OK - Jon Risch - Tweakers' Asylum

RE #1, This advice is my weakest portion of my response. I am not a carpet expert, but I checked with one of my buddies who has some knowledge of the carpet issues. He recommends against the PP, due to static problems, apparently, even when treated, they tend to get static build-up more easily than any other carpet. This is essentially indoor/outdoor carpet, not too good looking and feels terrible.

You are correct about the wool, too expensive and can get funky smelling if it get's wet or humid.
The nylon seems to be the best bet, WITH the anti-static treatment for sure.

RE #2, it is hard to "over-trap" a room, especially in the corners, and what you propose should be just fine. About the R-value, I recommend a minimum bag diameter of 12-14", and it seems the packaging often has the same basic "volume" of fiberglass, just in thinner roll layers or not. The smaller R values with the kraft paper will absorb slightly more deep bass than the larger R values with the backing, since there is basically more paper per rolled up bundle.

RE #3, stacks that tall should have some kind of support, whether it is animal fencing as an outer shell, or shelf-like supports, etc. It may need to be strapped to the corner wall/s to make sure it won't fall over.

RE #4, a simple "curtain" of burlap is OK, but realize that the whole idea with the burlap was that it didn't absorb that much of the mids or highs, so don't count on it doint that job very well. I recommend wrapping the fiberglass bags with a single layer of hi-loft polyester batting, this can then be hidden by the burlap (or speaker grille cloth).

RE #5, six feet of side wall absorber may be a bit much, but that depends on the overall room size. With your size room, it may work out just fine.

About the front wall and the rear wall, first, if I understand correctly, the rear wall will have the metal and glass doors behind the listener, and you said covered by heavy drapes for listening. So you have SOME absorption on the rear wall, but not a good type and amount for such a hard surface. You may want to consider either some sort of portable diffuser to place between the listening position and the doors, such as DIY Room Lens, and/or some bass traps in the rear corners.

The front wall (where I presume you will place the speakers), may want to have some bass traps, and here some portable stand-alone ones would be best so you can tinker with their placement. Some time one each directly behind the speakers works best, other times, the room being so large, one placed in the middle up against the wall, other times at the 1/3 points along the front wall, etc.

While you have your carpenter handy, see if he can't make up some sort of frames for the SQ&E traps to make thenm self-contained/portable. As I said earlier, either animal fencing on a wooden frame, or some sort of wooden frame wrk with enough ribs to hold the bags in nicely, and the bags just placed inside, and the frame and wires covered with polyester batting and then burlap. I would have at least 3 or 4 made, and two more if you don't put permanent ones in the rear corners, so you have them if needed.

For these, you can then put the limp material (thin plastic sheet) on one side, and cover with burlap so the traps are tunable by rotation, just as the original ASC traps are.

Good luck with your project!
Jon Risch

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