Dreamboat Sound

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Do Slat Walls Absorb Sound?

Updated

Slat walls absorb sound, but it's the felt and the space behind the slats doing the work, not the wood. In Riverbank lab tests, Primacoustic's ECOScapes slat panel rated NRC 0.55 glued flat to the wall and 0.95 on 2 in. furring with glass wool behind it. Mounted deep like that, a slat wall absorbs about as well as a 2 in. fabric-wrapped fiberglass panel (NRC 1.00, Primacoustic Broadway test (opens in a new tab)).

Bar chart of one Primacoustic slat panel in four lab mountings: flat on the wall NRC 0.55 and about 0 at 125 Hz; on 3/4 inch furring with an empty gap 0.70 and 0.10; on 1 inch furring with 1 inch PET fill 0.90 and 0.29; on 2 inch furring with glass wool 0.95 and 0.59
What's behind the slats is what decides the result. Sources: Primacoustic test reports for flat (opens in a new tab), empty gap (opens in a new tab), PET fill (opens in a new tab) and glass wool (opens in a new tab).

Rule: Glued flat, slats only handle voices and highs. If you want bass control, put furring and 1 to 2 in. of insulation behind them before they go up. Adding fill later means taking the panels back down.

A wall of solid planks with no gaps behind it acts like plain wood and doesn't absorb much. Is wood paneling good for soundproofing has the numbers. Wood soundproof panels compares slat products, the soundproof panels guide shows where to put absorption, and there are more answers in the soundproof panels FAQ.

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