If you want to equip in an apartment or cottage home theater or a music studio, pay attention to such a finishing material as acoustic panels.
Photo: Home Cinema Hall
Correctly choosing the type of panels and the installation method, you will achieve the optimal sound and music sound, and the soundproofing layer hidden behind the panels will provide silence in the neighboring rooms.
When operating an audio-reproducing equipment in a small room, sound waves are repeatedly reflected from the walls and the ceiling. This slowly pluming echo distorts the main sound coming from the source. Acoustic panels help much reduce interference intensity.
Types of panels
There are several varieties of panels that differ in acoustic properties, appearance, price and installation method.Solid perforated material
This material is a plasterboard sheets or MDF plates with rows of small, sometimes almost invisible holes of holes (metal perforated panels we do not consider, as they are very specific and in properties, and in design). The effect of noise absorption is achieved due to the dispersion of the sound wave during passage through these holes; It will not feel if the panel is installed with a small (from 20 mm) referring to the wall or ceiling. The design copes with interference of different frequencies - depending on the value of the one, such as the panel and the presence or lack of a layer of mineral wool.
Acoustic plasterboard is in the range of companies Knauf and Saint-Gobain Gyproc; The material requires coating with breathable paints. The panels from MDF (for example, LETO products) in the finish do not need - they are laminated or veneered with veneer during production.
Method of installation
Perforated wall panels are attached to the doom of metal profiles or wooden plates (most experts believe that the second option is preferable). To achieve a higher result, the bars should be mounted using special vibration-fixing fasteners (for example, the SoundGuard brand). The ceiling is collected by a lattice frame from metal profiles or wooden bars - self-supporting (with small room dimensions) or on the suspension.
Acoustic panels are needed not only for the arrangement of cinemas and studios. They will be useful in children's, living room, attic, billiard room, studio apartment. Thanks to the ability of the panels to absorb and dispel the sound, the silence of indoors is created not only, but also increases the intelligibility of speech, which allows you to comfortably communicate family members and their guests. Many acoustic materials are perfectly integrated into space and do not violate the intended design. So, sheets based on gypsum can be bend and painted, that is, to give them the desired shape and color on the walls or ceilings.
Natalia Sukhinina
Product Manager on Knauf Gypsum Acoustic Systems
Photo: Audimute SoundProofing
Fibrous decorative panels
Such panels represented by Ecophon, Jocavi, Rockfon products, etc., 15-30 mm thick are mainly designed to finish the ceiling. The base of the material is an extruded glass or stone fiber, and a viscose fabric or painted glass cholester acts as a decorative coating. The density of the panels does not exceed 80 kg / m3, their structure provides a plurality of open pores serving sound traps. Fiberglass panels are effective at all audible frequencies, the cost of finishing - from 600 rubles. for 1 m2.Method of installation
Ceiling panels are usually mounted using a metal lattice frame of an open or closed type. In small rooms, it is fixed only to the walls, but more often "tied" to the ceiling plate - for this it is adjustable suspensions with a vibration-breaking insert. The larger thickness panels (from 30 mm) are used as freely hanging elements or vertical screens on the stands. Unlike stationary, such mobile noise absorbers allow multiple "reconfigure" the acoustics of the room repeatedly, however, it is necessary to take into account that the windows of the screens create an interference to move.
The complex of work on home theater arrangement includes not only the optimization of acoustics, but also sound insulation of the room. To block the sounds outside the room, where loudspeakers are located, under plasterboard or other trim (between frame racks) and over a suspended acoustic ceiling, a layer of special noise absorbing material should be placed. One of the best options is special stone wool plates. At the same time, to avoid losses of the area and lowering the ceiling will help the new material "Acoustic ultra-thin", the thickness of which is only 27 mm.
Nikita Ivanishchev
Specialist of Rockwool.
Sound-absorbing panels from foam rubber (elastic polyurethane foam)Such panels with a tissue coating and without it have a significant thickness (up to 50 mm), have a low density and a small value of the dynamic modulus of elasticity. The sound wave, faced with such an obstacle, loses energy, and the echo quickly fades, and the material perfectly copes with low-frequency noise. The interior foam panels are worth 500 rubles. for 1 m2.
Method of installation
Products made of polyurethane foam are glued to walls and ceiling with special compositions that are sold with panels. The adhesive method is simple, not associated with noisy processes and allows minimizing the loss of useful area.
Relief acoustic panels without perforation are made of MDF, polystyrene, extruded fibers, foam rubber. Due to the irregularities and increased surface area, they more effectively crush and quench the sound wave. Apply foam and fiberglass products of this type follows with caution: there is a risk too much to muffle the sound. Mount the embossed panels as well as flat, from the same materials.
Multilayer products are a combination of porous plates (from glass, wood, cellulose fiber) and solid perforated cladding (made of laminated or veneered MDF veneer). This is the most expensive acoustic material, its price is from 1200 rubles. for 1 m2. Multi-layer panels on a wooden doom or ceiling frame.
Panels from laminated MDF with perforation. Photo: Deluxen.
Panbone panels covered with cloth. Photo: West General
Panels made of extruded fiberglass. Photo: Ecophon.
Acoustic characteristics of plasterboard and MDF panels depend on the type of perforation. The more often the holes are located, the stronger the noise absorption; The combination of different holes ensures the effectiveness of the panel in a wide range. Photo: Saint-Gobain Gyproc
Often to improve acoustics, it is enough to entertain only one wall with a special material. Photo: Audimute SoundProofing
At the same time, the maximum effect allows panels with a soft porous and fibrous filler. Photo: Woodnotes.
Some products are supplied with an adhesive strip for quick mounting. Photo: Audimute SoundProofing
Panels consisting of two and three layers of noise absorbing material not only improve indoor acoustics, but also perfectly isolate sound. Photo: Acoustical Solutions
Relief plates are often mounted behind speakers or other sound sources to fully repay the secondary echo, reflected from the opposite wall. In this case, the interference disappears, and the sound retains the size. Photo: Acoustic Foam
Photo: Acoustic Foam
Photo: West General
Characteristics of acoustic panels
| Name | Knauf-acoustics | Gyptone Big Line | Heradesign Superfine | Mappysil 360. | TagInterio. | Leto. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material | Perforated GLC | Perforated GLCs | Porous chipboard | Polyurene Foolder | MDF with microporphoration | Perforated MDF + viscose fiber |
| Sizes (width × Length × × Thickness), mm | 1200 × 2000 × 12.5 | 1200 × 2400 × 12.5 | 600 × 600 × 15 | 1000 × 1000 × 70 | Width and height vary, thickness 20 | Width and height vary, thickness 20 |
| Sound absorption index αw. | 0,7 | 0,6 | 0.8. | 0.95 | 0,68. | 0.75 |
| Price, rub. / M2 | From 620. | From 800. | 2200. | 2400. | 2900-3800 * | From 3500. |
* Depending on the finish (options - color, laminate, natural veneer).
On a note
When mounting a frame under the skin with acoustic panels (A, B), special attachments (B) and rubber washers should be used (D), quenching vibration. The framework elements requires a special ribbon from the modified rubber (g). If you use standard drywall technology, the design can rattling.
(a) Photo: Vladimir Grigoriev / Burda Media
(b) photo: Vladimir Grigoriev / Burda Media
(c) Photo: Sound Guard
(D) Photo: Sound Guard
(e) Photo: Sound Guard
