Knowledge / Materials and construction
Bond it or screw it?
Both, and the adhesive is the part that matters. Bonded, the adhesive damps the panel so it stays rigid and scatters cleanly, which is the condition every C-ATS design assumes. Screwed without adhesive, the panel is free to flex and adds an absorption peak of its own.
Both, and the adhesive is the part that matters. Fix the Reflection Control Panel with builder's adhesive to the centre of the panel back as well as with its four screws. Bonded, the adhesive damps the panel so it stays rigid and scatters cleanly, which is the condition every C-ATS design assumes. Screwed without adhesive, the panel is free to flex and adds an absorption peak of its own: it will look identical and it will not behave as designed. Centre coverage is what matters, not full coverage.
Two behaviours, both real, both published
Bonded, the panel is damped and stays rigid. It absorbs little and scatters, which is what the design asked of it. Screwed only, the panel is free to flex and adds an absorption peak. It absorbs more, which sounds like an improvement and is not, because the acoustic design assumed it would not.
Both are on the published absorption chart, as Reflection A and Reflection B. A is the specified condition.
How to fix it
- Apply builder's adhesive to the centre of the panel back. Centre coverage is what matters, not full coverage.
- Locate the panel and press it home.
- Fit 4 × 3.5 × 25 mm bugle-head screws through the moulded countersunk holes.
- Repeat, setting out from the drawing rather than from the last panel you fixed.
Where the panel goes
The layout does not need laser accuracy, but the relative positions do matter. Set out from the drawing, keep the pattern, and do not substitute your own arrangement. Absolute placement has some latitude; the pattern does not. Why that is, and what the pattern is doing, is its own article.
If you have already installed without adhesive
The room will measure differently from the design, most noticeably in the mid band. It is not a defect and nothing needs replacing, but tell us before commissioning so the design can be checked against what was actually built.
The honest weight of this, from the record: it is ordinary install guidance rather than a disaster to be averted. The design always uses the bonded figures, so nothing is being rescued here. An installer holding the product simply needs the page.
What to read next
The Reflection Control Panel. If panels are already up without adhesive, tell us before commissioning so the design can be checked against what was actually built.