to the types of window treatments well. Rives works with the major suppliers of the treatments like RPG, Quest and others, and they offer Rives clients a discount. Good thing too as The RPG Variscreens (I use two) are quite expensive. It was as if they knew my room from the day it was built, and knew just what to do. Some very well respected AudiogoNers have spent time listening in my new room and we all agree that what Rives called for and speced, has done the job. I went from having a system that was just OK sounding, to one that is musical. Even my wife approves of how the room looks. It was the best upgrade I ever did and without reservation I can recommend Richard and Chris at Rives Audio. They were a joy to work with, and if I ever get to building a new room, the first call I will make will be to them. As an aside, the final pieces of my room makeover (begun in Feb. 2004) arrived today: Two sets of exterior grade French doors for the doorless entries on either side of the room.

Slipknot1
What level of rives did you go with?
The Quest panels you have look nice, they seem to blend in with the ceiling very well....
I found a place called acoustical solutions and they are also out of Richmond VA and there products look simular. Did you get a chance to check different products out in the room and did it take alot of trial and error and was Rives info dead on?

Jsawhitlock,
The ceiling clouds were part of a Rives audio design of the room. The panels were shipped (10 of them) in a large coffin shipping crate direct from Quest. Quest had "painted" a resin hardener on the backs in the 4 corners to which a bracket was to be screwed into, the a mate bracket to be screwed into the ceiling. They also sent a tub of cove base adhesive that I could use if I wanted to go the Velcro route. I purchased heavy duty Velcro (2 100 rolls) from http://www.mcmaster-carr and applied the cove base adhesive to the backs, the velcro to that, then other self adhesive velcro to the ceiling. It works, but only if your ceiling surface is very smooth, mine isn't, and the panels kept coming off. I wound up going with 2" long white Lexan "butterfly" bolts with threads and nuts. Drill through each corner of the panel, into the ceiling, push the bolt through the panel into the ceiling, flick the bolt so the little wing opens up in the ceiling to hold it in place, thread the white nut up and snug the panel to the ceiling. So far, so good on that....

Slipknot1
Thanks for the info, how did you secure the panels to the ceiling?

I use Quest Acoustical Interiors Ceiling Clouds and Wall Panels. They are 2 ft x 4 ft x 1 in made from Owens-Corning 703 fiberglass and covered with Guilford of Maine acoustically transparent fabric. Guilford has about 50 different colors/shades. The Ceiling Clouds are white(ish) and the wall panels are claret red.
http://www.questai.com

Some of the things you can do to keep it looking like it is being lived is by hanging quilts and maybe a quilt on a quilt rack next to your reflection areas. I found hanging a nice Indian saddle blanket behind the speakers looks nice and is very functional while keeping the WAF factor high....In most cases doing 1 peice at a time you will notice the changes each time and you can stop when your happy...Good Luck!