Building HT need advices

[LEVESQUE]

Thank you Chris. Argghh! I just order over 1K$ from PartsExpress last week! Too late... The shipping and border crossing fees are awful to come up here in Quebec... Will try to find it locally....

I have another question.

Resilient channel (RC). What's the difference with wood walls? Does it really make any difference? Why are some poeple going with those instead of ''regular'' wood framing and studs?

Thank you.

[Chris D]

Well, for a setup where you can change and keep an RCA cable of any type, audio, video, digital coax, subwoofer, etc, I would go with Cat Cables. If however, you're going to install something in the walls permanently and not be able to keep it, like I did in my theater, you can easily attach an RCA connector to RG6 coax. I did this, using connectors from Parts Express. (click on the link at the top of the page to access Parts Express)

This is the part you're looking for:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=091-1060

CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[LEVESQUE]

Thank you Lex.

I did send you an E-mail! 8)

Bam!

Everything goes well, but there is always some annoying delays... We are doing 2 rooms at the same time (you know... I got my HT so my wife wanted her room also... sigh... she knows the tricks...), so we are waiting for the new foyer (800 pounds!) and the 3 new panoramic windows (600 pounds each!) to come in before we can close the walls in my HT (we have to pass through the HT to reach her room).

And the guy doing the concrete brick wall can't come before next week... So we are in an idle state... :cry:

Mais tout vient a point a qui sait attendre!

[Bam!]

ALAIN!

SO ? What`s happening bud ?

oh and the pepper comes out in me every once in a while... :roll:

See Bam!`s glossary in TTP! for pepper meaning!




Bam!

[Sonnie Parker]

Yeah... I knew that's what Bam was saying! ... not a chance

I did take 2 years of French in high school but don't remember squat. Okay... maybe I caught a couple of those words.



I just ordered a 50' cable from Lex for my sub or rather for a sub that will possibly be mine soon.






SONNIE

Cedar Creek Cinema

DVD Collection

BFD Comprehensive Setup Guide

[Lex]

Levesque, I can fix you up with a couple of nice 35 foot sub cables, professionally done, no compromise and very very flexible, more so than any RG6.

I'll do those for you for 47.50 each plus shipping. I don't make that much, but I get some cats in your hands. Who knows, you might like them well enough you come back for some more.

Shipping does run a bit to Canada, likely around 22.00 for this weight.

Bam, you french talking whako!

Lex

[David Meek]

Alain, talk to Lex about his CatCables sub-cables, the CoolCats. I bought two 6 meter Blue Tigers for my subwoofer runs and have been very happy with them.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Bam!]

Hey mon chum!


Alain ecoute le meilleur des meilleurs pour toi et Lex...Ben sont nom est Doug mais pour pas cher malgré il y a des differentes qualité il est le gars a voir...c`est le proprio de la place et notre commanditaire...donc demande lui et il y a une garantie 30 jours pour satisfaction garantie!

Oublie pas de me telephoner pour le show Audio video!


Translation...what do you think I told him to do?




Bam!

[LEVESQUE]

Another question. I really feel like a newb sometimes...

I need 2 times 35' of wire for my 2 subs, but I can't find anyplace to buy a 35' long sub cables. My 2 subs needs each a single RCA connection.

Someone did suggest to use a RG6 cable for my subs. How am I suppose to connect my Servo-15 with a RG6 cable? Can someone explain how to connect a RCA plug on a RG6 cable? How can i go from RG6 to RCA?

I have over 500' of RG6 lying around...

Thank you.

[David Meek]

Alain, it sounds like things are going really well. Congratulations and I hope things continue moving smoothly.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Bam!]

Levesque!

WOW je te felicite.....Je suis excité et hâte de le voir !

My buddy and I are gonna be starting on his home theater room soon...The infrastructure is done...now for the goodies

Encores une fois C`est super ton ensemble selon tes decriptions...Photos bientot ain!




Bam!

[LEVESQUE]

Owans fiberglass model 703. 2'X4', 1'' thick.

I did put one of my employe on the phone, and she did ALOT of phone calls, but she finally found it at our local Home Hardware dealer. He didn't had it in stock, but he did order it for me from Montreal.

Came in 3 days later.

5$ cdn each sheet of fiberglass. Only in pack of 24 sheets. Transport included! 8)

[Sonnie Parker]

Yeah... ain't it fun Alain! I love it so much I can't quit tinkering.

