[Mr. Wilby]

Hi all,

I'm slowly (very slowly) progressing my cinema room and am now in the planning stages for my fabric-covered panels.

The panel construction is not a problem (already made a mock up which is okay for my application), but I'm a bit unsure about what kind of fabric to go with for the panels themselves.

I requested some samples from Camira fabrics, which seem to have an excellent range.

I've found a few sites that seem to like the Camira "Cara" range of fabrics for this kind of application. Mainly because they are acoustically transparent, so you can put your sound absorption/reflection material behind the fabric and have it actually take effect...

However, now that I have a sample, I'm not sure that I'm that impressed with the quality of the weave. It's very open and also very industrial.

The kendal fabric they make is slightly less open, but looks a bit darker than the Cara EJ138 sample. It's definitely open enough IMO.

However, if I'm honest, I actually prefer their Oxygen Inhale BA001 fabric, which is more suited towards seat covering rather than panels.

If I hold the Oxygen up to a window and try to stare through it, I can only just make out the light behind. In contrast, if you do the same with the Kendal you can easily see the window (and everything else) behind.

How important is it to have a very open weave for this kind of application? Am I crazy to consider aesthetics over function?

Are others using velvet for this purpose?

I'm just worried that I'm going to compromise the sound quality by picking something that looks good...

[albriscoe]

Hi

Are these panels for sound acoustics?

if so many have used speaker cloth from Maplins which is quite dense but breathable. I`m planning to do something similar.

Could you post a pic of your panel please and its contruction?

cheers Al

[Mr. Wilby]

Hi Al,

Cheers. I'm in Finland so I can't easily get to maplins at the moment, but I might buy a length of material off the net and see how it compares.

I'll try to post a panel pic in the week. However, it's very simple.

28 mm x 28mm square battons, glued on to 12mm MDF. The MDF has been cut into strips approx 5 cm wide.

So the 28mm battons are on the front, and 12 mm MDF behind. The sound-proof material I've got here is ~3 to 3.5cm thick, so it nicely tucks inside the frame.

The edges of the 28mm battens can then be cut (beveled) to enable a nice wrap-around. I haven't done this latter cut yet as I only made a prototype and used screws rather than glue, but I think the theory is sound.

I'm making very thin panels because my room is so narrow already, I don't want to sacrifice any more width than I have to.

[IWC Dopplel]

I have paneled my ceiling using plasterboard fixings and 6mm mdf with velvet stapled around the panels :

Maximising image contrast.

[Mr. Wilby]

Thanks, interesting thread. Off to order some samples from WBL :-)