ASC Sound Panels
 

I recently acquired a Used set of 8 ASC Sound panels to treat the wall behind my listening chair. Placed on 12" centers, they have a transformational effect on my listening experience.

One issue - they smell. It is a Urea odor.
Is there a way to get rid of it?
Are the panels deteriorating with age? I bought these used and don't know how old they are.
If I bought new ones, would I have the same issue?
Is there a better or different product for this application?

I'm very impressed with what I'm hearing.

Thanks,

Tom

I had the Tube Traps and cinema panels, both relatively new from ASC, and they did not smell. The smell, Urea, is in many of the synthetic luggage pieces sold today and does not go away.

I highly recommend GIF panels. Even custom made panels are made and shipped within 3 days and reasonably priced. They are very effective, quality craftsmanship, very friendly staff and don't act like they are doing you a favor to ship within 3-4 weeks. Also, their shipping prices are very, very fair.:scratch2:

I had a set of ASC sound panels for several years that never emitted that kind of scent, so I doubt it's a symptom of aging. One possibility: the previous owner had a male cat.

Thanks Howard, Jim.
Glad to see that both you experiences with panels are odor-free. I really like the art panel options, and may go that route.

This really proved to me that I can dramatically improve the sound of an already good sounding room with some treatments.

Jim, it's not cat, I know that smell. It's what sent Oliver the Cat to "The Farm".

Tom

No smell on mine.

This is kind of funny. This is the first time I ever smelled anything because of the net. :lol:

I have twenty plus tube traps products in my room and no smell......I also just delivered about 30 pieces to one of my customers and no smell either. In regards to hkval comment above.......I use to have GIK prior to the tube traps and found the workmanship with the GIK was not consistent from one panel to the other, the panels from the same batch were as much as one inch different in thickness, the wood frames underneath the fabric had a slight bow in which the panels did not lay flat against the wall, the plastic perimeter framing they used underneath showed through the fabric....all in all I thought the GIK panel were thrown together without paying attention to clean finish work, these were the 244 & 242 panels.....I also had the tri-traps from GIK and those were put together with a much higher standard.

Tom, if they smell like Urea and it's not a cat.... perhaps the previous owner then??? :scratch2:

Jeff
A bit surprised you had issues with the GIK panels. I am completely satisfied with my nine panels. The exceeded my expectations in both quality and price. Although it is hard to compare since they perform different functions they do have a greater impact on my room than either my Echo Busters or Real Traps.


Jim

Jim.....I had bought them about five or six years ago and at that time it seemed they were having trouble being consistant from one order to the next, maybe the off white color mine were showed more of the flaws :scratch2:....I'm sure they have gotten better building them with five more years under there belt.

I have used plenty of ASC products, no smell here. :no:

I have some 20 ASC tube traps of various ages and none of them smell at all.

A friend of mine sent all of his 6+ GIK panels back due to QC issues. Meanwhile, I had no issues with the 8+ panels I purchased, YMMV.

The only thing I don't like about GIK is that they sometimes use different shades of colors depending on their distributor, which is annoying when purchasing panels at different times.

Ha! Smelly Traps-I Have 8 ASC's --slight carpet pong--but nothing serious--I can see how they could harbour the odd leg cock(or tail hoist) from a territory claiming furry suspect.

You can get that spray stuff they use in car interiors maybe.

Chuckle

Des

Serge, who knows where these things have been or what they've been subjected to. It was kind of an old car interior smell, like disintegrating foam rubber.

Good news, I've been able to mitigate the odor by using a product called Oust. It took a couple of applications to fix the problem. Fresh as a daisy now.

Tom

Tom

ASC Sound Panels
 

What do bicycle tire tubes look like that you can fashion them into this rubber cicrle thing?

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Tim here from Acoustic Sciences.
Glad to hear you got the odor under control. We've been scratching our heads about what might be the cause. The fiberglass sound absorbing material often uses a urea based glue. We conjectured that maybe the planks got wet at some point and that brought out the smell. We've not heard other complaints.
Let us know if the smell comes back.

Tim... Welcome to AA! :wave:

I am adding your Credentials now.

One way around that is by specifying Guilford fabrics. There are many thousands of them, and one can get a more attractive product that way. The G. fabrics I've been using have matched well, even when ordered many years apart.

Spray with Febreeze.

We had GIK use Guilford Mills fabrics to match the room decor and the panels came out great.

Yes . . . I have panels by three different manufacturers in the same Guilford fabrics, and they are uniform. Like you, I chose a scheme to go with the room; when we moved, I painted the new room to go with the panels.