Collection: Acoustic Panels

Acoustic panels absorb sound waves inside a room, reducing echo and improving overall sound quality. While they can make a space feel quieter, they do not block sound from traveling between rooms — that’s soundproofing.

Here’s how they work: when you speak, you energize tiny particles in the air, creating waves that bounce around the room. Hard surfaces let that energy linger, which causes reverb. Acoustic panels use soft, absorptive materials that convert sound energy into a small amount of heat, making the sound fade much faster.

Yes, placement matters! When treating rooms like a control room in a studio or a home theater, specific placement is required to promote ideal sound quality. With that said, in a typical room, the most important thing is to add ANY absorption to the room, as every additional sabin will reduce reverb and echo. More acoustic panels means more total absorption in the space. Follow these general guidelines to ensure you get the most out of your acoustic panels:

1. Spread the panels around the room. If all the panels are in one location in a large room, you can end up with sound pockets and off-putting acoustics in parts of the space. In a small room, it doesn’t matter as much.
2. In a smaller room, you don’t have to install panels on all 4 walls (although that’s great if you can!). Small rooms should have panels on at least two perpendicular walls for best results.
3. If panels are placed too close, they will be less effective per square foot of panel. A good general rule is at least 6” of space between panels, unless there’s an aesthetic reason to bunch them up together.
4. Place the panels based off the sources of noise. For a room with people, that means about eye level (like hanging a picture frame). For a room with machinery, that means near the machinery.

Consider these 5 factors:

1. What should the reverberation time of my room be to meet its intended use?
2. What are the sources of noise we are treating?
3. How big is the room?
4. What are the walls, floor, and ceiling made of?
5. What kind of material is going to be added to the room? How absorptive is it?

Use the acoustic calculator above to estimate the amount of acoustic panels for the room. Reach out to a Second Skin acoustics professional talk through it.

There are a variety of methods for installing acoustic panels depending on the style of panel you choose. Our favorite method is with Rotofast Snap-On Anchors for fabric wrapped panels, which we go in depth on in ourhow to install acoustic panelsarticle.

With each type of panel, there are options and then there are our preferred installation methods:

In a home theater, acoustic panel placement has a big impact on clarity, imaging, and overall sound quality.

Because your speakers are fixed, reflections are predictable. Focus on the first reflection points—the spots on the side walls and ceiling where sound would bounce once on its way from the speaker to your ears. Treating these areas tightens dialogue and detail; if needed, add a panel on the back wall to tame late reflections.

For low-frequency control, pair panels with bass traps and complementary treatments. We cover layouts and options in our home theater acoustic treatment guide.

One word: productivity. While it's a bit more obvious in recording studios and theaters, the reach of acoustic panels is more vast. The trend towards open office plans has increased the importance of acoustic material to prevent the buildup of reverberant noise. Studies show that increasing noise in an office environment substantially reduces employee performance on cognitively demanding tasks. Employers still want the open office for the collaboration and comradery built by a workforce that has frequent encounters. Don’t settle. Get both with proper soundproofing and acoustical treatments.

Hidden absorption is the process of placing absorptive material in out-of-sight places. When reducing the noise inside a restaurant you can hide absorptive material under tables if acoustic panels aren't your thing. To soundproof an open office space, you can build a soundproof cubicle by stuffing absorption inside perforated cubicle walls.