Of course there‘s always stuff that works better. However, the two bass traps I already have, which have a gap behind them (EQ Acoustics L10C), have actually had little effect. And I compared the manufacturers' measurement data and the GIK Tri-Traps seemed to me to have the best effect for the price. As a hobby musician, I simply can't justify spending tens of thousands on absorbers. It has to stay within reasonable limits somehow. I have now invested 1000 euros in the new, additional panels. What really annoys me about buying acoustic measures is the negativity that surrounds the subject. No matter what you do, you never really have the feeling that you can enjoy it, because it never seems to be good enough. And there are always people who tell you that everything is wrong and that the measures you've taken are crap anyway (not directed at you, Ed. You've been really helpful!).
You bought good, well made stuff that will absolutely help your room, and it’s within your budget, matches the aesthetics you want etc. GIK are also fast, reliable, flexible, courteous. Their stuff isn’t cheap but for the money you get good products and good service, so it’s worth it. There’s lots of considerations to make and factor in. From the measurements and photos you posted, broadband absorption is absolutely the thing you need so you should get pretty noticeable improvements instantly.
Generally speaking (unfortunately) it’s a topic with so much conflicting and bad information about online, coupled with there being a HUGE amount of snake oil products being sold that do either nothing at all, or even make things worse. If you go on a generic music store website and look at their acoustic products, it’s things like foam triangles, and 5cm panels and things like that. Most commercial products called “bass trap” will not do anything at all to the bass. It’s a topic that companies can take advantage of the fact that the customer doesn’t really know what they’re doing, and are promised “if you buy this, all your problems will go away and your dreams will come true”. I had a friend who worked for one of the bigger online studio stores here (which now doesn’t exist), and that was the sort of thing that was always drummed into them. All of their treatment was essentially junk as far as a studio goes. Musicians are targeted constantly with sales and advertising, it can be very difficult to judge or know when something is genuinely what they promise. GIK products are good, well made, use proper materials, and their employees are helpful. I wouldn’t personally put too much stock in their data and diagrams - many use some weird and uncommon data along their axes that is hard to gauge much from, and it’s even harder to predict how they’ll actually perform in your own space. And as much as I like their service of helping you work out what treatment you need (I’ve used it before), it’s worth remembering that ultimately they want to sell you their products. It’s obviously best for them to sell you products that help you and keep a good relationship, but their business is making and selling acoustic products. I see other companies who make good panels, and in their product videos they’re demonstrating the effectiveness of 4-6” panels by clapping, as if echo reduction is the goal.
The same is true for a lot of the advice and things that get written. There’s good stuff out there, but so much conflicting information and very little that’s backed up with any proof.
So I think there’s going to be people who want to try and help others avoiding making the same mistakes they’ve made over the years. I’ve certainly made ALL of the mistakes (with good intentions) over the years with my room and it’s taken a long time to address and get a (slightly) better understanding of. I’ve been so close to dumping a load of money on super chunk corners, tube traps, as well as building my own panels and putting too many of them in the wrong places.
The treatment is expensive, takes up a lot of valuable space and the results can be unpredictable. So a lot of the time help is to try and avoid costly purchases that could have been done with something cheaper, or used the space better. I’ve bought panels before, put them up and my room measures almost identical before. Sometimes things even look worse, which can be REALLY frustrating when you get your hopes up. spend money, take loads of time getting them in, and then getting different results to what you expect.
There’s always going to be compromise, all we can really do is pick the best compromises we can, and get the room to a point where we can comfortably get on without doubting things.
