Basement suggestions/thoughts please (1 Viewer)

[t-dog]

Re-Writing this post since no one is responding. Let me just ask a few questions and see if I get any responses.

Here is a link to the room that I will be installing the theater in.

http://home.comcast.net/~turbosentra/

Question 1

What size screen is appropriate for this size room based on the dimensions (Ceiling is 7'7") I want to place the screen on the 15'9" wall. Rear row of seating will be 3 feet from back wall or approximately 17' from the screen.

Question 2

I'm looking to spend about $1000-1400 on the projector. Any recommendations?

Question 3

What is the best way to construct the room for optimal sound characteristics? Seems to be a few ways of doing this but would like the expert’s opinions. Linacoustic and batting? Airspace behind sheetrock? etc. What recommendations do you have for building a sub floor and keep in mind I'm dealing with a limited ceiling height of 7'7" already.

That's enough for now. I have many more questions but will keep reading threads to get answers.

Thanks in advance!

Tyler

 

[Jim Mcc]

With a 17' seating distance, I would go with at least 110" diagonal. First you need to decide on an LCD or DLP projector. There are 2 new 720p DLP projectors in your budget. The Optoma HD70 for $999, and the new Mitsubishi HD1000 for $1400. I'm going to upgrade to one of these in 2-3 months. As far as the last question, I built my HT room in basement with 2X4 studs, and insulated all the walls and ceiling with fiberglass batts. The insulation helps with soundproofing, but there are probably better and more expensive options out there. Our floor is a concrete slab, and we had carpet and pad laid directly over the slab.

 

[t-dog]

Thanks for the comments Jim Mcc. I've been looking at the Optoma HD70 as a first option due to its great price and 720p. As for acoustic treatments I'm still continuing to research this subject as I find this very important to me. I want as dead a room as possible. I will definately incorporate some kind of wooden sub floor before putting the carpet down. Just got done reading about a drywall called Quietrock. Anyone have thoughts on this stuff or other suggestions for wall and ceiling treatments?

 

[icthys]

You say you want the room to be as dead as possible, what does that mean? I would take it to mean you want the acoustics in the room to be dead but I have a feeling you are referring to soundproofing. Acoustics and soundproofing are two different things. Acoustics is what is going on with the sound in the room produced by your speakers. Soundproofing deals with keeping the sound in the room in the room and sounds outside of the room outside of the room.

Since i think you are talking soundproofing that's what I'll answer. I've heard good things about QuietRock but at the same time it is expensive. I've used Acoustiblok which works well but is expensive. Regular vinyl sheeting as I see it is the same as acoustiblok but cheaper. There is also green goo or somthing like that that goes in between two layers of sheet rock and I've also heard good stuff. Look into RCIS clips which isolate the sheet rock from your framed wall, cool stuff if you ask me. There are also ways to frame your wall like building "two" walls next to each other and staggering the studs. You can also throw fiberglass insulation in the wall to help out.

Pick and choose which one you like best or even combine several of them together to make it very quiet. Just remember it's impossible to get rid of all the sound unless you've got tons of $$$, the idea is to reduce it.

 

[t-dog]

Actually I probably used the wrong term when I said "dead". I was referring to the fact that I want to room to be as good acoustically as possible. I don’t want a "bright" room. I am not as concerned with soundproofing as I am with the quality of the sound inside the room. I live in a large home and when we're (the family) watching movies there won't be an issue with others outside the room being bothered by the sound emanating from the theater. If they are bothered by the sound that's leaking they can go 2 floors up and that should solve the problem. Anyway I would think that treating the theater room acoustics you do some soundproofing inherently. Maybe this is an incorrect assumption. I am still confused with what I should do with the walls, floors and ceiling to provide the best possible acoustics for the room. I am on a budget so spending 10k plus to get decent acoustics isn't going to work. I don't mind spending 2-4k in acoustic materials to improve sound quality. I am a DIY kinda guy and will be doing all the construction in the room. I just need opinions on what is recommended for a DIY'er on my budget to make the room perform acoustically. I saw this guys theater and like the way it looks but I'm not sure about what materials were actually used on the walls and where to buy them nor do I know if there is a better way to accomplish what he was trying. Here is the link to his site.

http://www.reedsplace.com/Theater/Ne...tion/index.htm

Thanks for your comments so far.

 

[BruceSpielbauer]

Actually, I would state that your assumption is _mostly_ incorrect. In fact, many of the things that some of us do for soundproofing tend to work against the ideal things for terrific acoustics. Because of this, a lot of people end up adding room treatments at the very end, to bring the room back to a state where it is acoustically pleasing.

Some of the best things for soundproofing may be to seal a room up tight, caulk every seam, seal every outlet and switchbox and all gaps between drywall and floor, drywall and ceiling, and all of the gaps at doorframes. One can be left with a room where the sound has nowhere to go, so it echoes like a bad gymasium might, as it bounces around endlessly within a small space. Then, one must add lots of fabric, carpeting, plush furniture, and in many cases that is not enough to nullify that echo. One might then add a fiberglass batting and cover it with GOM (a fabric). Another will install large acoustic treatment panels on the walls, or install large bass traps, just to try to treat the standing waves.

If you do not soundproof, you may find that you need to do less of that than some are required to do.

Right off the top of my head, I cannot think of a single major thing that is typically done which improve soundproofing and also improve the acoustics within the room. Most techniques tend to support either one or the other.

I do recommend you do a search on these topics, since your concern is merely with the acoustic excellence:

"room treatments"

"acoustic treatments"

"GOM"

"Guilford of Maine"

"sound panels"

"acoustic panels"

"bass traps"

I also suggest you search for the experts' opinions on the ideal room ratios. There are published reports and calculators to help you determine if the shape and size of the room will lend itself to ideal sound, or if it will be problematic from the start. Sometimes one can make an adjustment during construction which can alter these dimensions, and "fix" a potential problem before it ever appears.

Search for "ideal room ratio."

Search at this forum. I would also suggest you try punching the same terms into a major search engine.

-Bruce