Acoustics In A Box™ Systems for Churches, Presentation Halls and Theaters
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Churches, presentation halls and theaters are generally used for vocal and/or music presentations addressing an audience. Both vocal and music presentations often require better acoustics than the room may have been designed to provide, and the most common problem is too long a reverberation time making the speaker difficult to understand and the music unclear and confused-sounding. Such poor acoustics can be the result of poor initial design of the room, remodeling that changed the fundamental acoustics of the room, or kinds of presentations now being of a different sort than planned for in the original design. (For more on the problem of excessive reverberation, see our White Paper.)
Whatever the cause of the poor acoustics, the addition of Acoustics In A Box™ sound absorber panels, properly mounted using the patented black hole™ mounting system, can greatly improve the sound quality by shortening the reverberation time of virtually any room. In general, the more panels installed, the shorter will be the reverberation time of the room and the better it will sound.
In churches, presentation halls and theaters, Acoustics In A Box™ panels are generally installed on the walls using side sloping, vertically oriented panels spaced about 2-8 feet apart on the two side walls, with down sloping panels installed with similar spacing on the rear wall. If the room is especially "boomy" with heavy reverberation in the low frequencies, additional down sloping panels can be installed on the two sidewalls between the side sloping panels, to provide effective bass traps that will go a long way toward curing the boominess of the room.
The Acoustics In A Box™ system is quite simple to use, by design. The black hole mounts are attached to the wall or ceiling using drywall screws or adhesive, and the panels then install onto tabs on the mounts. Ideally, a 14' x 20' room would call for 8 panels, a room that would seat 25 people would need about 16 panels, one that would accommodate 50 people would need about 24 panels, and beyond that, a good starting place would be about 8 more panels for each additional 50 seats.
In most rooms you will find natural limits to the number of panels you can install due to conflicts with doors, windows, artworks and other decorations and furniture. Accordingly, the most effective way to begin is to examine your room and identify the number of places you have where the 2' x 4' panels can be installed. The panels should be mounted so that the bottom of the panels are at about 6-7 feet above the floor, or if the room is not tall enought to accommodate this position, then mount the panels about 6 inches down from the ceiling. If you need more panels than you have room for, you can substitute horizontal mount panels which you may be able to install above doorways or windows, and you may also be able to install some additional panels on the ceiling.
If after considering these general principles, you simply do not have enough spaces where you can install panels, you will get better results by choosing the 2" thick panels instead of the 1" standard panels. The 2" panels are about 25% more effective in absorbing sound across the audible spectrum, at about 25% greater cost, so they offer a significant improvement potential for those with limited wall or ceiling space to work with. The 2" thick panels are also highly recommended if you have a lot of boominess to contend with as they offer greater bass frequency sound absorption.
Though most churches, presentation halls and theaters do not have accessible ceiling locations, if you do have a hard surface flat ceiling, installing additional panels on the ceiling can provide considerable reduction in the reverberation time of your room.
See some small room configurations to help visualize a typical Acoustics In A Box™ installation. For your room, the configuration will almost certainly be drastically different, but these sketches may help.
To order, please choose the components you need here, then send us an email: or give us a call to place your order: 1-918-478-5500
Or, if you have more questions or need suggestions, please provide us with the following information and we will respond with a recommendation and a quote:
- Room purpose (vocal presentation, music presentation, group meetings, other (please specify))
- Description of the acoustic problem you are trying to remedy.
- Room dimensions (length, width, ceiling height)
- Ceiling type (hard surface, acoustic tile, cathedral)
- Seating capacity of the room