L-Shaped Room Design (1 Viewer)

[Badies]

I am currently in the process of wrapping up construction of the 2x4 walls in my basement - soon to be home theater, but have a conflict of interest. Other members of my household want the room to be one big open space, (multipurpose room) while I intend to set it up in the best acoustical configuration. Unfortunately, I will have little choice but to build the room in a relatively symmetrical L-shape.

(Attached is the floor plan)

At this point, what would be my best option in terms of 5.1 reproduction without having all of the sound float into empty space on the left side? I have considered dividing the room with some kind of sound absorbing/reflecting material such as these:

http://www.audimutesoundproofing.co...dGEP9paV6mxzcSFI48VY52FEwM7yIz2w5saAgU38P8HAQ

http://www.audimutesoundproofing.co...KzpitN66mCdb4fo2TcJb8YgwQHG-wmxQ9YaArSK8P8HAQ

I realize that if I closed off the room with one of these to form a rectangle that I would need to put the same material on the other side to provide symmetry. Would this really be a good option? It certainly wouldn't be perfect, as the material does not have the same density of the 2x4 stud wall on the other side of the room, but would it be better than nothing/sound treating the open space of the room? Is there another option that I am overlooking that could provide me with a temporary wall that could be taken down and put back up with relative ease?

 

[Adam Gregorich]

I don't think either option will keep sound out of that space. You are better off to toe in the FL speaker just a bit depending on your seating arrangement. Since the bottom of the L is a bit bigger than the right part of the L you could rotate it 90 degrees and that might work better (NOTE: I can't see windows or doors, so that might not work). As long as you are running wire, consider a few speakers in the ceiling for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X

 

[DaveF]

Flip your seating and have the front speakers and display to be inside the 'box' on the right.

I've talked with pro installers and I've been told multiple times to not have front speakers firing into opposing walls like you'd have in your shown configuration.

I believed the advice, and followed it for setting up in a T-shaped room.

 

[Badies]

Sorry for not including this originally, but first off there is a door in the bottom part of the L (open space) towards the right side, and a small block window right in the center of the long wall. I am hesitant to put the speakers in the right part of the room for two reasons. Both are caused by the fact that the ceiling drops down by 11 inches at the right portion of the room. The first is that seating in the lower ceiling area would perhaps feel squished. Secondly, I fear the sound would reverberate off the 11 inch lip at the ceiling. I (and several others) have been watching several films/listening to music with the configuration above. It sounds alright, and even better when the sub is placed in the (as pictured) open space in the room, although it does make the bass more directional and more is felt closer to the sub. I think I'll probably keep it this way and just move the sub to an optimal location as the lower frequencies seem to be more affected by the spaciousness of the left speaker. That being said, if the recommended angle for the front speakers is 30 degrees, should I exceed this, or just direct them so the center is in the center of the room?

 

[DaveF]

I think you need to have some illustrations of the space and restrictions. it's difficult to provide feedback based on a text description and an ascii graphic.

 

[Badies]

You're right haha. I think this will work. Its a bit scattered, but should be detailed enough. The interior walls are in red.