Advice on doors and sound treatments

[lonsdale3]

I am having an addition built that will be a family room and home theater.

The room will be about 2200 cubic feet. The ceiling will be 8'6". The room will be 15 feet wide. It is 18'6" long from the wall on which the 50" plasma will hang to the center of the back wall, but on either side of the center of that back wall there will be closets. The distance from the front wall to the doors on those closets will be 16’-6”. One of the closets will house the A/V equipment.

The windows and exterior door will be Pella with darkening shades built in between the panes of glass. We had not planned on having drapes or other window treatments.

The floors will be hardwood but with a large rug covering much of the floor.

I’m planning a 5.1 system.

Each closet at the rear of the room requires two doors. I could use louvered doors. I am assuming that would be useful for ventilating the A/V equipment. With respect to reflective surfaces at the rear of the room would four louvered doors be better than four solid ones?

Would upholstered furniture be better than leather from a sound standpoint?

What other advice do you have?

Many thanks for your help.

 

[Audioholics]

Couple things I would say... THX recommends cloth over leather seating - I say do whatever is best for the room. Comfort and aesthetics play an important part.

I doubt the choice of door will play much into the acoustics below 1000Hz so that's not really an issue unless you pursue some of the more expensive doors specially designed for bass trapping, etc... Go with a ventilated door for sure on the equipment side.

Thicker, folded drapes on the windows will be a good thing to consider.

Include surround back (7.1) speakers if at all possible - or at least wire for them.

 

[ScottMayo]

I am having an addition built that will be a family room and home theater.

Plan your acoustic room treatments *now*. It's not a bad sized room but without treatments, the room will echo and bass will be a problem. A rug and a few drapes will not do enough to solve the problem.

The doors are not your biggest concern. With planning, those closets could be part of a bass trapping system, so by all means go with ventilated doors.