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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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mitch4t's avatar
mitch4t
1,603 posts
 

Taller works for me. Look at my system page.

 

 

oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 

To a point. Look at an Amphitheater.

Treat the room as much as you can stand it and go from there. 71Hz for an 8ft ceiling, 65Hz for 9ft ceiling, 56Hz for 10ft ceiling etc

As long as you know your room and that 50% of what you hear is because of the room, you're ahead of a lot of folks. Ground up. Now the sub (s), then the speakers.

If you had 20 foot vaulted ceilings untreated vs 8ft treated, you would last about 20 minutes.. DSP would overheat trying to fix that mess.. LOL

Regards

mikelavigne
2,161 posts
 

congrats on your project. very exciting. i went through that 18 years ago in 2004. since then i have made changes to my room as i learned more. but i’m happy with the fundamental ’bones’ of my design. you can see pictures of it on my system page. my room is in my barn, not my house. so i could go nuts, which i did. it’s a room inside a room.

my clean-sheet-of-paper purpose built room is 21’ x 29’ x 11’.

don’t get hung up on the golden ratio. it does not scale up and down. acoustics are not that predictable. so many variables in construction.

16’ ceilings will add lots of volume and make it much more challenging to pressurize. but a larger space has more potential for energy if you are up to the task of figuring it out.

your speakers won’t ’hook-up’ as effortlessly where the bass feels physical. besides that that height will multiply the challenge of busy reflectivity. more surface area to develop reflections. the surfaces are farther from your ears, but harder to tune. and tune you will, as you learn your room. look at a concert hall with those high ceilings but you see diffusion everywhere to control reflections. that is what you will be dealing with.

small room acoustics and domestic speakers are not voiced for ceilings that tall. if you were using horns or dipoles where the sound is more directed straight forward or back that is less a challenge.

my room is oval shaped, so no right angles. lots of built in diffusion. built in floor to ceiling bass traps in the rear of the room. it’s cocooned in two layers of 5/8ths sheetrock, with a 6 inch concrete floor. everything is built on top of that cocoon. in the front of the room i added Quietrock 545 (with a layer of 3/4" finish grade ply over the top of that) after 6 years in my room to more fully establish room boundaries for bass hook-up. in my perfectly symmetrical room, i had one side (outside structural wall) with different bass than the other side. the Quietrock equalized the sides.

my front 1/3rd is hardwood over concrete, the rear 2/3rds carpet.....think concert hall stage/audience.

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