Leaf the Noise Behind
These Remarkable Noise Blocking Plants Will Change How You Hear Things.
Haas Entertainment showcases a world class two-channel listening room featuring exclusive Brodmann speakers and Bryston amplifiers. To transform a rather regular room into a listening environment worthy of such equipment necessitated extensive acoustical treatments. We installed absorption to increase the spacial limitations of the room and we installed sound diffusion panels & materials to break up the echo-inducing symmetry of the room. The sonic measurements taken before and after the installation proved mathematically what we could already, easily, discern with our ears. The music sounded dramatically better. In fact, it now sounds so good that I can no longer tolerate the room acoustics I have at my own home. You would think I could just copy the installation myself. Unfortunately, the installation labor and the cost of all the treatments themselves put such a project out of my reach. Thus, began my quest to find an alternative solution.
I needed a way to both break up sonic symmetry and provide sound absorption in my own home without breaking the bank. Even more importantly I needed to find a solution with a high P.A.F. (Partner Acceptance Factor also known as GAF or WAF for girlfriend & wife respectively. Sitting in silence, ironically enough, I came up with a crazy idea: Plants! People have been using plants to block noise for millennia. Mostly, planting trees and shrubs with dense branches is an exterior endeavor. Obviously, junipers and hollies provide excellent noise reduction, but they aren’t well suited for a home’s interior. I needed something beautiful, robust and sound absorbing. I needed the Botero of house plants. I needed the Peace Lilly. Your tastes may differ, so I’ve compiled a list of sound absorbing plants. Choose whichever ones you like, that work for your environment and place them between the speakers and every flat surface. The goal is to keep ambient sonic reflection to a minimum because competing frequencies with even minimal temporal shifting can make it more difficult to discern aural nuances.
Here are the best sound absorbing indoor plants:
- Rubber Tree Plant
- Weeping Fig
- Cactus Plants
- Norfolk Island Pine
- Fiddle Leaf Fig
- Money Tree
- Peace Lilly
If improving the acoustic dynamics of your listening room in an inexpensive manor doesn’t resonate with you (pun intended) here are some bonus reasons. According to an online news aggregator plants also have been shown to reduce stress, help you focus, clean the air, contribute to well-being and keep you healthy. There is at least one scientific study performed by NASA that proves house plants remove toxic benzene and formaldehyde from the air.
Did we miss a plant that you like or do you have sound tricks? Please let us know in the comments section.
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