Sounds like you got it going on. Double 5/8" drywall (yes it's drywall or sheetrock in english)... double solid doors (definitely makes a difference-when you are finished open the outside door with it cranked up and notice it.)

I installed inline fans in my a/c duct running 24/7 as well to keep air flow in the room even when the a/c isn't running.


Where did you find the #703 fiberglass?


I remember my first surround experience was with Yamaha. I bought their DSP-100u (something like that) and the 4 channel amp (MX-something) and had the 2 effects speakers in the front top corners and 2 in the rear top corners. What a treat it was! Matter of fact I still have that DSP unit in the top of my closet collecting dust. That thing is old as dirt.






SONNIE

Cedar Creek Cinema

DVD Collection

BFD Comprehensive Setup Guide

[LEVESQUE]

Men I'm so excited! Everything is getting in place finally...

We are building the riser next week, and the front stage, full of sand, not touching any wall. All the recliners will have 2 bass-shakers (seat and back).

I'm able to pass all the wires in a PVC tubing, outside of the room (in the adjacent room). So nothing that can vibrate in any wall. No tubing, even the HVAC tubing will be coming from outside. Acoustic insolation on every air-return and exit. Everything in the room or in the wall will be in soft-tubing (nothing rigid that can vibrate) with acoustic insulation around each piping.

Double 5/8'' fire-code drywall (is it ''drywall'' in english?) all across. Double solid doors. Concrete brick walls on both end (10 1/2 feet high!).

I was able to find fiberglass 703 (Owans-Corning) to build my high-bass, deep-bass, and highs/mids absorber-traps. 5 times 2'x8' traps on each long-wall, 4 on each end, 5 on the ceiling (first reflection), and 2 in each corner (with 2'' thick firberglass).

I will put GOM on each of these traps with 2 sided velcro. Industrial under-carpeting and really thick carpet all across the floor.

All the worst room nods (Harman International software) under the cross-over point (80) are under control with the mains placement (absorber by themselves), and the seatings.

All the equipment is in the back of the room in a dedicated section, with a dedicated cold air supply and return, with in-line fan in the conduit outside of the room. Air suppply at one end and returns at the other end, independant of the one in the equipment room.

The biggest problems was to think about a way to be able to change cabling or wires in the futur, w/o having to drill through the walls. So I was able to use 2'' PVC piping running outside the room, but connecting to PVC in the walls, and all this can be easily open later to change wires if I need to pass a new type of cable.

Xantech IR receiver and connecting blocks, connected with CAT5 cables, with 8 blinking mouse emitters. Lutron spacers for light controls (3 sets of halogene lights).

2 dedicated 20A circuits for the equipment (on the same leg). All the rest of the electicity of the room is on a 15A dedicated circuit (on the same leg), with a dedicated panel.

Additional independant heating for the winter (goes down to -40 sometimes...).

And I almost forgot the tubing for the central vacuum! Needed for all this carpets and GOM!

Did I forgot anything? LOL

Another month or 2 and it should be done.

And I'm not talking about all the cables, wall plates, wires and pre-wires I have done or will do in the next month. HTPC and router with CAT6 cabling, all-house network with CAT6 for the futur. USB2.0 connections acroos the room. Firewire cables....

Crazy, but so much fun!

[aud19]

Can't remember if this has been mentioned but Stereophile Guide to Home theatre has a series of articles on building your own theatre. The March/April issue is concentrating on the room factors, you may want to pick it up and give it a read

Jason




Need a new display? Questions about new display technologies? Visit RPTVs, plasmas, and other monitors @ HTguide

[David Meek]

That's an excellent way to set up the controls for the shakers and the headphone amp! :T

In fact, I may do something similar when I start on Cinemeek III - thanks for the idea.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Bam!]

Hi Levesque!

So how`s it goin` buddy..it seems to be moving along.....

What do you mean pictures soon?

Take care bud!

Est ce que c`est juste ce forum t`utilise comme source? Je veut pas le dire en anglais mais ces gars sont tres bon non? Leur têtes vont enflé!!!!

à bientot!




Bam!

[LEVESQUE]

I just received my 8 Aura bass-shakers and my 250W sub-amp plate from PartsExpress.

What are poeple doing with this sub-amp plate? Are they put it in a rack?

I was planning of having a custom console on my riser (between to seats) to put my cables for a futur HTPC, my Grado RA-1 headphone amp, and to put the amp in this console, to contol the volume of the bass-shakers if people are not liking ''shaking'' to much...

