Dedicated HT Room advice

[Senact]

I wanted to reach out again to the Audioholics community for some advice on my HT room.

As some of you may recall, a few months ago I purchased a bunch of equipment (see sig) for a new HT room (22x14x7.5) approx. My original plan was to get the equipment, enjoy the room as is for a while and then strip it down and finish it properly, but with spring coming, snow melting, I'm becoming more motivated and would like to tackle the project now.

I have a few questions on things like paint and acoustic treatments. Right now, I want to replace the carpet, repaint and clean up all the cabling with conduits and wiremolds. I was thinking on the screen wall being black, and the rest of the room some sort of brown? Can anyone recommend a particular colour or brand?

Second question was a new screen. Am I better off buying a tab tensioned AT screen or trying to build some kind of DIY false wall? One thing I wondered about the false wall is how do you get behind it? Do you build a hidden door in it?

Third was acoustic treatments. I plan to insulate around the ducting in my bulkhead as right now I can hear it vibrating during base intensive scenes, are acoustic panels necessary? If so, are there recommended brands, how much treatment do you need? Are they noticeable for movies/gaming?

Fourth is I want to build a riser, I think I have a fairly good idea on this. Since my ceiling is low, I was going to build a 8" riser for a couple extra seats at the back of the room and carpet it when I recarpet the room.

Please keep in mind I'm in Canada, so availability is more limited.

Thanks, I attached a rough sketch of the room from a few months ago for interest. The two outside "boxes" are my towers, and the larger box on the left side is the sub, ignore the smallest box. I'll take some real pics when I get home. The bulkhead causes issues with screen height, that's why I want to reduce the width so I can hang a larger screen off the surface of the bulkhead and still keep it centered in the room.

 

[vecc76]

I'll give you my take on acoustic panels. Absoulutley, acoustic panels make a significant difference (at least in my case). My designated HT room is the downstairs family room, when the project began I knew I would have to find a solution for the echo sound that I was getting (hardwood floors, 16x22 room) big space to fill, you get the idea. So I constructed 9 panels and placed them throughout the room and it made an enourmous difference, Its sounds great now the sound is crisp and clear, no echo at all. I guess whatever type of room or layout you have acoustic panels will help regardless. As far as paint choice, whatever works for your taste, I personally like the Home Depot brand (Behr paints) they always coat very nice. Best of luck Oh by the way, a few 4" recess lighting cans placed on a dimmer switch around that bulkhead would sure set the ambience in the room, (just a thought)

 

[GIK Acoustics]

Third was acoustic treatments. I plan to insulate around the ducting in my bulkhead as right now I can hear it vibrating during base intensive scenes, are acoustic panels necessary? If so, are there recommended brands, how much treatment do you need? Are they noticeable for movies/gaming?

Insulating around the ducting will reduce those vibrations you hear. Otherwise, treatment is usually looked at for a lot of the front wall in a home theater, as well as the first reflection points on the sidewalls and ceilings. Bass traps are usually used in the corners and on the rear wall to absorb room modes and standing waves. Though a lot of this was written with studios in mind, it applies to home theaters as well: Room Acoustics Primer | . This article will get you started on acoustic treatments.

I try to let my girlfriend make all color decisions so I've no idea how to help you there!

 

[Senact]

Thanks for the advice. I'm currently in the process of completely gutting the room down to the foundation. I uncovered some water issues so I'm glad I did. My plan is to insulate the exterior walls with Roxul R14, and the interior walls and ceiling with safe and sound. I'll use a 5/8" fire rated drywall, and I may install those spacers or whatever they're called to create an air space.

One thing I find annoying is the conditioner makes a loud click everytime it has to maintain 120v, so I need to come up with a good design for isolating that noise, while still allowing air flow so equipment doesn't overheat.