I over-treated my room

Of all the mistakes we make with acoustic treatment, the biggest is overdoing it. I know, because I have done it more than others. Panels feel like progress, so you keep adding them.

When you overdo it, the room becomes lifeless. It becomes dead, and every dollar you put into the speakers and the electronics is now playing into a room that gives nothing back.

There are two schools on how to treat. One tells you to go full absorption, the other full diffusion. Neither is correct, because each room has its own properties and has to be addressed one piece at a time. What finally worked for me was absorption on the back wall and on parts of the front wall, with carefully positioned diffusers.

So my method since then is slow on purpose. Panel by panel, in different positions, and the same for the diffusers: install, measure, reapply. Only then do you have a proper picture of what you have treated and how you treated it.

Install, measure, reapply, and your life will be happy. Skip the measuring and you are paying for silence.