So I have to run only 1 RCA cable from my Anthem AVM20 sub2 out to the sub-amp plate, and then all the speaker wires for the bass-shakers will come out from the riser.

Any better way to do it?

BTW, some photos are coming!

[David Meek]

I will run those wire cables through some PVC pipes, through the roof (I have a 6 feet high space between the HT ceiling and the house roof to work in...) then back through the walls vertically.

One more suggestion: use thick-wall PVC, not thin. The thick wall will give you more resistance to breakage due to structural shifting in the house over a period of years. Also, it'll be better protection for your wiring from a nail, staple or pin driven into the wall to hang a picture on.

I own a Yamaha RX-V2095 receiver that's very good, adding the capability of two "front effect" speakers

Yeah, I agree with Chris. My Yammie RX-V1's use of the front effects channels makes for a huge front soundstage - once you get them dialed in, that is.

And THAT is the primary issue IMHO with adding more and more channels to a system. You have to integrate them properly with each of the other existing speakers - ie. setting them up to deal with delay settings, cancellation, proper sonic flow from front-to-back, side-to-side and now diagonally across the seating position, just to name a few issues. Again, focus on setting up a 5.1 properly, THEN start adding in the other channels.

Hmmmph, must be gettin' crochety in my old age. :yesnod:




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Chris D]

Well, since there's no "standard" speaker configuration beyond 7.1, anything that individual companies add will just be their own creation. I own a Yamaha RX-V2095 receiver that's very good, adding the capability of two "front effect" speakers. I had my old setup using these speakers, which did add to the sound field. A few downsides too, though.

The Parasound Halo processors have 4 programmable channels, with 2 of those being fully configurable. One application of those is to add additional speakers wherever you like them, whether they be ceiling, additional surrounds, front effects, floor speakers, or whatever.

Running extra wiring NOW for the possibility of future speakers may pay big dividends during future upgrades. I personally ran an extra pair of cables to my front wall, which I could use for an additional pair of speakers. If it was me, and I wanted to pre-wire more, I'd run another pair to the ceiling directly over the seating, middle back wall between the two rear surrounds, and side walls halfway between the front and side surrounds.

Certainly not necessary, though, now we're getting into the exotic level, far beyond standard or high-end.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[LEVESQUE]

For those interested, it's the new Sony STRDA9000ES, pushing the 9.1 speakers configuration, with 2 additionnal surround speakers on the side. :roll:

[aud19]

Another question. I just noticed that Sony just came out with a 9.1 receiver (sigh...). So I will have to pass some wires for another set of surrounds (between the fronts and the ''back'' surrounds (not the back centers...). So. Should I plan my wires for 10.1, 12.1, 13.1, or should we think that this non-sense will stop at 9.1?

Well Yamaha has been incorporating "front height" speakers (placed above and I believe slightly outside the mains) in it's receivers for years. You may want to wire for those too

Jason




Need a new display? Questions about new display technologies? Visit RPTVs, plasmas, and other monitors @ HTguide

[LEVESQUE]

Thanks. I will run those wire cables through some PVC pipes, through the roof (I have a 6 feet high space between the HT ceiling and the house roof to work in...) then back through the walls vertically.

Another question. I just noticed that Sony just came out with a 9.1 receiver (sigh...). So I will have to pass some wires for another set of surrounds (between the fronts and the ''back'' surrounds (not the back centers...). So. Should I plan my wires for 10.1, 12.1, 13.1, or should we think that this non-sense will stop at 9.1?

What will be the next step? A pair in the roof? Another pair of back-centers? Sony 9.1 is adding another pair of ''mid'' surrounds (lacking a better term...).

Another question. Where can I order a Lutron spacer system on-line? My Lutron dealer in Montreal is charging me crazy $$$ for a stupid little IR light control system (over 1K!).

I have 3 sets of light to control (total of 12 halogens). Just want to program some presets and controlling those lights from distance.

Bam. I'm not forgetting those photos, but I'm working like crazy those days, because I just bought another pharmacy. Renovations, new employes, formations... Will posts photos later when I will have some spare time!

[Chris D]

If you're using conduit, you can use whatever wires you desire, as long as they are LOW VOLTAGE, not carrying electricity power. If you are wiring in walls, but not in conduit, according to US national building code they must be rated for in-wall use. It's very easy to find CL-2 or CL-3 rated wire for in-wall use, such as with Parts Express. (click on the link at the top of this page)

The speaker wire I used is 12-2 wire rated CL-3. If I knew I was going to own my house and theater for years and years to come, I would have had Cat Cables make me custom cables and run them through conduit.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[Bam!]

