ABSTRACT
Interior designers can, and should, design according to sound (no pun intended) acoustical principles while also avoiding typical problems. Sound travels at the highest speeds through very dense solid materials and at the slowest speed through very light gaseous materials (such as air). Minimum sensitivity occurs at the lowest frequencies, with the highest frequencies being roughly in the middle. In order to use materials for acoustical absorption, it is necessary to know the acoustical absorption coefficients for those materials. For floors, most traditional products (concrete, stone, ceramic tile, terrazzo, etc.) are very highly reflective. Concealed spline systems can be used with a variety of tiles (a wider variety than in the glued-on systems usually), but these systems are costly and they tend to suffer greatly as they age. The sound isolation is improved by controlling sound transmission.
