Last minute advice on my OC 703 panels?

[Mazeroth]

I just purchased a case of 12 OC 703 2" panels from a local supplier (me = pumped). As it stands I'm going to be making 12 panels for my listening room. They are the unbacked 703 panels. The plan is to make some frames for them using something like 2"x1" boards and the frames will have an internal size of 24x48, the size of the panels. I was then going to use peg board on the back, but only in the corners, to provide strength and let "some" of the waves through. The peg board corner pieces will be cut into triangles and will be roughly 8"x8". Does this sound ok so far?

Now, on to covering them. I've read that I should use a low thread count material, that is not dense, so the high frequencies won't bounce off them. Is this true? Basically, I'm going to go to Jo-Ann fabrics with my wife and need to know what I should be looking for. The cheaper, the better, as this is a pretty ugly listening room in our basement and we're only renting.

Sorry if the grammar was bad but I'm getting yelled at to leave for dinner.

Thanks! :T

[Dennis H]

Any fabric will work well enough. Just pick one you and your wife like the looks of.

[ThomasW]

Any woven fabric will be fine. Avoid Naugahyde or anything like the red/white checkered oil-cloth used for table cloths in 1950's era diners...:wink:

[Mazeroth]

Thanks guys.

Also, I was just going to hang them on the walls but I see that if I leave some space between them and the wall that the low frequency absorption will be improved. The chart I was looking at (link below) has measurements with the panels 16" out from the walls. My listening room is only 11x17x7 so having the panels sticking out 1.33 feet isn't going to work. Do you think there will be some noticable improvement if I were to have the panels stick out 6-8 inches?

Lastly, I was thinking of putting some bass traps in the back of the room and was wondering if this methodology would work. I was going to cut one piece of 703 in half and make the same frames, only the bass traps would be 2 feet by 6 feet, utilizing a full panel and one half in each. I was then going to place these in the back corners at a 45º angle, which would give me a triangle that measures 17x24x17, where the 17" is the length of the side walls where the panels would attach. My ceilings are 7 feet tall so I would place this 6 inches off the ground and 6 inches from the ceiling. Do you think this would help with the low frequency of the room? Should I do this with dual 703s so it's 4" thick?

Sorry for going on, but I have one more question My basement listening room had exposed floor joists in the ceiling like a typical basement does. My wife and I bought some $1/yard fabric at Jo-Anns and hung it on the ceiling, for a MUCH better appearance that only cost us $40. The room was finished when we moved in minus the ceiling. Are the floor joists causing problems with my low frequency response? I've seen triangle corner acoustic pieces to tame standing waves and I would love to try something like that, only I really don't have a true ceiling so that would be a waste, right?

Thanks for reading this! I promise I'll buy a house someday with a real listening room. We're fresh out of college and are saving money before we take the "plunge"

http://www.bobgolds.com/AbsorptionCoefficients.htm

[dynamowhum]

Darn I really liked the 50s diner motif.

[Amphiprion]

Are 1x2's actually 2"? Or are they 1.75" or some such?

I just helped a friend build a bunch of OC703 panels, but we ripped MDF into 2" strips so I don't know.

[dyazdani]

Are 1x2's actually 2"? Or are they 1.75" or some such?

They're actually 3/4 by 1 1/2...

[ThomasW]

The exposed joists will assist with the breakup of room modes so they're a plus not a drawback.

For the 703 to function as a bass trap it has to be quite thick or built as a membrane trap. Those have a element like ply in the front of the insulation. Here are a couple examples





More info here.......

http://home.comcast.net/~thomasw-2/SubwooferSetupandEQpage9.html

[Mazeroth]

Thanks for all the help!

I bougt the wood supplies today to build them and will begin production of them this week. I'll keep you guys updated with pics and before/after measurements.