Released on = December 5, 2006, 6:44 am

Press Release Author = David Ingersoll

Industry = Electronics

Press Release Summary = Sonex acoustical foam offers sound absorption, room
reinforcement, and noise reduction solutions for home theaters, recording studios,
listening rooms and more.

Press Release Body = The goal of acoustical treatment is to eliminate problems from
parallel hard surfaces that reflect sound waves. Although architectural solutions
such as concave or angled walls can help in reducing acoustical problems, a more
practical and cost-effective solution is to treat existing room surfaces with sound
absorbing materials, such as Sonex Acoustical Foam.
In what problem areas is Sonex acoustical foam effective? Sonex foams offer sound
absorption, room reinforcement, noise reduction solutions for home theaters,
recording studios, listening rooms and more. After properly installing Sonex
acoustical foam you will experience the following benefits; reduction of slap echo,
lowering of noise levels, suppression of room flexure, elimination of standing
waves, reduction of near-field reflections and smoothing of frequency response.
Why not use acoustical ceiling tiles or cork? The answer lies in frequency
selectivity. While all materials absorb at some frequencies better than others do,
very few products have controlled selectivity. Most materials have sharply rising
and falling sound absorption patterns that change abruptly. Sonex acoustical foam,
on the other hand, is almost totally absorptive over a wide range of frequencies.
Simply put, there is no other material that offers all of the advantages of
acoustical foam.
The excellent sound absorbing qualities of Sonex acoustical foam makes it perfect
for reducing ambient noise levels in your listening room. It will keep obtrusive and
unwanted noise problems to a minimum. Low-level musical passages become more
realistic and easier to hear. Benefits to the listener include better clarity and
increased dynamic range.
Slap echo is defined as mid to high frequency, long duration reflective information
caused by sharp transient signals reflecting off of hard parallel surfaces. Clapping
your hands together in a live room environment can easily identify slap echo. The
frequency and duration of the effect will vary from place to place within the room,
depending on the listener\'s location to the reflective surface areas. Slap echo
problems cause smearing of high frequency information due to reflective delays. Slap
echo tends make a live room sound louder to a listener than the actual sound level
of the music. Higher sound pressure levels will become irritating and obtrusive to
the listener. Sonex acoustical foam can minimize these slap echo problems. Benefits
to the listener include - reduction of hardness, louder playing levels and increased
clarity.
While slap echoeffects are caused by parallel surfaces far away from the listener,
near field reflection problems are caused by hard surfaces situated close to the
listening area. These reflections cause a smearing of the sound and confuse imaging
and other location information. Sonex acoustical foam can isolate the listener from
these reflections by absorbing them completely. Benefits to the listener include
better imaging and the elimination of \"edginess\".
Most rooms act as resonators or sounding boards. The walls, floor and ceiling act in
similar fashion to that of a drumhead, sending resonated frequencies back to the
listener. The density, volume and stiffness of a wall will cause every wall to
reverberate at a different frequency. The majority of these flexures are at a lower
frequencies resulting in the reinforcement of bass fundamentals. This leads to an
imbalance in frequency response. Nor are these resonances of a musical nature.
Rather, they contribute a boomy, bass-heavy quality to the sound. This is especially
true with speakers that have extended low frequency capabilities. When applied to
your walls Sonex acoustical foam can eliminate a great deal of room flexure problems
by both absorbing sound waves before they reach the wall and by acting as a damper
to shorten and quiet resonating wall movements. Benefits to the listener include
smoother frequency response, crisper, more taut bass fundamentals and reduction of
feedback.
A common problem with any enclosed space is standing waves. Every frequency has its
own wavelength. Higher frequencies have wavelengths that are only inches long, while
lower frequencies have wavelengths that can run many, many feet long. In simple
terms, standing waves are propagated when a certain wavelength coincides with a room
boundary. Rather than reflect, the wave \"stands\" causing an imbalance in frequency
response. A standing wave will reinforce certain frequencies and cancel out others.
A spectrum analyzer will show a standing wave as a sharp hump or glitch in frequency
response, which will disappear as the analyzer is moved a foot or two forward or
backwards. The installation of Sonex acoustical foam can remove many standing waves
and when placed properly can help to eliminate standing waves at very low
frequencies. Benefits to the listener include smoother frequency response and taming
of heavy bass fundamentals.


Web Site = http://www.acousticalsolutions.com

Contact Details = Dave Ingersoll
Acoustical Solutions
800 782-5742
804 346-8808
info@acousticalsolutions.com