Independent comparisons. We may earn from shop links. More info

Acoustic panels buying guide

Updated: 23 October 2026

A box room in a UK terrace rings on a work call, and amazon.co.uk mixes wedge foam, grey felt and wood slats from about £11 to about £140. An acoustic panels buying guide is useful once you name the job. Echo in the room, a feature wall, and noise through a party wall are three different purchases. The order is the job, then thickness and the number on the listing, then the fire line, then square metres. Prices and scores are on the [acoustic panel comparison](/hub/diy-supplies/acoustic-panel). A named pick is on [best acoustic panels](/hub/diy-supplies/acoustic-panel/sub/acoustic-panel-best). Listings were read on 19 October 2026, with no listening test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

A box room in a UK terrace rings on a work call, and amazon.co.uk mixes wedge foam, grey felt and wood slats from about £11 to about £140. An acoustic panels buying guide is useful once you name the job.

Our top picks

AudioSilk AudioSilk 4-pack room kit

Best overall

AudioSilk AudioSilk 4-pack room kit
8.4/10about £120.00
View offer
MCW MCW natural oak slat panel

Best value

MCW MCW natural oak slat panel
7.6/10about £42.99
View offer
Focusound Focusound 50-pack 2 inch foam

Alternative

Focusound Focusound 50-pack 2 inch foam
6.2/10about £61.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Start with the job, not the finish
  2. 2.Thickness and what a number has to name
  3. 3.A fire class is still the seller's sentence
  4. 4.Area, adhesive, and what this price band buys

Start with the job, not the finish

Write one sentence before you compare brands. If the room sounds harsh when you speak or play a track, you are buying absorption: porous foam or felt turns some of that energy into heat. If you want the wall to look like timber, you are buying a finish, and any acoustic line is a side claim. If you can hear next door, you are buying the wall, the floor and the junctions. A tile on your plaster is not an Approved Document E result. AudioSilk's four PET boards are sold as an echo kit. MCW's 2400 mm oak panel is a full-height slat, and the walnut listing says the felt is not soundproofing. Soundsbay claims an STC of 25 with no review and no test build-up in the file. If the job is the party wall, stop before the basket.

Thickness and what a number has to name

Felt in this set is about 9 or 10 mm: AudioSilk at 10 mm, Fluxynara at about 9 mm, Topnaca at 0.4 inch. Foam runs from Sonic's 25 mm tiles, through AUSLET's stated 1 inch that United Kingdom reviews put nearer 15–20 mm, to Focusound's stated 2 inch wedges at 25 kg/m³. A thin porous sheet can take the edge off high speech. Bass needs more depth or an air gap. A cavity can change someone else's lab result. It is not a free upgrade on a board stuck flat to emulsion. AudioSilk states an NRC of up to 0.91 and Fluxynara states 0.95. Neither figure is an ISO 354 report we have opened. STC, which Soundsbay prints, describes transmission through a build-up, not absorption.
AudioSilk AudioSilk 4-pack room kit

Testsieger

AudioSilk AudioSilk 4-pack room kit
8.4/10about £120.00
View offer

A fire class is still the seller's sentence

A fire class on a listing is the seller's sentence unless you have the certificate. AudioSilk is the only product here that names EN 13501-1 Class B-s1,d0. We have not seen the certificate. Flame-retardant on Focusound is not that class. A workplace often asks for a declared Euroclass. A bedroom trial can live with a vaguer line if the foam stays off heaters and alarms. If a landlord asks for a class, only one listing here writes one down. The 1988 furniture fire regulations govern foam sold as furniture filling, not every wall tile.

Area, adhesive, and what this price band buys

On 19 October 2026 the entry band is about £11 to £28: Sonic at £11.02 for 0.72 m², AUSLET and Topnaca at £27.99, Art3d at £28.99 for about 0.72 m². The middle is about £43 to £62: one MCW panel at £42.99 for 1.44 m², Soundsbay at £59.99 for a stated 1.08 m², Focusound at £61.99 for a stated 4.65 m². The top of this set is £120 to £140: AudioSilk for about 2.69 m² and Fluxynara at £139.99 for about 2.16 m². Focusound buys the most wall per pound, with no NRC, and United Kingdom reviews split on pads and tiles that stay flat. Resonics uses about 15–25% of a main wall as a home rule of thumb, not a British Standard. Adhesive is often extra: AudioSilk's strips, Focusound's loose pads, and the PU named on MCW walnut.

Common questions

Will acoustic panels stop noise from next door?
No pack here is a party-wall upgrade. These panels reduce reflections in your room and leave the wall and the floor as they are. Soundsbay's STC 25 has no test build-up and no reviews in the file. United Kingdom comments on the foam and on Topnaca say the room changes a little and the neighbour does not. A separating wall in a flat is a Building Regulations question, not a basket choice.
What does an NRC of 0.9 actually average?
NRC averages absorption at a few mid frequencies, often 250 Hz to 2 kHz. A figure around 0.9 means strong absorption on those bands for the sample and mounting the seller has in mind. It does not mean the panel absorbs bass, and it does not rate sound passing through a wall. AudioSilk's up to 0.91 and Fluxynara's 0.95 are listing claims. We have not seen an ISO 354 report for either.
Is 10 mm felt enough for speech?
It can take the brightness off speech and call echo, which is what United Kingdom reviews of the 10 mm AudioSilk boards describe. The same reviews say it is too thin for bass and for the low end of a voice. A cavity on someone else's felt does not turn a board glued flat to emulsion into a thicker trap. For a harsh call, 10 mm is a fair trial. For a muddy mix, thickness is the limit.
Is flame retardant a UK fire class?
It is a phrase, not EN 13501-1. A class such as B-s1,d0 names reaction to fire, smoke and droplets. AudioSilk is the only listing here that writes that class, and we have not seen the certificate. Focusound's flame-retardant line does not substitute. A workplace should ask for the report. A home trial still keeps foam clear of heaters.
When should I ask about Part E?
Ask when the goal is a new dwelling, a conversion, or a separating wall that must meet Building Regulations. Approved Document E is about the construction and its test, not about a panel on the finished face. Speak to building control or an acoustic consultant before you treat next door as a product choice. For a harsh spare room, the comparison is enough to shortlist a pack.

Related pages

Acoustic foam vs felt panels

How to install acoustic panels

Acoustic panel

Best acoustic panels UK for echo, not the neighbour

Acoustic panels for a home studio: first reflections

Sources

Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Listings captured 19 October 2026. Updated 22.10.2026.

  1. Approved Document E (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  2. HSE: how to reduce noise (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  3. University of Salford: sound absorption (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  4. Ecophon UK: absorption classes (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  5. Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  6. Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  7. Resonics: foam versus PET (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  8. Resonics: panels for homes (retrieved 22.10.2026)