One of the best places to install absorptive panels is in corners. This is because sound constantly expands outwards as it moves forward, just like the effect of a pebble in water. When sound energy strikes a surface, it reflects the sound. By treating the corner seam, you virtually double the effectiveness of the absorptive panel as it absorbs both the direct sound and the energy reflecting off the adjacent wall. Double the performance for free!

To begin, one must understand the basic physics of sound. Sound expands outwardly at a rate of four times each time you double the distance.

Following the graphical example shown here, the sound emanating from a typical loud speaker horn expands to 4 times its size each time the distance increases.

It therefore makes sense that we try to capture as much sound as possible before it expands. This is the logic behind this Primacoustic Smart Sheet.

Sound approaching a corner behaves the same way.

In this series of graphs, image-1 shows sound coming from a loudspeaker bouncing off a surface. This could be a wall or a ceiling. By installing a sound absorbing panel (image-2 with black rectangle) the energy is captured before it hits the second wall and bounces back into the room.

As sound is generally omni-directional whereby it does not travel in a perfectly straight vector, sound is also emanating from the speaker and striking the adjacent surface as shown in image-3. You could of course place a panel on this wall as shown in image-4.

This is where the free absorption comes into play… By placing the absorptive panel near the corner, the sound strikes the joining surface and is captured by the same panel as shown in image-5. Imgae-6 shows how the sound energy from the speaker is absorbed by a single panel and therefore produces twice the efficiency - all for free!