At the Home Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Illinois High-End Audio/Video dealer, Ultimate Audio Video and acoustic design consultants, Rives Audio have collaborated to produce a powerful example of the importance of room treatments. Assembling two identical systems of high-end two-channel audio gear in two nearly identical rooms, one room is left "naked" and one is treated with sound diffusion and absorption products from Real Traps, with additional room treatments from RPG, Inc.

The effect was not subtle. Listening first to a 10-minute sample loop CD with music from a variety of genres in the untreated room, I enjoyed the sound of the gear, with good resolution of harmonics, a balanced frequency blend and a nice sense of space and depth.

However, moving next door to the treated room was a real ear-opening experience. Bass frequencies which had been subtly absent in the previous room were now present in the treated room and overall bass extension seemed to descend by at least an octave. Also, the image and soundstage which had not seemed smeared in the previous room now locked into focus. The music just attained a deeper feeling of three-dimensionality in the treated room as opposed to the untreated room.

Who'd have thunk that simple room treatments (pictured in corner and behind the speaker) could make such a difference?

RPG's QRD® Diffusor panel.

Considering the fact that each system was comprised of approximately $62,000 worth of electronics, cables and stands, the addition of $5900 of room treatments represents less than a 10% additional upgrade in system cost, with a significant return.

In each room were the Rockport Mira loudspeakers ($13,500), Gryphon Diablo integrated amplifier ($12,000), Gryphon Mikado CD player ($13,800), Kubala-Sosna Emotion interconnect (1.5 meter: $3,100), speaker cable (2.5 meter: $3,900) and power cord (2 meter: $1200), with all gear sitting happily on a Harmonic Resolution Systems MXR Rack System, MXR-1921 ($14,995).

In the treated room, Rives Audio Room Design had added 2 each of the Real Traps Corner Mondo Trap ($349.99/each) and Tri-Corner Bass Trap ($249.99/each), totalling approximately $1200. RPG products came in at around $4700 retail, and included: 4'x2'x9" diffractal broadband diffusers in American cherry (2), 2'x2'x9" QRD midband diffusers in white birch (6), 2'x2'x1" BAD panel hybrid diffusers in a standard fabric (10).

Any audiophile or home theater fan building his or her own system (or paying someone to build a system for them), definitely needs to explore the possibilities of room treatments as their improvements, particularly in bass definition and extension, are worth the investment.


Note: updated on 6/5/06 with RPG materials and costs