Austin DIY HT Projects (1 Viewer)

[Jonathan DA]

Have you modelled your room in Cara yet? I would suggest modelling it with the cabinets filled with faced cotton and without, and see which is better. My initial guesstimate would be that the room would probably perform well if they were turned into bass traps, but make sure they're absorbing bass only. If you turn them into broadband absorbers you're likely to mess up the imaging due to their asymmetrical placement. They might even be good candidates for tuned absorbers.

 

[pmeyer]

I've built a model in CARA. Modelling surface treatments such as 703, carpet, etc. was straightforward: just get the absorption coefficients and play with placement and area.

It was less clear to me how to model something like a deep bass trap. For now I made the wall within ~ a foot of the corner a very wideband absorber but I really don't have a clue how to model accurate bass absorption of something like a solid 703 corner absorber.

With a dead front wall (2" 703), side walls bottom half dead, and faked out corner absorbers (50% flat broadband absorption), CARA seemed to think I had reasonable reverb times, and I could get reasonable looking sound fields and speaker placements. I didn't really try fine tuning it, I was just looking to see how the program worked and make sure my room wasn't DOA.

After a week of playing, I stopped. For now, it wasn't really affecting any decisions I needed to make short term. Even the cabinets will likely be month or more before I have to decide to cover them.

When I get a chance, I'll try different ways of modelling bass traps in the corners, soffits, or in those cabinets. I'll also try modelling with less wall treatment and see if I can get away with first reflections and screen wall, but I'm not betting on it.

 

[pmeyer]

Anyone have good Texas sources of home theater seating? I'm looking at two rows of 4. I like the look/size of Berkline 088's, but I'm not up for a huge investment without a tryout first.

I'm willing to drive to San Antonio or even Houston (we'll combine it with another space center trip and thrill my son) if needed...

 

[Chad Anson]

Paul, the billiard store next to the Bee Caves Lowes had a decent selection of theater seating. I don't recall what brand(s) they carried, but it's a lot closer than San Antonio or Houston.

 

[pmeyer]

Cool, that is about 1/4 mile from my house. Never thought of looking in a billiard store for theater seating. I'll try them out.

Thanks!

 

[Chad Anson]

Any luck with the chairs, Paul?

 

[pmeyer]

I stopped by the billiard store. They had two different sets of three chairs each. Pretty similar, very comfortable, very expensive. Not much selection in the store. Thanks the tip, though.

I'm looking for 4 chairs that can fit in 12' if possible. I'll probably end up going with Berkline or some internet place. I see a couple of Berkline dealers in the Austin area (Texas Discount Furniture and one place in San Marcos). I'll give them a try one of these days.

Right now I'm focusing on finishing the 8' light shelf so I can start getting ready for the framing/mechanical/plumbing inspection.

 

[pmeyer]

Does anybody know of a good drywall supply place around Austin?

Specifically I'm looking for flexible cornerbead for a non-90 degree corner (135 or so). The big box stores only carry 90. I'll be doing the yellow pages thing, but I thought somebody my have a recommendation.

Paul