Acoustimac: Above and beyond class A Fire Rating.

One could assume a product made of thermal grade insulation would have an intrinsic fire rating value. But that’s not always the case. Some panels may contain trace amounts of flammable material, others are coated in flame retardant as a final step in their manufacturing process. That being said, most are advertised and certified as Class-A Fire rated products and charge accordingly for this as an option.

At Acoustimac, Class-A Fire rating isn’t just an option, but a proud standard for all our finished panel products. According to the results from extensive tests performed on our products in a certified testing facility, all of our products are Class-A Fire Rated. We offer additional fire treatment to our products which is embedded within our manufacturing process before the product is finished for a small fee which far exceeds class A fire rating and makes our panels virtually fireproof.

Test Performed: ASTM E84-10 Test for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials (UL 723, UBC 8-1, NFPA 255)
Tested By Intertek Labs Inc.

Flame Spread : 0
Smoke Developed Index: 10

Acoustimac: Staples Vs. Glue and Uncompromising quality for maximum results.

We had previously spoken in depth about our manufacturing process. Now we would like to get you in the know, about how other companies make their acoustic panels, and why you should choose acoustimac.

All acoustic treatment products are comprised of three main components:

1. Core Material Component

2. Structural Framing

3. Acoustic Covering Component

Here’s how Acoustimac Does It Different:

Core Material

Core Material is the meat and potatoes of your standard acoustic treatment product. Most companies offer only one choice of insulation type and use a lower density 2-3lb core as a standard.

Acoustimac offers you a choice from one of three 6-8lb. core materials which are: Owens Corning Fiberglass, Acoustimac Mineral Wool and Ecoustimac Cellulose.

Structural Framing

Most acoustic treatment manufacturers use metal and/or a hardening resin or glue to make their panels rigid and durable. Metal frames are lightweight and can come in some nice shapes, but they are a flimsier and more malleable framing material than wood. Hardening resins and glues can be used in conjunction with the wrapping fabric to form a sort of hard shell structure, however it makes them more reflective, thus reducing the panel’s absorbent effectiveness.

Acoustimac only uses wooden frames, making the sturdiest and best looking panels. The wood may make our panel frames slightly heavier and more costly to produce, but they are much more durable and absorb to their highest potential. Also Acoustimac uses staples to attach the fabric to the wooden frames and doesn’t use glue nor resins in its manufacturing process, delivering a panel that has full absorbent potential and is more durable and reusable than panels made using spray glues.

Acoustic Covering

If the panels aren’t made using steel or wood frames like ours then it’s very likely the fabric is adhered to the core material using spray based glues and resins. This makes the panel cheaper and faster to mass produce however the panel’s effectiveness is significantly reduced due the simple fact that adhesives reduce the panel’s absorbent properties by creating a more reflective surface rather than an absorbent one.

Acoustimac makes no compromise on quality. Our mission is to produce the very best product in the market and offer it at an excellent price. We make all our panels with wooden frames, use no glue and offer a huge selection of acoustic rated fabrics and coverings.

Visit our website to learn more about our products and why acoustimac offers the best acoustic treatment products at the best prices.

Acoustimac presents New Eco-Friendly Acoustic Product Line: Ecoustimac

ACOUSTIMAC’S ECOUSTIMAC Products use cellulose based insulation, which is an alternative to conventional fiberglass or foam building insulation.

Better Performance than Fiberglass

Oh yes, it’s true! Cellulose based insulation has an even higher absorption coefficient than standard insulation material. Not only is it more eco-friendly, it also outperforms its fiberglass and mineral wool counterparts, hands down. ACOUSTIMAC’S ECOUSTIMAC products use Cellulose insulation for its eco-friendly acoustic panels and are a very GREEN solution for acoustical installations.

Eco-Friendly Acoustic Product Features:

· Made from renewable and recycled fibers, majority of which is post-consumer recycled newspaper

· Zero waste in the manufacturing process

· A greener manufacturing process reduces energy use and air pollution during manufacturing of eco-friendly acoustical materials

· Environmentally responsible - entirely recyclable

In today’s marketplace, many products claim some or all of the properties that our products have, but few actually achieve them. Our Cellulose insulation is made out of eco-friendly acoustic materials, sustainable, and responsible, while providing superior performance and real value in a wide variety of applications. Our manufacturer converts recycled cellulose fibers into premium building insulation that is superior to fiberglass insulation in both thermal and eco-friendly acoustic performance.

