What is reverberation time and how do Armstrong ceilings influence it?
This is the time, in seconds, required for reflecting or reverberant sound in an enclosed space to decay to one-millionth (equivalent to a drop of 60 dB) of its original energy level after the cessation of the sound source. It is the most common, and easily obtained, measurement or predictor of a room’s potential sound quality. The reverberation time (RT) for any enclosed space will be influenced by the room’s volume and how much sound absorption (which controls the reflection of sound) is present. Increasing the volume will increase the RT while increasing the amount of sound absorption will lower the RT. Because Armstrong suspended ceilings can provide a substantial surface area and can provide more or less sound absorption depending upon the product chosen, they can significantly influence the RT of a space. However any room will have an optimum reverberation time (RT) requirement depending upon its use and size and whether the main activity is speech or music based. Providing too m
