Can I use pegboard and drywall mud to cover a bass trip soffit? I would have thought this was covered in another thread on soffit bass traps -- and if so, please point it out to me -- but from my searching EVERYONE appears to build a frame and leave one or two sides open and covered with fabric.

My thread is here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11293005#post11293005

I'd really rather NOT use fabric, but use something like pegboard, and then use drywall mud over that to cover the holes. IE, I'd like a solution that looks like a solid soffit/wall, but allows bass in for trapping.

Here is my ceiling. This is looking up, at the front left corner. You can see a soffit already there, which houses a beam from the exterior structure. Then, to the left of the soffit, there is a space of perhaps 12 inches until the left wall. I'd like to fill this space with fiberglass batt insulation, and seal it off. I could use fabric, of course, but would prefer something more rigid looking....

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb269/nathan_h_photos/IMG_6762.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb269/nathan_h_photos/IMG_6748.jpg

(By the way, in the photo above and below where you see the speaker, you can also see the edges of the screen noted on the wall AND those dangling blue tape things in the corners are proposed placements for two of the four Real Traps 2x4 panels.)

Then, on the left side of the room, there isn't a similar space but I can create one from scracth -- a soffit running the length of the room, almost as wide as what the one on the left will look like.

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb269/nathan_h_photos/IMG_6761.jpg

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb269/nathan_h_photos/IMG_6746.jpg

Am I SOL?

(photos attached below are for those that cannot see the inline photos above)

If you're talking about a trap that lets the fiberglass absorb the bass, and you fill in the holes, you will have a solid wall, not a bass trap. You may as well just drywall it. If you're talking about a panel absorber, you can just use the solid pegboard material(name?), with no holes. I'm not sure such a long thin space as you have, is appropriate for such an absorber though.


Rob

Interesting. I guess I'm not sure what solid pegboard without holes would look like. I thought pegboard by definition has holes for pegs?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Pegboard.jpg/800px-Pegboard.jpg

My reading about bass traps leads me to believe that it would be possible, for example, to put posterboard instead of fabric covering, and it would work for bass trapping just as well. But posterboard is a little too floppy. I need something more rigid, I think. Hence, the peg board idea. But maybe there are not enough holes or they are not large enough?

Or maybe something like peg board but with larger holes.... but that still means I need to figure out what to put over the holes that allows bass waves through but doesn't look too bad.

Covering up the holes or leaving them open will kill the broadband absorption properties of your bass trap.

The open holes will effectively turn the bass trap into a resonator and absorb a narrow frequency range.

Covering up the holes will transform it into a membrane absorber and effectively target a narrow frequency range. Drywall naturally acts as a membrane absorber.

So it's not necessarily a good or bad thing but figuring out what you want. If you want even broadband absorption, you really need to expose the absorption material (ie: use fabric). If you want to tune your bass trap (which I'm guessing you don't), then you need to figure out what your problem frequencies are then adjust the hole size or panel density accordingly.

Nice speakers by the way... I've been running mackies for a long while now.

I definitely want the broadband absorption.

It's a bummer that that leads me to only a fabric solution. :(

Maybe I can use felt, since acoustical transparency doesn't matter so much.