Our Premium Cellulose Insulation gives our product a performance edge over fiberglass materials. Acoustimac’s Ecoustimac products are the new standard for eco-friendly acoustical materials in the marketplace through our use of the green components of renewable fibers, low embodied energy, no-scrap production, and product recyclability.

Acoustimac’s Ecoustimac eco-friendly acoustic panels will increase sound absorption and can achieve a high Noise Reduction Coefficient rating; effectively outperforming even the best fiberglass products.

Technical and Safety Features:

· Meets building code requirements

· Controls and deadens sound due to density of cellulose fibers and non-woven manufacturing process

· As insulation, our eco-friendly acoustical materials are easy to handle and install; and does not require any special equipment to do so

· Received a Class A fire rating

· Contains no chemical irritants, easy to handle compared to other conventional insulation products

· Contains no harmful airborne particles or materials, eliminating health concerns

· Does not itch or irritate skin

· Contains an EPA registered fungicide to resist the growth of mold

Acoustimac : Hand Crafted Excellence, Made in the U.S.A.

Aside from offering the best Do-It-Yourself materials at the best prices, Acoustimac also offers the best prices on the highest quality finished acoustic treatment panels. All our panels are hand crafted and assembled in our production facility in Tampa Florida by skilled craftsmen with many years of experience in the field.

How Are Acoustimac’s Panels Made:

· First step is wood selection. All Acoustimac’s products use all American lumber, and each piece is visually inspected for blemishes and imperfections that can affect the final product’s performance. For Acoustimac’s products with additional fire treatment, each piece of lumber is carefully sprayed with a flame retardant agent prior to assembly.

· Then we cut our panel frame components in a variety of lengths and sizes. No wood is wasted, every piece cut is used in production, this reduces waste and helps us keep our costs down and pass the savings on to you.

· Every panel we make is given a stylish 45 degree beveled edge; this adds a step to our production but gives our panels a much nicer look. Other companies charge extra for a beveled edge, at acoustimac, it’s not an option but a standard feature.

· Once all the pieces are cut and beveled, they are hand sanded to give them a smooth and even surface and are now ready for assembly.

· Each panel is made to order so when we receive your order, Acoustimac’s assembly crew builds the panel frames according to your specification. The panels are assembled using pneumatic staple guns. The panel frame sides are assembled first, then the backing is attached to the sides. The frame is then given a final inspection where it is hand tested for sturdiness and the joint seams are then hand sanded to make them smoother and more symmetrical.

· In tandem with the panel assembly crew, Acoustimac’s core material team prepares the insulation cores by cutting and shaping to order specification. For fiberglass based insulation, the core team uses special blades to cut the core material into shape. For Acoustimac’s Ecoustimac eco friendly material, since it’s thicker and more resilient, Acoustimac’s core team uses a custom modified bench saw rig to cut them.

· Once the frames are assembled and the core materials cut to spec, Acoustimac’s assembly crew then loads the frame with the insulation, visually inspecting and making any necessary adjustments to make to core material fit snugly into the wood frame.

· Your acoustimac panel is almost complete! Now the frame and core material assembly move to the wrapping department where the panel is carefully wrapped in the chosen fabric. The corner seams are carefully and meticulously pleated and symmetrically stapled to the back of the panel frame.

· The finished product is given a final inspection before packaging for shipment. Installation hardware is included inside one or several boxes in the order, along with any instructions or promotional materials to be bundled with your order.

Visit Acoustimac’s website for more information about our manufacturing process and see for yourself why Acoustimac Panels are the best money can buy.

Acoustimac separates fact from myth about Egg Cartons.

I remember back in my musician days when we would all meet at our drummer’s house how he used to collect cardboard egg cartons and attach them to the walls to improve the practice room’s acoustics. He said that someone told him they would absorb the noise from the sound and help the room sound better. It looked unusual, but we all thought it was working fine.

