• Start with the ceiling: Acoustic baffles or rafts are the most effective way to reduce echo and reverberation.
• Check the NRC rating: Choose panels rated 0.90 or higher for effective sound absorption.
• Verify performance: Use products backed by independent lab testing to ensure reliable results.
• Plan your budget: Full acoustic treatments typically range from £3,000–£6,000.

Yes. Acoustic panels are proven to work — they absorb sound energy, reducing echo and controlling reverberation in a room. Without acoustic treatment, sound bounces around hard surfaces such as glass, plaster, concrete, or wood, creating a noisy and tiring environment. Panels are made from sound-absorbent materials that trap and dissipate this energy. The result is speech clarity, calmer background noise levels, and a more productive atmosphere. At Resonics, we only use panels tested in independent acoustic laboratories, ensuring their performance is certified and measurable. With more than 5,000 completed projects across the UK and Europe, we’ve seen first-hand how transformative they can be in offices, schools, restaurants, and community spaces.

Prices vary depending on size, material, and finish, but as a very rough guide:

• Wall panels: from £80–£200 each
• Ceiling rafts: from £150–£400 each
• Baffles: from £60–£120 each

Installation costs are additional and depend on project complexity. The best way to get an accurate price is through our free site survey and quotation.

While acoustic treatment is an investment, it quickly pays back in improved productivity, wellbeing, and customer satisfaction. In offices, better acoustics reduce distractions and boost concentration. In restaurants, they improve ambience and encourage repeat visits.

The number of panels required depends on the size, shape, and materials in the room, as well as the intended use. A small meeting room might need as few as 6–8 wall panels to one wall, while an open-plan office could require dozens of ceiling baffles or rafts. The aim is to reduce the reverberation time to a comfortable level, not to cover every surface.

Walls: Good practise is to apply panelling from skirting to ceiling to 2no. perpendicular walls to reduce flutter echoes.

Ceilings: In accordance with new BS ISO 22955:2021 guidelines, the ceiling is the most important treatment area, and should feature approximately 50-60% Class A coverage in open plan office spaces.

Resonics provides a free acoustic survey and CAD layout to determine exactly how many panels you need and where they should go. This ensures you invest only in what’s necessary to achieve measurable results.

The best placement depends on how the room is used:

• Offices/meeting rooms: first reflection points (side walls and ceiling above desks). Ideally on 2 perpendicular walls to reduce flutter echo.
• Restaurants/classrooms: spread evenly across walls and ceilings to avoid “hot spots”. Ideally above 50% of the ceiling area using Class A products.
• Studios: direct reflection points behind and beside speakers/microphones.

Ceilings are often the most effective surface because they are large, open, and unobstructed. Our free CAD proposals include detailed layouts showing the exact recommended panel placement for maximum performance.

These terms are often confused, but they do very different jobs.

• Soundproofing means stopping sound from leaving or entering a room. This requires heavy, dense construction methods such as insulated walls, double glazing, and specialist membranes.
• Sound absorption (acoustic treatment) means reducing echo and improving sound quality inside a room. This is what acoustic panels, baffles and rafts achieve — they don’t block sound, they control it.

If you want privacy between rooms, you need soundproofing, or sound masking. If you want better speech clarity and comfort within a room, you need sound absorption. Often the best acoustic designs use a combination of both, depending on the space and its use.

Not usually. While it’s tempting to think “the more panels the better”, effective acoustic design is about strategic placement rather than full coverage. The goal is to control reverberation time and echo — once you reach the optimal level, adding more panels won’t improve performance and can make a room sound “dead”.

Our consultants calculate exactly how much treatment is needed based on room size, materials, and usage. Dependent on the existing room surfaces, often 15–25% of the wall and ceiling surfaces is enough. This allows you to integrate acoustic treatment without compromising aesthetics, using panels as design features, artwork, or ceiling elements.