2. home-theater
  3. 1315589411

Dedicated listening room design

I've been searching this site for how to create a decent listening room, but there's so much it's difficult to whittle down what's really useful and/or correct from what's not. I say decent because I don't believe I have the time or $$$ to create a balls-out perfect room, so I'm trying to at the very least avoid making any major mistakes that would be hard to correct.

As per recommedations I ordered Get Better Sound and Everest's Master Handbook of Acoustics to get some ideas and learn some of the fundamentals, but any further resources you guys could recommend would be much appreciated. Also, any specific materials/products you used for walls, ceilings, floors, lighting, etc. that work particularly well would be very helpful, as well as any installation techniques/materials to optimize their performance (sound absorption, soundproofing, noise/rattle avoidance, etc.). My room is in a medium-sized, open basement that will also be serving as a laundry room and exercise room, and I'm basically starting from scratch as I'm installing french drains (damned hurricane) and re-doing heat pipes so all the walls will be coming down in the process. I already have two dedicated lines (with the help of some folks on this site) and will likely add a third, so that part is pretty much covered.

Anyway, I hope that's enough to go on, and any thoughts or hard-won experience you could share would be most appreciated.
soix

Showing 1 response by martykl

martykl
3,578 posts
 
I did a similar project in my last home. I focused on 3 main points:

First, fir out the walls (if necessary) to acheive a good length x width ratio. IIRC, 1.4 to 1 was the recommendation in the book (similar to the Geddes book Duke cites) that I used.

Second, Try to break up parallel wall surfaces with some "ornamentation". Light fixtures in columns, shelving, etc. I also used a center ceiling drop and stadium seating so that ceiling and floor weren't parallel.

Third, I mixed absorbtive and reflective material. Wood panel wainscotting from the floor up to +/- 3' and a canvas-like fabric backed by acoutic foam the the 3' "beltline" to the ceiling.

The result was drop dead gorgeous and great sounding, but....

This was a stupidly expensive project. I suspect that you can probably get to a similar place on a lower budget while still employing these ideas.

Good Luck,

Marty
More to discover