ATS Acoustic Panels Installed

[theSven]

I finally took the plunge 3 weeks ago and purchased some 48"x24" ATS acoustic panels for the theater/listening room. In preparation for the new center channel Steve Manning is helping me with. Per the posts from Evil Twin getting a panel was required. I first ordered 6 panels, but then realized I needed 7 for the center channel and had to call ATS the next day to get another panel added.


The panels came in boxes nicely packaged for the journey to my house. My tiny dog to show some scale of how big the boxes are.


One of the panels removed from the packaging, but still has the plastic protector on. There are 6 black panels and 1 burgundy to match the carpet in the room.



The easiest panel to install was the Burgundy one, it lays on the floor. When the new center channel is in use the sub tube will be retired. I need to start looking at a new subwoofer setup for the theater. Interestingly enough, using this panel with the current center channel I notice a difference. The vocals of people talking are even clearer now for word enunciation. Not knowing what to expect with this I had a surprise. I pulled the panel away and put it back multiple times to make sure my brain was not teasing me. I also had another friend over to validate the sound as well. We both agreed the vocals were cleaner with the panel in place. I can only imagine how the new center channel will sound and perform.

Next up the start of how I used the panels for a few days.

[theSven]

I had previously done the mirror test with a friend over to see roughly where the panels should go. Therefore I set the panels up on the floor in their future rough location.


I placed two panels up front about 10" apart and the third panel on each side are placed 24" down the wall. I tried to have the panels roughly centered where the middle blue tape was. There were three pieces of tape per panel and that was from checking each seat with the mirror test.

I left the panels like this for rest of the week and once Saturday arrived I planned to install the panels onto the wall.

Next up panel installation...

[technodanvan]

All that black really makes the speakers pop!

[theSven]

All that black really makes the speakers pop!

Now that you mention it, I see that. I did all black for the lighting with the projector. It's truly a pitch black room with no natural light. Also from all the insulation in the walls and ceiling it is one of the most comfortable rooms in the house too.

[theSven]

Installation was not very difficult. The time to get the line projected probably took longer as it has been a while since I have used the laser level 😂.



I mounted the laser level to one of my C-Stands that I use for holding off camera flash's. The template for the ATS panels is taped to the wall with blue masking tape and aligned with the red line from the laser level. I raised the panels 6" off the floor.



A closer view of the template on the wall with the laser level lines.



The template is taken off the wall and put on the back of the panel to mark the holes for the panel mounts. I was very careful with the template, as there was only one shipped to use for the panels.



After the holes are marked the brackets are mounted with the provided hardware. That Bosh driver is from 2006 and the batteries still work! Not for very long, but I'm pretty impressed to have had this driver for 18 years now.



The brackets installed on the wall after removing the paper template. I forgot to put paper down on the floor to catch the dust. I didn't make that mistake for the other five panels! The wet marks on the wall are from trying to wipe up the drywall dust from drilling the holes. This wall only has furring strips and then drywall. I had to drill into the concrete for the wall anchors to fit and the mounts were attached.



The first panel is mounted and level! I repeated this process for the remaining 5 panels to mount. The panel slides down onto the clips and is held snugly in place.

Next up some images of all the panels mounted.

[theSven]

The panels are in place and the small mess cleaned up to complete this small project.



The one panel on the left side walking into the theater is higher up due to the raised platform in the back, however the spacing is the same 24" from the first two panels.

Now what did the listening session sound like after install?

I was blown away by how the room sounded. The sound stage is even more lively with more details that you can hear in the music. The bass response has significantly improved in the room as well. I've not tested with the subwoofer yet, only the Ardent D's. All in all it's almost like i have a new set of speakers to listen to and all it took was the installation of these panels to make a difference to my ears. I may end up trying to make some more for around the house now and get some of the photos I've taken printed and would stretch that over the panels to make them functional art. I didn't think that made much sense in this room which is why I went with black wall panels and the burgundy to match the carpet.

A big thank you to ATS Acoustics for the great customer service and fast delivery of these panels. It took right about a week to have them delivered from when I placed the order.

Now it's time to get back to listening and watching movies!

[JonMarsh]

I hope this helps convince a lot of others on the forum to give their room setup more attention.... you might be surprised how much audible difference having the one in front of the CC POC test build on the floor makes. It's the same kind of interaction.

[technodanvan]

I want to do this so bad.

[Steve Manning]

Very nice Sven, glad to hear that you got more than planed for with the improvement in sound.

I'm with you Danny, this is my want list as well.

[JonMarsh]

I want to do this so bad.

You will be so happy when you do... even just two panels strategically placed can make a surprising difference. I like my old ones, though, with the 45 degree angle metal edge bevels. Unfortunately, they don't make them like that anymore.