I would venture to say that painting the panels would lower and alter their absorbency.
I would HIGHLY suggest reading Jon Risch's website regarding the sound dampening panels that he designed. To briefly summarize his suggestions, you should take and cover those panels in Dacron i.e. polyester batting used for pillows and comforters and then cover that in Burlap. Burlap can be dyed to any color that you like and will not lower the efficiency. One could even weave, sew or dye patterns into the burlap so long as only cloth or stain was used ( no paint ). Sean
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http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/index.htm
I would HIGHLY suggest reading Jon Risch's website regarding the sound dampening panels that he designed. To briefly summarize his suggestions, you should take and cover those panels in Dacron i.e. polyester batting used for pillows and comforters and then cover that in Burlap. Burlap can be dyed to any color that you like and will not lower the efficiency. One could even weave, sew or dye patterns into the burlap so long as only cloth or stain was used ( no paint ). Sean
>
http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/index.htm