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Author Topic: IKEA furniture acoustic tweaking: wouldn't it be nice?  (Read 4574 times)

tomcolliva

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IKEA furniture acoustic tweaking: wouldn't it be nice?
« on: November 01, 2006, 12:15:17 PM »

I have always been interested in tweaking ready made stuff and I was thinkin about bass traps the other day...

Wouldn't it be nice to have something to mod and use it as a bass trap?

Will this footstoll ( http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay ?topcategoryId=15585&catalogId=10103&storeId=12& productId=74380&langId=-1&categoryId=16110&chose nPartNumber=60109318) work as a bass trap if filled with a good amount of fibreglass and put in the corner of the room?

TC
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Teddy G.

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Re: IKEA furniture acoustic tweaking: wouldn't it be nice?
« Reply #1 on: November 01, 2006, 11:39:33 PM »

It'll work all by itself, sucking-up some frequencies, to some degree. But, what frequencies, to what degree?

Most bass traps of which I read are not just something stuffed with anything(Yes, I see the foam ones, but I am not a "believer".). Foam or fiberglass - even a couple cubic feet of same, just aren't enough to do much dampening of bass... The experts seem to say that one must, at least, cover alot more "territory" than the stools would(Maybe if you stack them all the way to the ceiling in each corner??? -- DON'T LAUGH! It's been done! Maybe not with stools?). Still and all, this sort of thing may help, to some degree..? NO!!! WILL HELP!!! Though any improvement may be too slight to notice??? Frankly, I'm not sure how well it would work if you covered every square inch of every wall in the room? Still not with low bass, and you'd have alot smaller room..!(IKea would be glad to have you try, though!) I think it would be better to cut the stools in half, diagonally, so they wouldn't stick-out into the room so much? One, for sure, good thing is that you won't be able to(When playing low frequency tones in the room) actually be ABLE to stick your head in the corner occupied by the stool, to hear if "bass build-up" is still there!  Hear no evil, hear no evil, I always say......

Yes, I'm being silly, but, no, I don't think it would "work". It would cost you what, $150 bucks to try, including 4 stools, a trip to Ikea, a trip to Lowes? A "real", store-bought, basstrap is several hundred bucks and you'd need many of them, too, to make much difference. Try it. At least when someone has to be sent to their corner, they'll have a place to sit. Also, while at Lowe's, pick up some nice Poplar and build some bookshelves for your books, it'll help, some... Maybe Ikea(Though I doubt it?) has a very heavy sofa, you could put in your room, along the back wall? Maybe the Goodwill? Much mass, Much density(Too much needed to stuff enough in our rooms!), is needed. Some way of "fooling" the bass(Like the bass trap builders try to do), is likely best. There are plans on the web for such, your $150 may buy enough materials to get a start.


Try it, let us know......

TG
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Ethan Winer

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Re: IKEA furniture acoustic tweaking: wouldn't it be nice?
« Reply #2 on: November 02, 2006, 01:52:52 PM »

Tom,

> Will this footstoll work as a bass trap if filled with a good amount of fibreglass and put in the corner of the room? <

It's impossible to know because they don't say what it's made of. If it's wood it will not work. If it's fabric only it might. But it's not very big, and that's the biggest problem.

--Ethan

jetbase

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Re: IKEA furniture acoustic tweaking: wouldn't it be nice?
« Reply #3 on: November 02, 2006, 04:59:16 PM »

i friend of mine talked about using large cardboard tubes as bass traps. like a toilet roll only many times bigger, on an industrial sized scale. he said you leave the ends open & stuff the centre with absorbant material. like a homemade tube trap i guess. i can't comment on how well it works, but it's probably a better chance than the footstool.
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tomcolliva

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Re: IKEA furniture acoustic tweaking: wouldn't it be nice?
« Reply #4 on: November 02, 2006, 06:26:58 PM »

ok,

gotcha

TC
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franman

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Re: IKEA furniture acoustic tweaking: wouldn't it be nice?
« Reply #5 on: November 03, 2006, 11:28:57 PM »

tuff crowd, eh TC Very Happy
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Teddy G.

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Re: IKEA furniture acoustic tweaking: wouldn't it be nice?
« Reply #6 on: November 04, 2006, 06:14:10 PM »

I've seen some of the rooms you've designed, Fran(On your web site, anyway...sigh...). Somehow, "Ikea stool stuffed with fiberglass" did not come to mind.....?

Not to do a great big advertising thing, here, but if you haven't seen Frans' site, you really must...... Outstanding!

In MY room, Hefty bags stuffed with used cat litter, in each corner, is the best I've done, so far... A definite sonic improvement! ...The other senses..? ...Not so much... Again --- sigh...


Back to the drawing board,

TG

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Ethan Winer

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Re: IKEA furniture acoustic tweaking: wouldn't it be nice?
« Reply #7 on: November 05, 2006, 11:56:26 AM »

Teddy,

> In MY room, Hefty bags stuffed with used cat litter, in each corner <

ROFL.

Check out this photo from a recent high-end audio show, especially the "tri-corner bass traps" at the top of the photo:

Show Report

This just shows how little respect acoustics and room treatment really get. Then again, at least they did something to try to make their speakers and other overpriced gear sound decent.

--Ethan

franman

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Re: IKEA furniture acoustic tweaking: wouldn't it be nice?
« Reply #8 on: November 05, 2006, 02:22:56 PM »

nice traps!! (in the photo)... I've certainly done worse while experimenting in some home environments!!


thanks for the kind comments TG...
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Teddy G.

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Re: IKEA furniture acoustic tweaking: wouldn't it be nice?
« Reply #9 on: November 06, 2006, 12:37:50 PM »

Oh man... After a long weekend(Spent it trying to help teach a "technician class" ham license course - All 6 students passed! Cool!), I got a laugh out of the picture!!! HA HA HA! Surely this was a joke!

No. Probably not.(Oh, I'm coughing.....! Oooohhhhahaooh...)

It's the darned computer! How many times has someone told you, "Gee, why do I have to spend so much on a sound card?" -- when their computer cost a couple of grand and their video monitor and fancy video card(Which they seem to understand???) cost a grand or more all by itself..? How much do they spend on their "Steve Vai" model guitar? But they want "Major Record Company" sound with an audio interface(Including mic pre's and headphone amp!) that cost $199.00.....

And, they want to do it all in their basement "rec room" with bare cement block walls.

Getting people to take this "room thing" seriously is tough, I guess because there are no pictures of "Rooms & Recording Spaces"(Sort lowest to highest price? Alphabetically? By size?) in the Sweetwater catalog?((Yes, I'm taking a "stand" here, completely ignoring the pictures of "where to glue your pieces of foam packing material up in your spare bedroom" - just $99 per box, your choice of colors, including glue.))

Me? I think its good. I don't WANT everyone to know how to do this stuff. Let them spend lots of money buying gear(So I can buy what I want CHEAP!), let them try it, not like it and let it collect dust. Fine with me. I don't need the competition.

TG
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