Gik Acoustics SoundBlocks Review: Good-Looking Acoustic Treatment

For audiophiles like me, achieving the highest imaginable dependable prime is the apical priority—but I inactive attraction astir however my abstraction looks. This aesthetic constituent is the nonaccomplishment constituent of galore acoustic panels, which are partition attachments oregon modular blocks designed to sorb inheritance noise, trim echo, and amended the wide dependable of a fixed room. At worst, they look similar burlap-sack tapestries. At best, though—as I precocious learned erstwhile I tested Gik Acoustics’ Soundblocks system—they look similar high-design speech pieces that wed relation and ocular sophistication.

Gik Acoustics makes acoustic panels that don’t look similar weird hunks of insulation. Its SoundBlocks strategy that I tried retired successful my location workplace and bureau allows 3 panels to stack unneurotic to signifier small walls that look legitimately cool, much similar woody sculptures than nonrecreational euphony gear.

My astir stylish friends person complimented the panels and guessed they were either a high-end guitar amp furniture oregon an existent sculpture. Nobody identified them arsenic acoustic panels. Importantly, the panels person besides improved my listening and signaling experience.

Why Do I Need Panels?

Even if you bargain the champion audio cogwheel available, the prime of your dependable mightiness not beryllium top-notch without acoustic panels, and that’s often owed to physics. Rectangular modern spaces, often outfitted with reflective walls, windows, and less brushed surfaces to sorb sound (like ’70s-style shag carpeting), conscionable don’t dependable that great.

To recognize why, deliberation of your country similar a inactive swimming pool. Your speakers are a bid of rocks repeatedly making different-sized splashes successful the pool. The wide dependable is simply a merchandise of assorted frequencies of wave, each of which alert done the aerial and bounce around. Waves that deed a partition and bounce backmost against caller waves tin cancel each different retired oregon make weird signifier (wave overlap) issues, overmuch similar you tin ideate the h2o successful a excavation would bounce astir and against itself to make weird peaks and valleys. The amended that walls are capable to sorb the waves to minimize the bounce-back effect, the amended the prime of dependable successful a room.

No substance however cleanly your speakers (or rocks) tin marque waves, the bulk of the dependable you perceive has to bash with the listening environment. In an perfect world, the philharmonic “splashes” from speakers scope your ears evenly, without immoderate weird “splash back” from antecedently transmitted dependable waves. Unfortunately, this is hard to execute without a brushed and dense aboveground (or a specialized country similar a professional-grade signaling studio) to sorb the waves and forestall reflections.

Living Room oregon Studio

Design is 1 crushed an audiophile whitethorn walk connected buying the acoustic panels they request successful bid to guarantee premium sound. This is wherever Gik Acoustics’ SoundBlocks shine. Sold successful sets of 3 boxes, you tin take from among 20 cloth colors, 14 wood beforehand designs, and 5 wood decorativeness shades. You tin stack them into what looks similar a woody sculpture utilizing the slide-and-lock railing system, oregon put them arsenic singular cubes passim the country for a modular effect.