There's a common misconception that treating a listening room means covering every surface with absorptive material until all the reflections are gone.
The goal isn't to deaden the room, but rather to keep it alive, which is why we almost never use absorption.
Absorption converts sound energy to heat and reduces reflection levels which can help if used with restraint.
Diffusion, on the other hand, scatters the energy in many directions rather than sending it back as a strong coherent wavefront. A room filled with good diffusion can still feel alive and spacious, while the specific problems caused by early strong reflections — comb filtering, smeared imaging, exaggerated room modes — are broken up before they do damage.
Diffuser effectiveness depends on geometry and physical size. The surface features need to be on the order of the wavelengths being targeted, which means physically larger structures for lower frequencies. Most well-designed diffusers are based on mathematical sequences — quadratic residue patterns — that guarantee sound scatters evenly across a wide angle rather than bouncing in a predictable direction.
Not everything sold as a diffuser actually behaves as one. Random-looking surface irregularities can scatter sound about as usefully as a slightly bumpy flat wall.
Whatever you do, focus on diffusion and proper loudspeaker setup rather than trying to hide/absorb sound.
If the room sounds or feels kind of dead, you're going to lose the life of the music.
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