Audio Video News

After you've spent your life savings on electronics and furnishings, are you still unhappy with the sound of your home theater? Perhaps you should have budgeted a little something for room treatment.

Room acoustics are often the last frontier in home theater. Problems can vary from excessive brightness to muddy midrange to boomy bass. Some of these problems can be corrected electronically, or with the judicious placement of furniture, rugs and drapes, but real acoustic perfection requires purpose-built room treatments---like those made by EchoBusters.

The Deer Park, NY-based acoustical treatment specialist has a product for every problem. For treating large reflective surfaces, such as sheetrock walls and ceilings, EchoBusters' lightweight standard absorption panels can be hung on the wall, attached to the ceiling, or positioned free-standing on the floor, with the use of the optional bases. "EchoBusters are specifically designed to absorb the echoes, reverberations and distortions which smear the soundstage your speakers are trying to recreate," the company explains. "In reducing reflected sound, a quieter and more revealing listening environment will be created." Couldn't be simpler, could it?

Some acoustic problems are more complicated than mere reflections. This is where the "Double Buster" comes in handy---a panel with both absorbent and diffusive characteristics. The absorbent section of the panel soaks up reverberant sound, and the diffuser scatters and redirects it. The combination greatly accentuates the focal abilities of your loudspeakers, making sound effects appear much more localized. Think of it as taking sonic realism to the next level.

Bass problems are also extremely common in home theater systems. Standing waves, caused by rectangular room shapes and even-order dimensions, can reinforce some frequencies while causing suckouts at others. The company's Bass Busters---either cylindrical for freestanding placement, or quarter-cylindrical for corner placement---are specifically designed to smooth out the bass response in even the most problematic rooms. This sort of smoothing process not only gives low-frequency content more impact, but improves the intelligibility of the mids and highs, too. Bass Busters come in 4-, 5- and 6-foot heights.

All EchoBusters products are available in a variety of colors and fabrics to complement almost any décor. They can also be covered with the fabrics of your choice.