I have long been interested in adding acoustic treatment to our home theater, but was put off by the high cost. These panels are very affordable compared to alternatives, yet are attractive and highly effective. After installing these on the walls and ceiling in the the home theater, here is what we noticed about the sound quality:
1) Spoken dialog in movies is much clearer and easier to understand.
2) Because of #1, you can listen to dialog at lower volumes. Then when music or action scenes come along, you don't have to grab for the remote to turn it down.
3) Music presents much more detail. For example, I have a live acoustic recording of a favorite guitarist/singer. I have listened to that album many times but never realized that you could hear voices and tableware clinking in the background of the nightclub!
4) Music simply sounds cleaner and more immediate overall....these panels eliminate the slight "boxy" sound that comes from almost all speakers in an untreated room.
Regarding quality, I had one out of twelve where the picture hanger on the back was severly bent and almost damaged the one packed next to it in the box. it looked like the bent hanger happened when the panel was shoved into the box for packing. The fabric is a lint magnet - expect to keep a vacuum cleaner handy to vacuum them down once you have them installed where you want them. The hangers are fairly light duty but the panels themselves are not heavy.
I decided to go one step further by attaching each 24x40 panel with four #6 screws driven into four thread-in style drywall anchors. I covered the screw heads with Hillman Group black plastic screw covers. These screw covers snap into place over the screw head, making them look like small plastic buttons for a neat appearance. It was necessary to drill holes in the frames but that was fairly easy. I used a soldering iron to melt the fabric at the places I wanted to drill holes. This made a hole for the drill bit to pass through without grabbing and twisting the fabric. I placed the screws on the 40 sides of the panels 10" from either end. Panel support is perfect and they look exceptionally good on the ceiling and walls....has added a real "pro" touch to the home theater. Best money we ever spent on an upgrade!