ATS Acoustic Panel 24x48x2, Fire Rated, Square Edge (Platinum)

I'm using a relatively small spare bedroom as home gym and recently picked up my audio listening passion again. Due to lack of space in the living room or pretty much anywhere else in the home, this room will now take on double duty as home gym and also hifi listening room. I have a vintage Onkyo amp and separate pre-amp (M-504, P-304) and after 40 years, treated myself to new speakers from Monitor Audio, the Silver 500 7g. I built my first speakers together with my father in the 1980's but found them a bit harsh in the mid and upper frequencies in this room. So I had enormous, if perhaps unrealistic expectations on how these high-end MA's would sound, but I was ultimately disappointed because the sound was muddled with lots of resonances and boomy bass. Mids where all over the place and voices had no center stage placement whatsoever. Basically the entire sound stage was a big mess. Now here is the thing, when you clap your hands in the room, you hear it echo and bounce off the walls, ceiling and floor, so I knew I had to do something about room treatment, after all, the room is bare with just some thin curtains and nothing else. Well, it's a gym, what else to expect? So I did a lot of reading and mostly Youtube university tutorials about creating listening rooms. There are many options on Amazon, especially the affordable and cool looking wall treatment that doubles as art work and sound dampening. Mostly these cheaper options would not help with a muffled sound with boomy bass. Lower frequencies are not attenuated by thin foam solutions. The thicker ones (2 inches for example) were quite expensive but I decided to pick up 4 of these boards and started experimenting with placement, before finalizing the speaker and panel setup. I made recording with my cellphone in a perfect triangle position with the speakers, before and after adding the boards and the difference in sound quality and instrument / voice placement was amazing. Also clapping my hands no longer resulted in echo, but rather a dry clap with minimal reflections. The resulting impact on music was that the boomy bass now sounded dryer and more defined. Lower mids now had substance and actual placement in the sound stage and were no longer muddled. Highs now had definition and also a much better position in the sound stage and the echo was gone here as well. So you could say that I'm really impressed with the difference these panels have made to the audio experience in my specific listening room. It is still a work in progress and I still need to optimize speaker and panel placement and probably install some panels in the back of the room where I'm sitting as well, including some ceiling treatment. I also ordered a set of thin (0.4") foam tiles but to my ear these don't do too much at all, so I will probably end up buying 4 more of these panels to further improve room accoustics. Music listening and setting up a listening space is a journey, lots of experimenting and fun within my specific budget. I can only say that I have been pleasantly surprised with how good my new speakers can sound after making improvements to room treatment. Based on my personal experience, two thumbs up. It also helps that these panels feel like quality products, have a good heft to them and quality fabric.

Product as advertised. Immediate impact toward dealing with shouty reflected sounds at the listening seat.

Noticeable and positive difference in my theater room. I upgraded from foam blocks that were OK at best. Worth it!

Well made and attractive enough to put in my living room. They absorb sound well.