Hi Levesque!

So I read things are moving along but I don`t see it Any pic`s buddy...just curious...

Take care!!!




Bam!

[LEVESQUE]

Thank you David.

So if I use a PVC pipe to run my ''regular'' wires I should be ok?

[David Meek]

As long as you are sheathing the speaker wire in conduit of some type, you'll be okay. Without conduit, I STRONGLY recommend using ONLY in-wall rated speaker wires. Good choice on the 12-gauge, BTW. You can get away with 14-guage, but 12 is preferred.

Yes, there is a difference. If the in-walls are UL-certified or similarly rated, they are sheathed in materials that will not deteriorate over time with contact to the various "things" that are commonly built into wall structures, that are fire resistant (that's a biggie BTW), that can bend to a specific radius and generally the in-wall sheathing is more resistant to nicks and cuts. If you are using the non-in-wall rated, be sure the conduit is fire-resistant!
:hb




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[LEVESQUE]

I have another question.

I just discovered that they are ''in-wall'' speaker wires... Is there any problem in using standard 12g wire in the walls passing through some PVC conduit?

I already bought 250 feet of ''regular'' 12 g wires with a really thick and heavy ''coating''... 8O

Is there a big difference between ''in-wall'' and the ''regular'' speaker wires?

[tominizer]

Glad to have been of some sort of help.

[Chris D]

I'll second that about the white papers. Good info source.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[Andrew Pratt]

Those white papers are a good read.

[tominizer]

For some great reading, check out the Harmon International Industries Inc. White Pages they have available on their site. Talks exactly about this stuff. Two articles I'd suggest that you read are :

"Maximizing Loudspeaker Performance in Rooms" - Parts One and Two

and

"Loadspeakers and Rooms - Working Together"


They give a lot of insight in layman's terms and are a great read. They are written up by Floyd Toole. They will not SOLVE your problem but you should be able to walk away understanding where you need to go from here. Good luck............... and must be nice having a no money ceiling for your room. I only wish :roll:

[Andrew Pratt]

Second. Since I have a router at home I can't access HTGuide anymore, except from work. Someone could help me here, moderator?

You must be using a D-Link router...for some reason some models of D-Links block HTG...we have no idea why and neither does the D-Link tech support. Short of buying a new router (get a wireless NetGear one) you don't have many options unfortunatly.

My room is 14X24 with 11 feet high ceiling. I'm directly on concrete now. I plan to put the equipment rack in the bak, with a 3 feet access to the equipment (false wall) and projector.

Lucky guy! Like Chris my room's only 12 feet wide and i really wish it were wider.

Another quickie. What in the nine hell is GOM? I can't find anywhere what it is or where to buy it...

Sonnie answered this one but really you don't need GOM as any fabric that isn't too thick will for fine...its really only fabric over speakers that needs to be truely acousticly transparent.

After reading everywhere I still can't decide for the floor. I got alot of conflicting opinions. Some are saying directly on concrete, others are telling to go with wood-floor with carpet on it... Sigh...

Basically it comes down to the fact that carpet over concrete will give you the truest base...a false floor will typically boost the tactile feel as the floor shakes but it might lead to a boom that will be difficult/impossible to fix. So IMO go for the carpet over concrete solution and play it safe...you've got two huge subs anyway so lack of LFE won't be an issue.

Another quickie. Does someone can post some links to those IR system from Lutron or Crestron (if possible in canada), with different alternatives, just to decide what will fit my needs...

There's likely a few places in Ontario that deal in Creston and Lutron but I don't know of any. Creston is the holly grail of HT integration but you need a professional to install and maintain it and given your location that might be impossible. So with that in mind I'd suggest you look at the Philips pronto remotes and install a hard wired Xantech IR repeatiing system. Erik Chris and I have all done this in our HT's so you've got us to bounce idea's off. Read the tutorials on http://www.smarthome.com as they're well written and easy to understand. If you'd like I can send you some pronto samples I've done for other clients if you want to see just what a color pronto can do....for that matter if cost isn't an issue it would be cheap to buy me a plane ticket and I'll install it for you

[efarstad]

On the floor issue...I'll just share that our theater has a concrete floor with a pad and carpet over it. Anyone who has experienced our theater can attest to the fact that the bass response is NOT hindered in anyway...having a floating floor "may" increase the "shake" factor of the LFE, but if not done properly could introduce acoustical responses that are not desired.

