setting up a listening room in unfinished basement


anybody do this , if so how did you go about doing it?
as far as wall treatments and equipment placements..

how was the sound?
eantala

Showing 1 response by rbirke

Bozo's suggestions might make a room overdamped, especially if you have low ceilings.

Also, you might not need much help eliminating bounce on the walls if the finish is rough enough.

I have Maggie 3.6's in my basement. I bought acoustical foam for about 1/3 of the ceiling, and I covered the rest with sheets of fake tongue-and-groove. The floor is covered with a thin hard rug, and there is a second oriental carpet in between the speakers and my listening area.

Walk around the room and clap your hands together sharply. You should hear some resonance. If it's totally dead (no reverb at all) you've overdamped. If it "pings" you need some damping.

Too much bass is an easy problem to fix. Take a sheet or two of the acoustical foam and roll it up into a column and place it in the corners.

Your mids will be a function of speaker placement.

The biggest problem you may face is figuring out ceiling reflection if you are using dynamic drivers. They radiate in a circular shape and a low ceiling sends a lot of energy to the ceiling, down to the floor and back. Dampen with foam just behind the halfway point between the speakers and your listening area. If that's still too bright, move the foam to the midpoint. If it's too dead, move the foam closer to the speaker.

All in all, I spent a few hundred bucks on materials and have a very nice room in my 7' basement.

Good luck