tonyGar

Home Theater Sound Paneling... any ideas???

I am installing a dedicated home theater....any good (inexpensive) ideas on the sound protecting the walls, like sound paneling or fabric for the walls (like a real theater!).... where should I go?

I really dont want to get hosed by a high-end contractor...

PLEASE HELP!

Tonygar

Leo Kerr

If you want to see the range of fabrics for "real theaters", I always recommend checking out Rose Brand.

I do have some cautions for you, though...

1. Cost.
2. Keeping them clean. Walls are hard to vacuum.

Leo

PaulT

Whenever I have inquired about panel fabrics I have been referred here:

http://www.guilfordofmaine.com/

"One of the problems of taking things apart and seeing how they work--supposing you're trying to find out how a cat works--you take that cat apart to see how it works, what you've got in your hands is a non-working cat." -- Douglas Adams

tonyGar

I guess I could either put the material on the whole wall or do panels. Panels seem better since they are easier to put up and maybe more economical????

Just wondering if there is a cheap provider of sound absorption panels to slow the noise in the room....going to have a rug and silk plants and my seating is micro-fiber and not leather......

Bud Huey

I am still in the construction phase of my HT, so this is an unproven theory, but I plan to glue some old carpet squares to the walls for sound control. Then I plan to cover them with some type of fabric for a finished look.

I am lucky in the fact that my father-in-law has access to some used carpet squares that are coming out of an office building. Most companies throw them away when they replace the carpeting, so a few phone calls might prove fruitful. You could also use roll carpet if it has a thin nap - no 60's shag. The carpet squares also have a rubber backing that I think will help control the sound.

I am also going to put some carpet squares up in the ceiling above the sheetrock for sound control upstairs.

Good Luck,
Bud

Blaine_M

There are all kinds of do it yourslef wall pannel links out there. Do some searches on things like 'Do it yourself accoustic pannels' or something like that. Most of them are a simple wood frame with fiberglass in the middle. Carpet might help a little, but it won't do what these will do. They usually use burlap over the outside because it doesn't reflect sound like other fabrics.

Scott_Vonhof

Blaine, the burlap may work, but it also may not fit the needs that people have for the interior look they are going for. That is where the Guildford of Maine fabric starts to really make a difference. It is made so that it is acoutstically transparent, that way, it doesn't reflect, but allows the stuff behind it to do it's job.

Bud, I have heard many people say that carpet, especially the low pile carpet won't be good to put on walls for acoutstic controls in a room, since it will allow too much reflection of the high frequencies and not enough absorbtion at most frequencies. There are cheap alternatives, such as sound-board (can be found at Home Depot or Lowes) or even duct-board which is basically the same thing as the insul-shield which many people have used for their walls.

Tony, if you are not going to treat the whole theater, then the next best thing is to treat all the first reflection points. The way to find these is to sit where you seats will be and place mirrors on the walls, Where you can see the speakers in the reflectoins is where the first reflection points are. Put absorbtion panels there as well as in the back of the theater and you should do pretty well. Beyond that, you can hire some people that can do some caculations based on the room and equipment to get more accurate results.

Scott Vonhof
My Web site, My home theater, My speakers, My motorcycle

Steve Isern

I have to be one of the kings of cheap. I said to myself... self how about all those people in those cubicals at work? they block the conversations. so I found a place that was getting rid of office supplies and found some small cubicals and opened them up and used one cubical for two sound panels. I must say it worked pretty good. Inside it is basicaly sound board with a thin layer of foam and fabric over that. Like I said I am cheap. it does work and it's a thought!
Steve

Bud Huey

After reading Scott's reply I rushed out to Home Depot - like I needed another excuse to go - and I looked for 'sound board'. I could not find anything on my own, so I asked an associate about it and he said they carry a line of sheetrock that is suppose to deaden sound, but that it is designed to deaden sound being transfered to other rooms, not reflected sounds within the room. Do I need to try Lowe's?

Does anyone have any suggestions for a "low cost" alternative that is athestically pleasing? I called one of the websites specializing in sound control solutions and they wanted $9500 + S&H just for the material to do my HT. I am not going to spend that much on my projector and screen!!! Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Bud

Leo Kerr

You could try - though I don't know how successful it might be, though it'd be cheap to experiment - getting those nasty fiber-glass ceiling tiles - 2'x4'. Wrap them in your decorative fabric, and then attach to the wall, fiber-glass side out.

One thing you can also do this way is the 'mirror' trick. The full 'trick' is to place a light bulb at your speakers, sit in the listening area, and have someone move along the walls with a mirror, flush to the wall. When you see the light, mark it as an area that needs to have the reflections deadened. (This'd be for reducing primary reflections.)

The big advantage of this whole concept is, if it works at all, those tiles are pretty cheap.

Leo

Scott_Vonhof

Bud, sound board is kinda strange as it comes in 4x8 foot sheets, is about 1/2" thick and gets damaged easilly, so HD and Lowes don't alwasy have it where the normal customer can get to it easilly. The material is almost like carboard pulp that is not fully compressed. It is a fiberous material that can be broken by bending and compressed by adding pressure to it. It is typically either a light brown or beige color. Sometimes soundboard is installed behind sheetrock (contractors know it for doing this) to help sound-proof between walls. Of course, that is the easy way and doesn't do the job as well as staggered studs and multiple layers of sheetrock do.

I used to have a picture with the UPC for the soundboard, let me see if I can find it.

Scott Vonhof
My Web site, My home theater, My speakers, My motorcycle