Auralex

[pandamonk]

Hi, I've been put under the impression by guys from here that auralex products have worse coefficients that rigid fiberglass etc, especially in the bass, but i just went onto their site and found this which shows that they have products with coefficients such as:

125Hz 250Hz 500Hz 1KHz 2KHz 4KHz
VENUS Bass Traps 1.63 1.34 1.29 1.26 1.25 1.20
LENRD Bass Traps 1.24 1.28 1.45 1.39 1.27 1.31
Sunburst Males 1.08 1.23 1.14 1.07 1.05 1.08



I know how much more expensive they are than rigid fiberglass and this is probably the reason why it is recommended. Does anyone have coefficients of a 4" rigid fiberglass bass trap staddeling a corner? Would these be better than the auralex ones? I think if they are advertising these products as "bass" traps, they should show the coeffients down is the lowest audible bass frequencies! Do you do this with real traps Ethan?!!?!

[pandamonk]

Just noticed why the auralex coefficients are so good. They are 12" deep, i think, lol.

[myfipie]

There is not a darn thing wrong with there product just so you understand what you are buying. There Venus bass trap as you can see works pretty well as does there 4" foam for first reflections. The problem as I see it is there bass traps just pick up to much high end vs traps like real traps and ours pick more low end but not as much high end. This way you can put a lot of traps in the room and it will not go dead on the high end.

Glenn

[bpape]

Also consider that when you look at numbers, those are for a unit of area. Look at the surface area exposed in each one of those when mounted as designed. Then look at the surface area of a 4" pc of mineral wool, 703, or a pre-made solution like the GIK panels.

When considering the cost, look not only at the numbers but what each piece will do for your room.

For instance, say (price found on the web) that 8 of the LENRDs will run you about $280. That's 16 linear feet of corner covered with about 17 or 18" IIRC of surface area so about 24 Sq Ft so about $11.70 per square foot.

Compare to 12 pcs of 703 cut into triangles to make a solid chunk with a 2' exposed face. Those 12 pcs will give you 32 sq ft and be thicker at their deepest and reach deeper down into the bass. The 703 can be purchased for about $200 including shipping depending on where you are and if you can get it locally. That works out to about $6.25/Sq Ft.

Now granted, the Auralex is a 'finished' solution that you can hang directly out of the box. That convenience is worth something. If you want a non-DIY solution, the new GIK Tri-Traps offer the larger surface area and thicker depth coupled with a denser core in a nice looking cloth covered finished absorber that is putting up some impressive numbers.

Compare the 3 solutions in terms of price but also in terms of Sabines absorbed per dollar spent - not just coefficients per unit area.

[fraserhutch]

I happily use Auralex on my walls, but I also built bass traps and made foam panels from from 703. I would not use Auralex alone, but it is decent at what it does (which is NOT bass traps...)