From: "Steve Guidos" <sguidos@n...>
Date: Fri Jan 28, 2000 5:31 pm
Subject: Owens Corning TheaterBoard & SelectSound
I was looking around for Owens Corning 703, which has been mentioned here a
bit, and which I've also read about here and there. It seems that 703 is a
good choice for sound absorbtion, I assume because it's relatively cheap and
easily obtainable.
I couldn't find any at my local national-chain hardware stores, so I called
the Owens Corning 800 number, and after several voice mails and 3 different
reps I finally located a local building supplies dealer who can get 703. In
the process, Owens Corning suggested I check out their "Theater Board" line
which comes in a 'black mat', and also their 'SelectSound White Acoustic
Core' which is supposed to be similar but white (for better asthetics when
covered in colored cloth). The 'Sound Absorbtion Coefficient' of the
SelectSound and the TheaterBoard are better than the 703, in fact the spec
sheet lists the following for 2" thicknesses:
703-ASJ TheaterBoard SelectSound
125Hz .47 .25 .20
250 .62 .73 .74
500 1.10 1.08 1.12
1000 .81 1.11 1.07
2000 .51 .99 1.05
4000 .32 .99 1.04
NRC .75 1.00 1.00
I have a small recording studio, and the vocal room has a resonance around
2.4K, so the specs would seem to indicate that TheaterBoard / SelectSound
would be better for me. But sometimes specs aren't worth the paper they're
written on...... So my questions:
1) What does 'NRC' mean above?
2) Has anyone used either TheaterBoard or SelectSound, or know anything
about it in the 'real world' compared to 703?
3) What about cost-effectiveness? The price I have on TheaterBoard and
SelectSound in 2" thick 2x4 sheets is around $1 per square foot.
4) I am thinking of 'doubling up' the boards in the corners of the room to
help control bass; as I understand it, 4" would trap much more bass waves
than 2". Is this correct?
Steve Guidos