Gik Acoustics SoundBlocks review: A good-looking audio treat

For audiophiles like For me, achieving the highest possible sound quality is the top priority, but I still care about what my space looks like. This aesthetic component is the failure point of many acoustic panels, which are wall accessories or modular blocks designed to absorb background noise, reduce echo, and improve the overall sound of a given room. At worst, they look like burlap sack tapestries. At best, though—as I learned recently when I tested Gik Acoustics’ Soundblocks system—they sound like highly engineered conversation pieces that combine function with visual sophistication.

Gik Acoustics makes acoustic panels that don’t sound like weird blocks of insulation. The SoundBlocks system I’ve been experimenting with in my home studio and office allows three panels to be stacked together to create small walls that look legitimately cool, more like wood carvings than professional music equipment.

My more stylish friends complimented the panels and guessed that it was either a high-end guitar amp cabinet or an actual sculpture. No one recognized them as sounding boards. More importantly, the panels have also improved the listening and recording experience.

Why do I need panels?

Photo: Parker Hall

Even if you buy The best audio equipment availableyour sound quality may not be at the highest level without acoustic panels, and this is mostly due to physics. Modern, rectangular spaces, which are often equipped with reflective walls, windows, and soft, less noise-absorbing surfaces (like 1970s-style shag carpeting), don’t look so great.

To understand why, think of your room like a still swimming pool. Your spokes are a series of rocks that repeatedly produce different sized spots in your pool. The overall sound is the product of different wave frequencies, all of which fly through the air and bounce. Waves hitting the wall and bouncing against new waves can cancel each other out or create strange in-phase problems (wave interference), just as you imagine water in a swimming pool would bounce around on itself and form strange peaks and valleys. The better the walls are able to absorb waves to reduce the bounce effect, the better the sound quality in the room.

No matter how clean your speakers (or rocks) can make waves, the majority of the sound you hear has to do with the listening environment. In an ideal world, the “splashes” of music from your speakers reach your ears evenly, without any strange “splatters” of sound waves that were previously transmitted. Unfortunately, this is difficult to achieve without a smooth, dense surface (or a specialized room such as a professional recording studio) to absorb the waves and prevent reflections.

Living room or studio

Photo: Parker Hall

Design is one of the reasons audiophiles might buy the acoustic panels they need to ensure premium sound. This is where the SoundBlocks from Gik Acoustics shine. Sold in sets of three boxes, you can choose from 20 fabric colors, 14 wood front designs, and five wood finishes. You can stack them like a wood sculpture using the slide-and-lock railing system, or arrange them as individual cubes throughout the room for a modular effect.