Acoustic Geometry

The Curve Combination Quick Guidecurve system logo

This is a fast way to find the approximate number and type of Curve units needed in a room, given the surface area in square feet (with & without the ceiling area included, NOT including the floor area, and including window and door surface areas).

Where: H = high, W = wide, L = long;
Room Surface Area (without ceiling) = (H x W) + (H x L) x 2
Room Surface Area (with ceiling) = (H x W) + (H x L) x 2 + (W x L)

Number of Curve Units:

Music & Media Rooms = Surface Area (square feet) x 15% (.15) divided by 7
Conference & Meeting Rooms = Surface Area (square feet) x 10% (.10) divided by 6

The following examples are based on the Acoustic Geometry Curve Combination Guides.


Home Theater

     
  • Surface Area (square feet)
  • Curve Unit Surface Area
  • Number of Curve Units
    With Ceiling
  • 648.8
  • 13.8%
  • 14
    Without Ceiling
  • 453.4
  • 17.0%
  • 12

acoustical diffusion curve components

Conference Room

     
  • Surface Area (square feet)
  • Curve Unit Surface Area
  • Number of Curve Units
    With Ceiling
  • 957.8
  • 10.3%
  • 16
    Without Ceiling
  • 619.9
  • 9.8%
  • 11

Garage-Size Studio Control Room

     
  • Surface Area (square feet)
  • Curve Unit Surface Area
  • Number of Curve Units
    With Ceiling
  • 692.1
  • 13.3%
  • 14
    Without Ceiling
  • 510.4
  • 15.7%
  • 12

Garage-Size Studio Recording Room

     
  • Surface Area (square feet)
  • Curve Unit Surface Area
  • Number of Curve Units
    With Ceiling
  • 964.6
  • 13.8%
  • 20
    Without Ceiling
  • 686.2
  • 16.4%
  • 16

Type of Curve Units:

These are general suggestions - please refer to the Curve Combination Guides as a resource for more detailed combination and placement recommendations.

Music & Media Rooms -

  • Use one or more Corner Traps to help control low-frequencies. They are best placed in 3-surface corners (floor or ceiling + 2 walls) near low-frequency sound sources like monitor speakers, front surround speakers, subwoofers, drums and bass amps, etc.

  • At least one Large Diffusor, if there is enough space, placed on a wall surface perpendicular to the longest room dimension (for example, centered on the rear 12' wide wall of a 12' x 16' room) to help control the lowest frequencies.

  • Use alternating sizes of Diffusors when placing more than one unit on wall and ceiling surfaces; this helps avoid comb filtering effects which result from repeating identical shapes.

  • A good starting point is a 40/60 split between Absorbers and Diffusors, not counting Corner Traps. A well-treated small room (around 1500 cubic feet) might have 2 Corner Traps, 6 Diffusors (1 Large, 3 Medium, 2 Small), and 4 Absorers for a total of 12 units.

  • Most Diffusors should be oriented vertically on a wall to diffuse sound horizontally - we hear more left-right than up-down. Alternating diagonal placements can also work well.

  • Curve Diffusors and Absorbers are modular and moveable, so you can easily try different combinations and placements to find the best results.

Conference & Meeting Rooms -

  • These types of rooms don't require Corner Traps and Large Diffusors because they are generally used for voices, which don't have much bass content and don't need the same low-frequency control as music and media rooms (Corner Traps and Large Diffusors have a lot of low-frequency absorption built-in). However, if higher-volume music and video playback will be featured, see the above recommendations for music and media rooms.

  • Centering Diffusors lengthways over the conference table (a large reflective surface) helps diffuse voices and allows everyone to hear what is being said, regardless of the speaker's position (seated or standing). Using Large Diffusors over the conference table will help diffuse lower frequencies, which are important for speech intelligibility.

    • Microphones and speakerphones pick up sound more clearly due to the Diffusors centered over the conference table, because all voices are more evenly spread out over the table's entire surface area.

  • Absorbers placed near media playback speakers help control early reflections, allowing listeners in the back of the room to hear the media content more clearly.

  • Curve units can be matched to office design and decor - in addition to the five standard fabric colors, they are also available with custom fabrics, colors, and wood veneers.

If you would like more assistance in choosing Curve units for your room, please contact one of our acoustics professionals at Acoustic Geometry. Email: info@acousticgeometry.com; Phone: 1-888-227-6645.

 

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Click Google Sketchup Logo to download Google SketchUp files [.skp]. The entire Curve System can be found in the Google 3D Warehouse, as well. Google Sketchup is available as a free download from Google.

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