Grid wall panels in Lake behind a sofa in a lounge area

Panel AcousticsField notes

Home theatres and man caves

1 min readFig. 01 — Grid wall panels in Lake behind a sofa in a lounge area

Better sound from the speakers you already own. That's what this does.

Why the room matters as much as the gear

In a hard room, sound arrives at your ears twice. Once from the speaker, then again a fraction later off the walls, floor and ceiling. Those reflections smear the detail. Dialogue gets muddy, bass gets boomy, and you turn it up to compensate.

What treating the room does

Our panels absorb sound instead of reflecting it, rated NRC 0.85. Put them on the side walls, the back wall and the ceiling and those reflections stop coming back at you. Dialogue clears up. Music tightens. You'll often find you watch at a lower volume than before, because you're hearing more.

The cinema look

Dark colours do most of the work here, because they stop the screen light bouncing around the room. Coal, Char, Flint and Truffle are the usual picks. Mix 12mm and 24mm panels so the wall has depth and a shadow line, or run a single dark tone floor to ceiling for a proper cinema feel. Moss and Ember make good accent walls if you want some warmth in a bar area.

Layouts that work

Wall panels are the backbone. Ceiling panels and tiles handle the reflection off the ceiling, which most people forget. Hanging screens suit a room with a high or raked ceiling. Wrap screens are handy for a bar nook or a corner off the main seating.

The details

Australian made from PET felt. Group 1 fire rating under AS 5637.1. Hard wearing, doesn't fray when cut, and covered by a 10 year warranty.

Tell us your room dimensions and where the speakers and screen sit, and we'll put a layout and a quote together. Freight and installation are quoted separately.