Acoustic Panels with Printed Images

[RevMen]

Very high potential WAF, as well as great acoustical properties.

http://www.audimutesoundproofing.co...oustic-wall-panels-acoustic-office-panel.aspx

DIY panels that come with images printed on them that you choose. If you were crafty you could even put these in a picture frame.

 

[Machineghost]

Nice!

 

[eteller]

Sweet and not really all that pricey either.

 

[cragus]

I wonder if you could do this somewhat DIY by ordering a photo print on canvas like some places offer. If you are a photographer and have some cool photos, maybe you could do it on your own if you were so inclined or if you wanted different size options. Possibly trick wifey into thinking they were just cool pics on the wall...

http://www.bayphoto.com/catalog/canvas_loose.htm

 

[thedelihaus]

Excellent product and idea.

I've done some silkscreen custom prints on large canvasses stretched on wood frames. It's been years....

 

[dread31]

Sweet and not really all that pricey either.

2x2 for $125, not "pricey"? I've been making my own for far and away less than that. Admittedly, mine have no pretty pictures on them.

They are nice, though.

Dave

 

[thedelihaus]

2x2 for $125, not "pricey"? I've been making my own for far and away less than that. Admittedly, mine have no pretty pictures on them.

They are nice, though.

Dave

I understand your point, but will counter with-

for the man who is unskilled, or has limited time, but somewhat healthy pockets, here's a way to easily please the wife/partner AND improve his/her sound playback in one deft move.

For the creative type or folk who like to get their hands dirty, it's cheap to do 'em yourself, sans picture.

Add the picture, and pricing does go up- but it's still doable.

 

[dumptruck]

I don't think you're gonna find a DIY method to do this cheaper (with picture). Canvas prints are sealed, and not that cheap anyway. You'd have to find just right fabric to get these bold results, and find someone with one of these very expensive digital fabric printers to do a small run for you ($$$). A regular screen printer could do it, but it would also be very expensive and they would half to be willing to burn through a lot of screens getting the full-color process to come out well on sheer, and probably a few different ink mixes too. You'd probably already be over the prices from these guys, and you'd still have to get materials for the rest of the thing.

That said, you CAN get sheer fabric, an appropriate screen printing ink for the fabric type, and probably some thinner for that ink, and hand-paint or screen it yourself with designs of one or a few colors. How bright it comes out will depend on the fabric and the material behind it, but you'd want to plan on something dim looking. That would be cheap.

 

[Arkay]

Those remind me of the old Bertagni panels. JVC (I think it was...?) released a line of Bertagni-made wall-mounted speaker panels with nice wooden frames on them; they looked like framed art-work you'd hang on the wall of a nice den/office.

I almost bought a pair a couple months ago, to hang in our new apartment and keep the wife happy... until I found that one of the styro panels had a crack in it. You cannot easily restore them; gluing the panels back changes their acoustic response, and replacing them is very difficult for a DIY project. I passed on that pair, but wouldn't mind grabbing the next pair, if they aren't damaged.

The interesting thing with this kind of approach is that --if you choose your own cloth covers-- you can make wall-treatment panels (diffractors and absorbers and even bass traps) look like a matched set with your speakers. You could even sweeten up the high end with ribbons hidden behind matching panels. They can appear to be decorative panels only, but turn out to have another function. Done well, they could even sound good (although typically you'll need bass reinforcement in the form of subwoofers).