Listening room setup + library

Great pictures.  Books do wonders for absorbing sound.  You can probably even put those speakers closer to the walls if they are packed with books.  Just be careful which speakers you pick.  Some like small rooms better than others.  Bookshelf speakers aren't always the best choice.  Also, rear ported can be harder to stuff into a smaller room.NICE PICTURES

This could be a very interesting thread.

I don’t think 14 x 11 is particularly small but it is very sensible to gather as much advice beforehand.

I tend to prefer a live sound and would be wary of overdoing the absorption.

Alan Shaw of Harbeth once revealed that before listening to any speakers he prefers to walk around the room and listen for echoes/anomalies whilst clapping.

He also suggested the use of bookshelves, even going as far as to file them with the spine facing away if extra absorption was needed.

I just happen to have a bookcase to the left of my speakers but I prefer to be able to read the titles!

Maybe that’s the starting point, working out just how ’dead’ you want the room to sound in terms of reverb. Somewhere between a long cave and an anechoic chamber maybe? 

As for bass issues, a lot will depend upon your speakers/setup. I've never owned any speakers/subs that could get low enough to cause any issues.

I’d definitely want the window in the ceiling, it just feels much better, but it’s got to be well fitted/soundproofed.

As for general soundproofing, I’ve often said that if we were to move house I’d never want to be near a main road again.

Sure the whoosh of the traffic noise might well be inaudible when the music is playing, but it’s still there isn’t it?

My preference is that the quieter the room is, the better. There might be times when you just prefer to sit in near silence.

If the books are all the same size, lined up straight and even then they're just another wall. If the books are different sizes, lined up unevenly, a few here stuck further in, a few sticking out, then you've turned them into a diffuser panel.  

A couch along the back wall, anything along a wall is going to have tremendous bass and you will probably need the traps but even that won't do it. Along the wall seating is a terrible idea if you'll use speakers with good bass. On the other hand could be just the ticket to reinforce leaner smaller speakers. Point being you weren't aware of this, won't know until you try it, so don't throw money away on tube traps until you're sure. 

That size room with carpeting and bookshelves will be pretty quiet. Most of the noise will come in through the door. (And a surprising amount will come in through the window, even when closed.) But mostly the door. Ideally you would replace the normal hollow core indoor door with a solid core outer door and use weather stripping same as if it was an entry door. At the very least do a good job weather stripping your door. You'll be shocked how much noise comes in from even a small crack or gap.  

These are the lowest cost easiest to do things that will have a huge impact. Beyond this you can easily spend big money stripping the walls and rebuilding from the studs out. Search around there's a guy here who did that to remodel a room for his Tekton Moabs in a room about the same size as yours. A huge project but he is very happy with the results.

I installed "standard" bookshelves on the front/speaker wall of our living room (replacing closed back self standing cases) and there was a noticeable increase in sound quality.

We still have closed back self standing bookshelves on two other walls (one wall 6 footers and the other 3 footers/below and 8 foot wide window), but there is definitely something good going on with the open backed/edge standards on the speaker wall.

Something to consider, and perhaps someone acoustically knowledgable can explain why this is the case (in my case).

Instead of "tracked" standards perhaps an open backed built in design that is offset an inch, or so, from the wall?

DeKay

PS:

I used narrow (5 1/2") boards for the shelves.

It looks more like a floating wall of books, than like a bookshelf.

I installed deeper "standards" in a bedroom (whole wall - floor to ceiling), but didn't like the look and changed it up to the narrow 5 1/2" version.

Larger books go in the deeper more traditional closed back shelves and huge format books get stacked on top of the 3' high shelves.

DeKay

@millercarbon,

’Most of the noise will come in through the door. (And a surprising amount will come in through the window, even when closed.) But mostly the door. Ideally you would replace the normal hollow core indoor door with a solid core outer door and use weather stripping same as if it was an entry door. At the very least do a good job weather stripping your door.

You’ll be shocked how much noise comes in from even a small crack or gap.’



Yes, it is surprising just how much does come from the door. As you say, a fair bit from the window too - even a double glazed one.

Once you start listening for background sounds it soon becomes apparent that silence is remarkably difficult to attain.

Or even near silence if you need to need to hear the door, family members calling for attention etc.

Your advice might just be one of the cheapest and simplest upgrades anyone could make.