One day, our drummer got tired of looking at them and decided to tear them down. We played there a few days later and noticed that the egg cartons weren’t really helping all that much. I mean they did something, that much we knew.. but not nearly as much as we thought.

When it came time to cut our first demo at a recording studio we noticed something about the studio walls; they were covered in strange asymmetrical shapes. We asked the sound engineer who worked there if those were for absorbing noise (like we thought the egg cartons were). He told us that they were sound diffusers used to make the sound in the room more airy and wide and that they provided no absorption at all. The engineer pointed at the walls and corners and showed us some large boxy shapes that he said were absorbers and bass traps (The whole time we thought they were speakers) and are what really make the big difference. He also said he paid a fortune for them.

When I got back home that day I started digging around on the web and realized an important distinction, there is a big difference between sound diffusion and absorption.
To diffuse a sound wave is to break it apart and send its arcs in different directions thereby making the sound wide and airy. You see, reverb and slap-back comes from sound waves bouncing off of flat surfaces. With diffusers, your walls are no longer flat and the waves don’t really bounce but deflect and veer off into many directions because of the uneven and angled surfaces found on diffusers. That’s when I realized that the egg cartons at our drummer’s studio were acting as diffusers, well sort of.

Absorption is more important than diffusion. That’s where acoustimac comes to the rescue! Using Mineral wool, fiberglass or Acoustimac’s new eco friendly Ecoustimac insulation, you are essentially soaking up the sound waves on both high and low frequencies. This eliminates the wall reflection which in turn reduces the reverb in the room, making the sound more natural and tight.

So should I use diffusers or absorbers?

The answer is both if you can afford it. If you can’t then sound absorption is more crucial than sound diffusion. You can achieve some diffusion at no cost by placing bookshelves, and smaller pieces of furniture in the room. All of these pieces have hard, sharp corners and all will help diffuse the sound.

For sound absorption, acoustimac offers an array of inexpensive acoustic panels and bass traps. All 100% hand crafted right here in the USA. Shop a la carte or save money with Acoustimac’s pre-designed room packages.

Please visit www.acoustimac.com for more info or call 888-827-1266

Acoustimac answers: How can I soundproof my Apartment?

We get asked this question a LOT, and unfortunately there is no real way you can completely soundproof an existing apartment without doing some major structural work. If you rent your property, that might not be an option. If you own the property, consider the cost of what the necessary modifications would undertake and whether or not the benefits are worth the investment.

However, all hope is not lost! Acoustimac has done its homework and offers several products that can really help reduce noise in your multi-family apartment home and prevent a lot of the sound in your apartment from filtering into a neighbor’s apartment.

Three major problems prevent you from achieving total soundproofing in a rented apartment.

• Apartment complexes will usually not allow its residents to make any permanent modification to the apartment’s structure.
• Multi-Family condominiums are often built with thin walls, flooring and ceilings.
• Apartments often have several windows which are not always properly weather stripped and sealed.
  

These problems can be worked around, but they indeed prevent you from completely soundproofing an apartment. However Acoustimac has products that can still help you significantly reduce sound transmission both from the outside and from the inside, making your apartment much less noisy and much more comfortable.

Simple steps that go a long way:

• Apply acoustic seals to all your doors. Acoustimac offers door seal tape at a great price.
• Use good weather-stripping on all your windows; make sure there are no drafts. Sealing material and caulking can help you seal that window completely improving not only your acoustics but saving you money on heating and cooling costs as well.
• If you have a carpet, you can underlay a layer of mass loaded vinyl beneath the carpet, ensure it is installed in a way that can be later removed. MLV is durable and worth the trouble of retrieving it to be reused.
• Installing several of Acoustimac’s acoustic panels throughout the apartment will help soak up a lot of sounds, thus reducing the overall volume of the room.
• Use thick multi layered drapery over your windows; this will also help reduce the amount of sound reaching the window.
  

Mind you, following these simple steps won’t completely soundproof your apartment, but it will go a pretty long way in helping make the place much more quiet and comfortable for you and your loved ones.

