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In-cabinet bass trap?

Towen7

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Moderator
The rear wall of my listening room is covered by built-in cabinets. The lower cabinets on either side of my equipment rack are empty. Each is approximately 29"h - 68"w - 19" deep.

Would stuffing either or both of these cabinets with fiberglass yield any bass trapping benefit?

Here's an old shot of the room to show the left side cabinets, the right side is identical. The cavity I am asking about is the bottom third (behind the four doors).

While not as convenient, If there is any benefit to stuffing a cabinet void, I can stuff the right/left vertical spaces instead (or also).

hr2585614-5.jpg
 
As long as the sound waves can easily get into the cabinet to be absorbed, then yes, that would be a great idea. If the cabinet doors seal off the cavity, then it isn't worth the effort.
 
Flint said:
If the cabinet doors seal off the cavity, then it isn't worth the effort.

Define "seal off", please. The four doors cover the entire cavity but they are far from airtight. While it would be a hassel I may be able to cut-out the center panel of each door and replace it with speaker cloth.
 
Closed cabinet doors, as they relate to this case, are sealed off enough to render the efforts pointless.

Towen7 said:
While it would be a hassel I may be able to cut-out the center panel of each door and replace it with speaker cloth.
That would be a worthwhile hassle.
 
Towen7 said:
Flint said:
If the cabinet doors seal off the cavity, then it isn't worth the effort.

Define "seal off", please. The four doors cover the entire cavity but they are far from airtight. While it would be a hassel I may be able to cut-out the center panel of each door and replace it with speaker cloth.

Another option might be to remove the doors and cover the opening with speaker cloth over an open rectangular frame. Then you could always replace the doors later if you wanted to.
 
Orbison said:
Another option might be to remove the doors and cover the opening with speaker cloth over an open rectangular frame. Then you could always replace the doors later if you wanted to.

Thats a great idea! :bow-blue:
 
Towen7 said:
Orbison said:
Another option might be to remove the doors and cover the opening with speaker cloth over an open rectangular frame. Then you could always replace the doors later if you wanted to.

Thats a great idea! :bow-blue:

My pleasure. No extra charge, either! :happy-smileygiantred:
 
Yes, if you can get enough bass into the cabinet it will work as a bass trap.

I would stuff it with cheap loose batt fiberglass, Lowe's sells one thick style which is wrapped in a very thin plastic which is much less likely to leak particles into the room. Then, if you can, don't completely open the cabinet fully, just about 30% of the door area needs to be open. So, if you could somehow hang the doors so they are about 3 inches in front of the cabinet so sound can get around them, that would be great. I like the look of slats of wood run vertical or horizontal as well. You could make it completely open, but then you have to deal with the midrange and possibly treble absorption necessitating a balance of treatment on both the left and right to ensure good stereo imaging in the room.
 
Thanks for the help. I was planning to stuff both the lower left and right cabinets as they are both essentially empty. As for the openings...

I'm not ashamed to admit that I care about the way the cabinets look so I don't think I'll be spacing the doors. I like the idea to use slats but that would get expensive as I'd need to have them stained to match the cabinets. Since there are 4 doors to each cavity, would it be effective to remove 1 or 2 of the doors?
 
Towen7 said:
Thanks for the help. I was planning to stuff both the lower left and right cabinets as they are both essentially empty. As for the openings...

I'm not ashamed to admit that I care about the way the cabinets look so I don't think I'll be spacing the doors. I like the idea to use slats but that would get expensive as I'd need to have them stained to match the cabinets. Since there are 4 doors to each cavity, would it be effective to remove 1 or 2 of the doors?

Yeah, remove two of the doors on each side. That should work out perfectly. You can make a very basic wood frame and stretch an open weave cotton or linen fabric over it and slide into the cabinet to make a very sexy look.
 
Towen7 said:
Since there are 4 doors to each cavity, would it be effective to remove 1 or 2 of the doors?
Or you can just open them before watching movie, then close when done.
 
Yeah... I'll probably just open the doors until I get around to making a fabric frame.

Back to the fiberglass... They sell it in compressed bundles. Should I leave it compressed or open it and put the loose batts in the cabinets? I've read elsewhere that the compressed glass is a much better trap than not.
 
Flint said:
You can make a very basic wood frame and stretch an open weave cotton or linen fabric over it .

Gee, I wish I'd thought of that!


Oh, wait - I did - a few posts before yours. ESP? :roll:
 
You want it to be uncompressed. If the inside cabinet depth is 12" and the height 16", then two rolls of 6 x 16 batting would fill the cavity pretty well. A small amount of compressed fiberglass is fine, but don't pack it in.
 
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