<HTML>In a message dated 3/21/03 4:54:06 PM Central Standard= Time, claviers@onemain.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT= : 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">There are commercial materials = - panels - on the market that do a much better job than just hanging carpet on the walls.  Acoustical Solutions= , Inc. makes a variety of this stuff, and so do other companies.  If para= llel walls are a problem and you want to break up the repetitious wall-to-wall<BR= > reverb without deadening the room, you can do that with diffusers.  The= re are all sorts of things you can do, but at the same time, you don't want to<= BR> over-do it.  Just look up acoustical panels on the Internet, and you wi= ll find lots of this stuff.  The right kind of panels put in the right pla= ces can work wonders for a small auditorium that is too bright.  You do wan= t to project the sound out, but you don't want too much of it bouncing from wall<= BR> to wall, or coming back at you. Jim Ellis </BLOCKQUOTE> Thanks Jim, for this information. The first time I discussed the problem with our chair, the only solution he = could come up with was to pay some acoustical engineer $10,000 just to study= the problem and come up with a recommendation. And he probably would have r= ecommended something along with what you're suggesting, probably costing ano= ther $2- 5,000. The carpeting, lumber and screws cost less than $500. Not only that, the wal= ls are painted gray, and I bought gray carpeting to match. It actually looks= like it was planned this way. But the best thing, is that it is "reversible= ," in that I can remove the carpeting. There are 6 panels, so if needed, we = can experiment with it. But for now, they are up, and everyone likes what's there. So, until someone= complaints, it's staying. Wim </HTML>