RealTraps: MondoTraps low-frequency absorption panels: ($299.99 each) www.realtraps.com.(AUDITIONS)(Product/service evaluation)

The tempo of the evolution of electronic room-correction systems has accelerated and the effectiveness of the new generation of systems, configured as standalone units or embedded in AV receivers, has reached impressive proportions. The catalyst for these advancements has been the ingenuity of circuit designers in the audio field who have cleverly capitalized on the increasing DSP power now available to them.

I examine the Audyessy Sound Equalizer in this issue and sent a number of others through their paces in prior issues. While these units can flatten the frequency response for one listener to within a certain tolerance or for multiple listeners over a wider tolerance, it is impossible to overcome the inherent properties of signal energy changing for a single frequency tone as one moves about the room. Turn to my Audyessy review for a full explanation of this effect. Passive room treatment is the only means to reduce variations in sound pressure. The addition of passive room treatment is not cheap since a large number of panels are required throughout the room. At this spring's Stereophile show in Manhattan, Rives Audio, a company that specializes in room acoustics for new and existing construction, brought a small hotel room up to standards with eleven pieces from RPG at a cost of $8900. You would have to spend more to get them installed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. The RealTraps acoustic panels are an economical, yet high-quality, alternative. Five rooms at the Stereophile show used Real Traps panels to good effect. RealTraps sells direct through the internet-check out their informative site at www.realtraps.com.

In this mini review I focus on a product designed for smoothing response at lower frequencies. RealTraps has other products to treat room reflections at higher frequencies. While not able to achieve the absorption figures specified by RPG for the $1000 Modex plate the MondoTraps cost a third of the price. The RealTrap products to address problems in a home listening room at higher frequencies are likely to be competitive to RPG products designed to address the same problem.

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