Drop ceiling in the new HT??????

[brac]

Hey all,
I finally am in the home strech of building my first Dedicated HT... The space is 16 x 19 and has a staircase behind the seating/ above the equip rack. My delima is the ceiling. I am using a product called ceilinglink (www.ceilinglink.com) because I am in a basement and don't want to lose any headroom. Looking at 2 x 2 ceiling tiles, I see alot of ugly and some not so ugly...yet I digress looks are second to accoustics. I find all tiles have a "NRC" # but noone selling them know what it means. How important is it and what should I be looking for in a ceiling tile for my new HT. I can post photos if someone tells me how.

Thanks
Brac

[George Bellefontaine]

Hi, Brac. Sorry no one has replied. By posting my message it will move the thread up. Hopefully someone who can answer your question will reply.

[David Meek]

Brac, as mentioned on the CeilingLink site the two main manufacturers of tiles are Armstrong and USG. I'd contact them directly for acoustic properties information.

[Paul H]

Hey all,
I finally am in the home strech of building my first Dedicated HT... The space is 16 x 19 and has a staircase behind the seating/ above the equip rack. My delima is the ceiling. I am using a product called ceilinglink (www.ceilinglink.com) because I am in a basement and don't want to lose any headroom. Looking at 2 x 2 ceiling tiles, I see alot of ugly and some not so ugly...yet I digress looks are second to accoustics. I find all tiles have a "NRC" # but noone selling them know what it means. How important is it and what should I be looking for in a ceiling tile for my new HT. I can post photos if someone tells me how.

Thanks
Brac

Brac,

A link here gives a brief explanation of NRC (Noise Reduction Coefficient).

http://www.armstrong.com/commclgpac/asia1/ep/hk/article3355.html

It's an average rating of the portion of sound absorbed at standard test frequencies. Higher numbers = more sound absorption.

Generally tiles are available in the 0.5 to 0.7 range (50-70% absorption) but some are rated up to 1.0.

While higher sound absorption is generally better, I believe anything over 0.7 rating will start costing significantly more, and may not give noticeable differences/improvements over a cheaper tile. I'd look for something 0.65 or higher that looks decent and doesn't break your bank.

Paul

[PiDD]

There are a couple things that I would never do in a home theater (again). One is drop ceiling, the other is pot lights.

The drop ceiling has too many points that are just not connected well allowing for vibration. The sound drives me crazy. Same with pot lights... there are some freq that just lets them sing.

I dont know what the answer is... but my next house wont have them.

Rob