Certified Technology Specialist (CTS) Practice Exam

What treatment could be recommended to improve the acoustics in a room suffering from reverberation?

1. Install soundproof panels

2. Use soft furnishings and flooring

3. Increase the ceiling height

4. Apply acoustic plaster

The correct answer is: Use soft furnishings and flooring

Improving acoustics in a room suffering from reverberation primarily involves reducing the sound reflections that contribute to a prolonged sound decay. Utilizing soft furnishings and flooring is a highly effective strategy for this purpose. Soft materials, such as carpets, curtains, and upholstered furniture, absorb sound waves rather than reflecting them. This absorption minimizes the echoes and reverberation that can make speech and music less intelligible, thereby enhancing the overall acoustic quality of the space. In contrast, while soundproof panels can effectively block sound from entering or exiting a room, they may not specifically address reverberation within the space itself. Increasing the ceiling height may change the acoustics but doesn't directly target reverberation control. Applying acoustic plaster can improve sound absorption but is typically a more permanent and costly solution compared to using readily available soft furnishings. Thus, utilizing soft furnishings and flooring stands out as a practical and efficient method to immediately improve room acoustics.