Affordable help with naked basement

[HughJorgan]

Greetings Everyone!
I have been doing lots of reading over the last few weeks on this site. What a great site! Here is my dilemma. I have just had a new home built, and thanks to upgrades here and stainless appliances there etc., the budget for the finished home theater in the basement is on hold for a couple of years. I therefore want to set up an affordable temporary room that will allow me to still enjoy my system until I can do it up properly. The basement is currently pure concrete, and I plan on putting up a temporary wall down the centre of the room to protect the theater from the stray hockey balls etc.. I have some carpet and underpad for the room, that will be approximately 20' long X 13' wide X 8' high. I do have access to egg carton sound absorbing foam, but am wondering about the best placement for it. I will also try and insulate the floor joists over-head, and probably install the double layer of drywall that has been frequently recommended on this site. I would appreciate any recommendations that the knowledgable forum members and mods have here. Should the ceiling joists have spray on or fiberglass insulation? Is the egg carton foam a good idea? If so, how much, and where? Any and all suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Ethan Winer]

Hugh,

> I do have access to egg carton sound absorbing foam, but am wondering about the best placement for it. <

Thin foam is not very useful for acoustic treatment because it absorbs only the highest frequencies and leaves the low end boomy and muddy. Further, foam not specifically made for acoustic purposes is not useful at all.

> Any and all suggestions are appreciated. <

Have a look at my Acoustics FAQ:

www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

It's a fair amount to read, but it has a lot of information you need. Especially if you plan to build walls to establish the room's new size and shape.

--Ethan

 

[HughJorgan]

Thanks for the reply Ethan,
Your link is very informative. I will read it several times while I make my plans for the room. The foam I will be using is an acoustic product that I use for sound absorbtion for silencing blowers in church pipe organs. I think that I will try and use some of this material to absorb the mids and highs, and also attempt to create some bass traps as well based on your formula's in the link. Thanks again! Any other suggestions are welcomed.

 

[bpape]

If you're going to close in the ceiling, fill it with fiberglass or rockwool. Don't use the spray-in. Most of it is a closed cell type that does little to help stop sound from an isolation standpoint and does even less to help let the ceiling damp some of the bass via the drywall acting as a membrane.

 

[HughJorgan]

If you're going to close in the ceiling, fill it with fiberglass or rockwool. Don't use the spray-in. Most of it is a closed cell type that does little to help stop sound from an isolation standpoint and does even less to help let the ceiling damp some of the bass via the drywall acting as a membrane.

Good Advice. Thanks!

 

[Bryce_H]

In terms of the ceiling I actually have a drop ceiling and direct mount (kinda) ceiling in my home theater. The drop ceiling and regular ceiling are both mounted to isolation clips from PAC International. On the regular ceiling (and all the walls) the drywall is mounted using RSIC-1 Clips and resiant channeling. The drop ceiling drywall is attached to a drywall grid which is suspended by DC04-X2 . The joists are filled with 2 layers of R-15 rolled insulation. The reason for the drop and regular ceiling is I have an I-beam that runs from left to right about halfway back in the theater. While I could have done the entire theater as a drop down, I then would not have been able to have a riser for the second row of seats (ceiling would be below regulation height). I ordered the above linked items from a local distributer (I whould avoid PAC-International's master distributer "Professional Acoustics" - I had a very bad experience with them and ended up finding a more local distributer). The channeling and drop ceiling grid I bought from a local drywall suppier (make sure you specify a drywall drop ceiling grid). Good luck and as always ask lots of questions.

 

[HughJorgan]

Again, thanks for the great advice. Please keep the recommendations coming. My wife hates this because every time someone replies, I decide that there is no time like the present, and I have to build the theater now. If you're going to do it, do it right! (I have so much homework to do!)
Thanks again to everyone who has responded!
Hugh

 

[Audioholics]

For some pretty in depth acoustical principles and advice you may want to read this: http://www.acoustics101.com/

There is some excellent information from degreed engineers. It goes from basics to advanced principles and covers just about everything a layman would want to know.

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

Thanks, Clint. I hadn't been to the Auralex site lately and didn't remember that section. I have a naked basement too that I'm planning on building a listening room in. When you go to the Acoustics 101 site, note the "free booklet" graphic on the left. Click it and you get a .pdf of the whole series of articles you can read or print out at your leisure.

Great thread, Hugh. I bet a lot of us are in the same boat. Funnily enough I had just begun thinking of a temporary wall/partition until I can do the whole shebang since I'm about to build speakers that really need more room than I have in my den. I'll be following this thread with great interest.

Ethan: I was unfamiliar with your site (or maybe I just forgot) but it looks good, especially for DIY. Thanks.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

While you're reading I suggest a projector, a fold away screen, and a set of headphones.

It'll be a lot cheaper and you can enjoy your films 'right now' until you can afford to get things properly built all at once ('cause we all know doing it a little at a time always costs 3x as much in the end).

 

[HughJorgan]

I can't thank everyone enough for their input. I think the bottom line is that I have to cough up the dough, and build it right! Please keep the advice coming on this thread. It is all appreciated.