So as I and others have stated, so much depends on the other aspects of your room and what you are desiring to do. So in essence, both are fine to do or one or the other might be "better" based upon your unique room and circumstances and why I HIGHLY suggest at the minimum having an acoustical engineer/designer look at your room and provide some consultation. You don't have to have some local do this, there are many who provide those services via "long-distance" relationships.

If there is one thing I've learned since building my own theater and now starting my own company...the room IS the most important part of the type of experience you will get out of your equipment, speakers, and video display! And why I have the artistic design passion of HT, I don't have the acoustical experience/knowledge yet and why I teamed with someone with over 25+ years of acoustical design...so it can be DONE RIGHT!

So depending on your needs, make sure you go with someone who cares about the room and not just someone wanting to sell your equipment or just "pretty looks" for the room...because that's what many so-called theater designers do!

Ok, enough said...remember, it's about YOU and having fun! 8)

E





The Norwegian A/V Nut!
E-Cinema

[LEVESQUE]

Thank you all for your generous answers.

There is not a single soul that want to do the 6 hours trip from Montreal to reach my place, so I finally decided to do it alone. I did call all the contrators where I live and nobody ever did a dedicated HT... Sigh...

But my contractor was in charge of sound insolution for government buildings, so he's quit good and wants to help me badly, and read everything I print from the net.

I have some plans for bass-trap at home but can't post the link from work (HTguide doesn't work from my home...). Will try to fix it and post it.

Now I know what GOM is !!!

I think I will go with a think undercarpet with a thick carpet on it, directly on concrete.

Now other problem is to find the good HVAC and fans to vent that gear rack... Imagine the Bryston 4BSST, Anthem P5 and the projector all heating in this small 3 feet... Wow!

[Sonnie Parker]

Careful Burke... I've done a three way... I drink Coke and Pepsi and Sam's Choice. :P :P :P






SONNIE

Cedar Creek Cinema

DVD Collection

BFD Comprehensive Setup Guide

[Burke Strickland]

Having gone both ways - NO, NO, not that ...

Whew! For an awful moment there, I was afraid you were going to say you'd been drinking both Coke AND Pepsi. Yechhh. :>)

Burke

[David Meek]

I have a router at home I can't access HTGuide anymore, except from work. Someone could help me here, moderator? 8O

Is this a router or a firewall? The first thing that came to mind is that there probably is an "access control list" that you need to add HTG to.

After reading everywhere I still can't decide for the floor. I got alot of conflicting opinions. Some are saying directly on concrete, others are telling to go with wood-floor with carpet on it... Sigh... :?:

Let me be clear here - I was referring to carpet and pad over concrete, not bare concrete flooring. Bare concrete would really be sonically bad - IMHO.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Bam!]

hey guys...

I am gonna answer for Levesque on this one...the reason that he needs the advice from you guys is because he lives very far from Montreal and there is NO One in the area that can help him out....

That is why I told him to come here...ahhhh smart me

take care guys!




Bam!

[Chris D]

First thing first. Money is no object, so don't bother with the prices, just give me the best options!

Wow... how many of us would like to say that, huh? I agree, if you can afford it, you'll want to have an expert theater designer with multiple experiences and engineering knowledge design the theater, (i.e. someone much better than my little amateur self) and unless you just want the enjoyment of building it yourself, (which I do, regardless of how much money I have) even pay the experts to do the installation.

Those dimensions are awesome. My room is about 12x22 w/ 8 foot ceiling. Depth is ok, but I wish I had another foot or two width, even though I'm using skinny chairs. 11 feet of ceiling height gives you lots and lots of room for riser construction, floated floor, spacious headroom, etc. Since none of those dimensions are multiples of each other, you won't run into severe node and null problems. I'll plug in those values to some modeling software when I get a chance and see what we get, though.

My room was built on the house 2nd floor, so I don't have experience in building on concrete. Go with what people like David say that have done it. My instinct, though, is to build a proper floor platform. Even if you don't, you could do what I did, which is to lay down a layer of rubber soundproofing matting like Acoustik Mat, then put a plywood topfloor layer on top of that. That will give you floor sound isolation from the concrete, as well as a heat barrier.

