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Post by thevinoman on Nov 14, 2013 16:17:53 GMT -5
Just moved in to a house that has a large finished basement. It's all drywall, mostly carpeted with a very low Berber, and a drop tile ceiling that is 7 ft. What I would like to do is utilize a somewhat center section of this (not exactly square) room, which would measure 13 ft. wide by 18 ft. deep. The 13 ft. "front" would be where I would like to place a 65" TV, and Emotiva components. In the listening space I would have an upholstered chair and small couch. While certainly not ideal (nor is my bank account....), can I get away with hanging some heavy drapes around the space for sound absorption, or am I dreaming? I'm thinking 60% music, 30% televised sports, 10% movies. I've got a bunch of "semi-vintage" Klipsch speakers as you can see from my signature, and not sure yet whether to go 5.1 or 7.1. Any suggestions are most certainly welcome regarding the acoustics, and also suggestions on pre-amp/proc and amplifiers are needed as well. Thanks very much.
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Post by jlafrenz on Nov 14, 2013 16:19:01 GMT -5
How many panels do you need and what budget do you have to work with?
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DYohn
Emo VIPs 
Posts: 18,486
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Post by DYohn on Nov 14, 2013 16:57:05 GMT -5
Drapery or carpets hanging on the walls make a great low-cost decorator-friendly way of reducing the boom and echo in any room.
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Post by neo20013 on Nov 14, 2013 17:44:33 GMT -5
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Post by Bonzo on Nov 14, 2013 17:51:06 GMT -5
Well it appears you might have cats, so I'd stay away from anything that looks like a drape or isn't affixed to the walls. My cats ruin drapes. Of course you could just use some pleated/accordion folded fabric with rods at the top and bottom, that way they are affixed. Just talking out loud......
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Post by kentrom on Nov 14, 2013 19:22:36 GMT -5
This is what I did for my room, I also purchased some of the insulation from Menards that was made from recycled jeans for a second run of panels. DIY Acoustic Panels
Please feel free to inquire about my experience building and implementing. Best of luck! |
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Post by yves on Nov 14, 2013 20:29:20 GMT -5
While certainly not ideal (nor is my bank account....), can I get away with hanging some heavy drapes around the space for sound absorption, or am I dreaming? Yes, you are dreaming.  Drapes will just suck out all of the mid and high frequency energy, causing the room to sound dead. What you need instead are thick corner bass traps that, by reducing "standing waves" in a room, will help to eliminate deep nulls in the bass part of the frequency response. Further, you need panel absorbers to cover all the first reflection points on the walls and ceiling. The easiest and cheapest way to reduce standing waves in a room is to straddle as many corners of the room as possible with (preferrably 2 layers of) 4" thick sheets of Owens Corning 703 fiberglass or Roxul Safe'n'Sound or similar (high density) mineral wool, leaving an air gap behind them to keep the total cost down to a minimum. These materials are floppy / rigid, and can very easily be cut to size using an electric knife normally used to cut a turkey. To keep them from sagging / falling down on the floor, fixing these sheets of insulation inside a wooden frame is a commonly used solution. To make it look more aesthetically pleasing, you can use thin (see-through) Muslin cotton fabric available from Joann's fabrics online [very often at a discount if you order online], and fold it tidily around the corners of the frame while very carefully stretching it evenly across the front, before stapling it around the back. However, the fabric covering the front of the panel shouldn't touch the insulation material that will absorb the sound waves. Owens Corning 703 is unfaced, whereas Owens Corning 703 "FRK" has a membrane glued to it on one face. Choosing the 703 FRK type of fiberglass insulation and placing it with the membrane facing the room is fine if you are building corner bass traps, and the membrane will actually even help with bass absorption if facing that way. However, if you are going to use two layers of insultation to double the insulation thickness then you need to make sure the only place where there will be membrane is on the front, i.e. not between both layers of insulation nor between the insulation and the air gap. Filling the air gap with insulation will also help. However, if, due to the cost of the insulation material, you have to choose between A. being able to treat additional corners of the room by leaving an air gap to save material needed to treat additional corners and B. being able to fill the air gap with insulation by treating only the four corners between the walls rather than also treating the four corners between the walls and ceiling, option A. is going to be better. The first reflection points are areas on the walls and ceiling where the sound coming from a speaker is reflected directly toward the listening position. They can be treated using sheets of unfaced (i.e. without a membrane) fiberglass or mineral wool at least 4" thick. Also note that, if the room has corner bass traps then if the front of these bass traps has a membrane on the front like I earlier described, this membrane will also act as a reflective surface to the mid and high frequency sound waves, but not to the low frequency sound waves. So, if sound coming from the speaker is reflected directly toward the listener by a certain part of this membrane's surface, this should also be considered a first reflection point. In this particular case, however, it should be very easy to fix because the membrane can be left out in those specific parts that cover those specific reflection points. In fact, if the room sounds too live due to it having too much mid and high frequency energy, the membrane can be left out in other parts too. Doing that will cause more mid and high frequency energy to be absorbed from the room, but loses some bass trapping performance. |
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Post by novisnick on Nov 15, 2013 0:10:14 GMT -5
Welcome thevinoman, glad to have you here and yes there are many Emo products to choose from. They are of high quality at a working mans price. Ie great bang for the buck. Some more new products are coming soon. Look around and friends are easy to find here.  Peace, Nick |
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Post by thevinoman on Nov 15, 2013 13:58:57 GMT -5
The cats are well trained...(believe it or not), so no issue with drapes, etc. Thanks for all your responses.
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Drapes will just suck out all of the mid and high frequency energy, causing the room to sound dead. What you need instead are thick corner bass traps that, by reducing "standing waves" in a room, will help to eliminate deep nulls in the bass part of the frequency response. Further, you need panel absorbers to cover all the first reflection points on the walls and ceiling.