Please visit www.acoustimac.com for more info or call 888-827-1266

Acoustimac offers soundproofing products and advice.

By definition, to soundproof is to make something impenetrable to sound or to isolate against noise. The process of Soundproofing involves two principal criteria:

• Keeping sounds from the current room from leaking outside.
• Preventing sounds outside the room from leaking in.

Either criteria require a different approach for a practical solution. There are several factors to consider:

• Number of windows there are in the space, and what kind of windows they are.

• Having many windows in the room only adds to the problem, the less windows the better. Acoustimac recommends sealing as many windows as possible with insulation material and drywall to achieve optimum results. However this is not always possible, but other things can be done to help.
• Do the windows have adequate weather stripping? This helps prevent both sound from outside leaking in and sound leaking out.
• French windows and glass windows are workable, but Miami windows or metallic windows that don’t make an airtight seal when closed are unacceptable.
  

Although having no windows at all would be the optimal setup, but when that’s not an option, weather stripping your windows so their airtight is key to lowering noise transmission.

Does the room have carpeting, and what is the floor and ceiling made of?

• Carpeting helps soak up sounds inside the room, but does little to keep outside sounds from the lower levels (if applicable) from filtering upward. To help with this, acoustimac offers mass loaded vinyl. This industrial grade super dense rubber like material can be laid flat over your flooring as an underlay for your carpeting. This will help lower sound leakage from downstairs, and will also reduce the impact of footsteps.
• Uncarpeted Hardwood floors will likely need a mass loaded vinyl underlay to help reduce transmission. Concrete floors are less likely to let sound through.
  

How many doors does the room have?

Doors aren’t as big a problem as windows, but the same leakage issue applies. Making a tight seal between the door and the door jamb helps tremendously. Acoustimac offers rolls of Acoustic Door Seal Tape with self adhesive backing for easy installation. Acoustimac also offers Door Sweeps to seals the door on the bottom as well.

Please visit www.acoustimac.com for more info or call 888-827-1266

Acoustimac has everything you need to do it yourself.

Do you DIY? If the answer is yes, then acoustimac is the place to go for those who wish to make their own acoustic treatments. Acoustic treatment isn’t rocket science and anybody with the time and patience can get the job done and acoustimac has dozens of products to help DIY’s get it all done using the best materials available. Acoustimac offers three varieties of insulation:

Classic Owens Corning Yellow:
We offer the popular Owens Corning 703 and 705 at some of the lowest prices on the web. Owens corning 703 is as good as owens corning 705 but is less dense, Making the 705 the preferred insulation for people that would rather not frame their panels.

Rockwool Style Mineral Wool:
Some of the first sound engineers to design insulation based acoustic treatment, used owens corning thermal insulation and have been doing so ever since out of habit. That being said, to our experience the OC insulation is not really the best insulation for acoustic treatment but it is still the most widely used and popular. However, Acoustimac Mineral Wool performs just as well if not slightly better than the OC material, comes in the same densities and weights, and costs much less. Acoustimac Mineral Wool offers The best value for fiberglass based insulation, hands down. Better performance, lower price, it’s a win win scenario.

Ecoustimac Eco friendly Insulation:
Want to talk about a winner! How often does an eco friendly alternative turn out to be better than the original! Acoustimac’s ecoustimac eco friendly insulation outperforms fiberglass and mineral wool when it comes to sound absorption (especially on low frequencies) and is altogether, sturdier and more robust than fiberglass. Not to mention it’s made out of 100% recycled paper material.

Acoustically Transparent Fabric:
Only certain types of fabrics make the grade for acoustic applications. Crucial properties are, weight, breathability and flexibility. Oh, yeah and it should look nice too. Well, acoustimac offers six different collections of acoustic fabric with dozens of colors to choose from including:

• Acoustimac DMD – Our traditional DMD Acoustic fabric, inexpensive, strong and in 20 vibrant colors.
• Acoustimac Castielle Suede – Soft, luxurious and beautiful, fabric fit for any castle.
• Guilford of Maine - By Popular Demand! Hundreds of styles available.