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Room Ceiling Height for 2 channel listening - is taller always better?

I am planning a custom 2 channel listening room. Current dimensions are 17’W x 23’L x 16’H with a symmetrically sloping ceiling. No windows. The room will be accommodating Paradigm Persona 9H speakers, but I’d like it to be flexible enough to be well suited for most other options (i.e. big horn speakers, tall Wilsons, etc)

Is 16 feet too tall? Is that violating a "golden rule" room ratio (I already know it is, but is that a big problem)? Bigger is generally better, but is a taller ceiling always better? Is this too much volume for a 2 channel listening room, even with large loudspeakers? I do plan on adding acoustic treatment throughout the room to handle reverb & reflections.

Other thoughts: I am planning on 2x6 studs and standard insulation+luan+5/8" drywall. I know that 3/4" plywood is considered better sounding at only 8x the cost of drywall. I know some would advocate for 2x8 or 2x10 or 2x12 studs, but that pretty much requires using expensive insulation (at least spray foam) or some fancy carbon diaphragmatic helmholtz solution that might cost as much or more as this room :) I know that structural rigidity is important to reduce resonances. I’m also not a billionaire and am trying to balance practicality with performance.

Flooring details: planning on sound deadening underlayment, carpet, and a throw rug on top. Should I do hardwood with a throw rug on top? If I do carpet, what acoustical carpet underlayment is recommended?

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Showing 4 responses by terry9

terry9
2,251 posts
 

Room height must be balanced with length and width, but the golden ratio is not the way.

The science has been done at the School of Acoustics, University of Salford. They ran a hundred thousand simulations and found that most rooms are bad, a third are OK, and about 2% are good. The classic ratios were all bad, IIRC.

Rigidity is your friend. Otherwise the walls flex with the bass signal, out of phase, and highly distorted. I’m with Mike Lavigne on Quietrock 545, which I used. It’s more than an inch thick, 5 layers of drywall, and a layer of sheet steel. But it’s damned expensive. Plywood is a minimum. IMO

Good luck!

terry9
2,251 posts
 

@ronboco 

Above is also intended for you.

terry9
2,251 posts
 

@dodgealum

Glue and screw. No nails. Elastomeric glue - it never quite dries, always flexes, but very slightly. Chemlink makes good ones - I used 2 cartons of BuildSecure and 12 cartons of M1, IIRC.

Quietrock 545. I backed mine with 3/4" Baltic birch on the back and front walls. Another thing - ventilation. Although Chemlink stuff is really safe, your cabinetmaker might not be as careful, and the adhesives and finishes can off-gas for years. It took a year of airing out, for my room to be habitable with the windows closed. And paint - low VOC all the way, no other way. For a small room, consider high gloss paint - makes the room seem larger.

If you get really anal-retentive, you can connect and ground all the steel in all the Quietrock 545. Bare tinned 20 AWG is fine, you don’t expect much current.

Your dimensions may be critical. I built my whole room to 1/8" tolerances and results are spectacular. Do build in your bookshelves and record shelves. Don’t build in any significant cavities for a big turntable or whatever. I did, and it’s a mistake. Fortunately, a recoverable mistake.

And try to get time off to work with your contractor. Mine was a prince - whatever I wanted, he did. And you’d be amazed at what comes up when you’re putting up plywood.

Access. Conduit for all electrical. If you will ever have an air bearing turntable, now’s the time to put in conduit. If you will ever have a central power supply, now’s the time to put in conduit. Conduit, conduit, conduit.

Lighting. Some LED based lights produce EM interference. Detect and avoid. Better, use halogen or incandescent.

Good luck!

terry9
2,251 posts
 

@dodgealum 

I took advice from the marketing dept of Queietrock - and found myself talking to a senior executive with technical knowledge. Be sure to tell them what you want - sound quality inside the room, or quiet outside.

Also, how intrusive could the outside be? You don't want to be listening to Waltz for Debbie and Dishwasher.

If you're looking for a cost-effective alternative, consider 2 inches of clean dry sand. In the walls, weighing down the ceiling. Engineers call that pre-loading. I did that in the home theatre, and it's even more effective that Quietrock. But I couldn't make that work in the new room, so went with Q 545 instead, and was not disappointed.

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