If money truly is no object, then you'll want a true RS-232 control system with remote operation, like Crestron. Big $$$, though, and you'll almost definitely need a pro to program it. The next cheaper option is the IR repeater system I mentioned, like Xantech. (http://www.xantech.com) Crestron is at http://www.crestron.com




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[Sonnie Parker]

GOM = Guilford of Maine

A cloth material used to cover most DIY room treatment panels.


If money is no object then you might consider hirirng a professional to help you make the tough decisions that you are getting conflicting answers on.

Otherwise I would probably stick with listening to those who actually have experience with their recommendations.

IOW talk to those who have actually framed above their concrete slab in a similar size room and see if they have had any boominess problems. Obviously David is one of those who has experieced both so he would be a good witness. Personally I have only built one HT room and it is as I stated above and I have been very happy with it. I did not try framing above the slab because of the problems some people have experienced with it and the fact there was a possibility of problems I would later have to deal with if it didn't work. What a pain it would have been. What could I have gained from doing it if it did work? I don't know but I'm happy I didn't do it because I'm happy with what I have and don't feel like I needed to do it. But that's just my opinion. You might do it and be completely happy... but if you do it and it creates problems then you've got yourself a major headache to deal with.






SONNIE

Cedar Creek Cinema

DVD Collection

BFD Comprehensive Setup Guide

[LEVESQUE]

Thank you all! I will take the time to ''digest'' everything then will come back... I really appreciate the help.

First thing first. Money is no object, so don't bother with the prices, just give me the best options! 8)

Second. Since I have a router at home I can't access HTGuide anymore, except from work. Someone could help me here, moderator? 8O

My room is 14X24 with 11 feet high ceiling. I'm directly on concrete now. I plan to put the equipment rack in the bak, with a 3 feet access to the equipment (false wall) and projector.

Another quickie. What in the nine hell is GOM? I can't find anywhere what it is or where to buy it...

After reading everywhere I still can't decide for the floor. I got alot of conflicting opinions. Some are saying directly on concrete, others are telling to go with wood-floor with carpet on it... Sigh... :?:

Another quickie. Does someone can post some links to those IR system from Lutron or Crestron (if possible in canada), with different alternatives, just to decide what will fit my needs...

I just read on another forum that the Da-Lite High-power screen needs to have the projector at the smallest angle between the eye and the projector, and then, a ceiling mount will yield a bigger angle and a lesser gain froM the Hi-power (because of the design of the Hi-Power), and that mouting the projector near the eye level was the way to go to obtain the highest gain possible... Sigh.... And I tought that ceiling mounting was the way to go....

Thank you all for your help. I REALLY appreciate it...

[David Meek]

Those other "golden room ratios" that I have notes on are:

1.00 H x 1.14 W x 1.39 D
1.00 H x 1.28 W x 1.54 D
1.00 H x 1.60 W x 2.33 D




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[David Meek]

Here are some quick thoughts on some construction issues.

Having gone both ways - NO, NO, not that : - concrete slab and plywood-over-joists in two theater rooms, I can easily recommend the concrete slab for isolation and minimizing bass boominess. Add to that the fact that any kind of staging or seating risers will need to be carefully constructed and filled to eliminate the "boominess" that can occur when materials are compressed/stretched and form a surface similar to a drum head.

Staggered-stud construction is a good method to de-couple the wall surfaces (drum heads, remember) from each other and prevent them from passing sounds. Also, sound channel hangers are a good option. These are metal brackets used to attach sheetrock to the studs and at the same time decouple the 'rock from direct contact with the wall studs.

Room dimension ratios and shapes are important also. There are several "golden ratios" for proper acoustic performance, one of which is 0.61 H x 1.00 W x 1.61 D. I'll try to dig up the other 2 or 3 that have been published. Also non-rectangular room shape is excellent for preventing/minimizing standing wave formation - ie. a slight wedge shape is one good example.

Softer materials for wall/floor coverings will generally act as sonic dampers, and conversely harder materials will generally act as exciters. An all hardwood wall will be beautiful, but sonically dangerous in a theater/music room. If you notice, most commercial theaters' walls are lined with a pleated fabric (that has sheet-type damping materials under it) to help cut sounds.

Large-area A/C ducts are quieter than smaller footprint ones as you get less compression of the air flowing through them. Don't put a return air chaise in your room if you can avoid it. That'd create very noticable air currents and possibly lots of noise.

Hope these thoughts help. . . .




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Bam!]

Sonnie!

Thanks..pretty sweet!




Bam!