GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: Romy The Cat's new Listening Room

Post Subject: Foaming up the cat housePosted by jessie.dazzle on: 8/17/2010

Romy wrote:

"...The Foam Factory do not offer as good prices as I initial thought and the quote price for individual 72” sheet. Thiers prices are similar to anybody else..."

That's surprising... Maybe they've become expensive. Circa 2002 they were by far the best deal I could find; I was able to cover every surface (including the floor) of the 14' x 12' room in the photo a few posts back for about $1500.

"...The problem is not with prices however. The problem is with the fact that the companies that do manufacture white 2“pyramid foam admit that their foam turned brown in a year or two. Some of the companies claims that this white foam stay while but they sock foams in the chemicals that the smell so bad that I will turn brown if I put the foam a in my living room..."

Bear in mind that no foam will remain completely white if you continue smoking Cohibas around it.

"...To buy non-white foam and to paint it sounds to me problematic as well. Painting of foam would clause the foam sells and will reduce the acoustic effectiveness of the foam. Alternative might be dyeing the foam in some kind of hair dye or fabric dye. I do not have experience with dyeing and I need to investigate it..."

I think you're right about not wanting to paint the foam. However, don't waste your time trying to dye it; you might be able to dye it darker (with something like the dye used in artists felt-tip markers for example), but not lighter, as dye by nature is transparent... You might be able to bleach it lighter, but it is unlikely you could get close to even an off-white. I wouldn't attempt any of this.

"...A good option would be to have panels where foam (or whatever) will be encapsulated in a frame and covered by a fine cloth. The problem is that those things need to be made by custom sizes and size I need around 100” of foam it become quote a project. I am still weighing the options..."

This would seem the best option. If you are mainly addressing HF and upper MF, you do not need to buy deep section foam; try a test using thick fiberglass insulation (peel off the paper backing) stapled to a sheet of plywood; if it works, you've saved more than it will cost to build and cover the frames. Attach the fabric to the frames with Velcro so you can throw them in the wash or take them to the dry cleaner. Also, fiberglass does not really burn, but if you use foam, you'll want to invest in a big fire extinguisher; the non-fire-resistant stuff burns only slightly slower than gasoline and the fire-resistant stuff is way expensive.

jd*

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