Highland Theater

[nibhaz]

Thanks Ben. Yes it is. I built 2 2x4 walls that are sides of the rack and tied them into the main wall. I cut a hole in the existing drywall and then lined the cabinet with 1/4 inch material. I made my shelves from 3/4 inch ply and used some heavy duty shelf braces for the bottom to hold 250 lbs. I used lighter duty brackets for the upper shelves and veneered the front edge and painted it black.

The side 2x4 walls keep the wiring clean. The only negative I've found is that I did not set it up for adjustable shelves. I've left gaps and the back bottom and top that I am going to install fans to pull the hot air out of the rack.

Had you ever worked with veneer prior to this project?

I guess I am really interested in the learning curve.

 

[adk highlander]

Had you ever worked with veneer prior to this project?

I guess I am really interested in the learning curve.

No I had not and I purchased the "iron on" type of veneer. I lined the top edge of the veneer with the top surface of my shelf and ironed the strip on. Once it had cured I used a razor blade to score the edge that was wider thant the shelf. I did this until the extra basically fell off in my hand. I sanded it then paint. I don't think I would have been happy with my work if I would not have painted it.

 

[nibhaz]

Thanks Craig,

Veneer is something I’m defiantly interested in learning more about, but to be honest I’m intimidated. For your project it seems that it has worked out nicely, providing a more finished look to your custom build.

Would the material you used work on the back side of a speaker? Can it wrap around a corner? Do we have a resident veneer expert here at AH? I know WmAx has a good bit of knowledge but little time

 

[Rickster71]

Rick I didn't know you had a MX-111. Do you have a DVD changer or do you just use it as a music server?

I use it as a music server. I remember at the time I got mine (at least 4 years ago) I was told that due to copyright restrictions I could archive movies.

 

[adk highlander]

Thanks Craig,

Veneer is something I’m defiantly interested in learning more about, but to be honest I’m intimidated. For your project it seems that it has worked out nicely, providing a more finished look to your custom build.

Would the material you used work on the back side of a speaker? Can it wrap around a corner? Do we have a resident veneer expert here at AH? I know WmAx has a good bit of knowledge but little time

No problem Ryan.

I don't want you to think what I did was difficult at all. This stuff was made for what I used it for and the heat activated glue makes it very easy to use.

The product I used would not be for the back of a speaker. The width was less than 3 inches. This would go around a bull nose corner but you would need to steam it first to get it that pliable.

 

[jostenmeat]

Hey adk. I just wanted to check in to see how the calibration conundrum was coming along. I swear one day soon I'm going to better familiarize myself with the Spears/Munsil.

So, I wanted to just blurt out loud about calibrating last night, just in case anything might be of interest, however unlikely. I went through a lot of the DVE last night, even repeating certain chapters multiple times, and one particularly good explanation for the layman (or so I thought), which is not explained in the AVIA II, as far as I remember, was the discussion about how contrast and brightness are so inter-related.

The point was to get the grayscale bars not to clip on either side, but in order to do so, both brightness and contrast had to be played with. They did explain that certain displays have a "set black" so to speak, and just go upwards with range, and that other displays will move its dynamic abilities as a whole, upward or downward.


The interesting part:

Last night I got to +4 brightness and -5 contrast, and as it was late, just watched a few scenes of Kill Bill, one of my best reference live action discs. The pic at times almost seemed too dim, yet the bright stuff (such as in Copperhead's sunlit kitchen, or the fluorescent lights where the Pussy Wagon was garaged) was almost too bright! Weird! I thought I must have done very well to realize the potential of my dynamic range. However, today, I was thinking I wanted some of the people themselves to look a little brighter, ideal calibration be damned.

So, I played again with the DVE tonight, and replaying the chapter once again (since I already had to bust the disc out anyways to replay some sweeps causing buzzes with a speaker), I redid the contrast test. I think the way I did it last night was so that the last two black bars could be clearly discerned. However, tonight, I maxed contrast both ways, and I could always discern the difference, but just only barely sometimes.

I've since moved both the contrast and brightness both closer to zero a couple of notches. I ran some of the demo stuff loaded on the DVE, but I hope to watch some film before I retire tonight, and the verdict is still out. I dunno, thought I'd share.

How bout you?

 

[adk highlander]

Hey adk. I just wanted to check in to see how the calibration conundrum was coming along. I swear one day soon I'm going to better familiarize myself with the Spears/Munsil.

So, I wanted to just blurt out loud about calibrating last night, just in case anything might be of interest, however unlikely. I went through a lot of the DVE last night, even repeating certain chapters multiple times, and one particularly good explanation for the layman (or so I thought), which is not explained in the AVIA II, as far as I remember, was the discussion about how contrast and brightness are so inter-related.

The point was to get the grayscale bars not to clip on either side, but in order to do so, both brightness and contrast had to be played with. They did explain that certain displays have a "set black" so to speak, and just go upwards with range, and that other displays will move its dynamic abilities as a whole, upward or downward.


The interesting part:

Last night I got to +4 brightness and -5 contrast, and as it was late, just watched a few scenes of Kill Bill, one of my best reference live action discs. The pic at times almost seemed too dim, yet the bright stuff (such as in Copperhead's sunlit kitchen, or the fluorescent lights where the Pussy Wagon was garaged) was almost too bright! Weird! I thought I must have done very well to realize the potential of my dynamic range. However, today, I was thinking I wanted some of the people themselves to look a little brighter, ideal calibration be damned.

So, I played again with the DVE tonight, and replaying the chapter once again (since I already had to bust the disc out anyways to replay some sweeps causing buzzes with a speaker), I redid the contrast test. I think the way I did it last night was so that the last two black bars could be clearly discerned. However, tonight, I maxed contrast both ways, and I could always discern the difference, but just only barely sometimes.

I've since moved both the contrast and brightness both closer to zero a couple of notches. I ran some of the demo stuff loaded on the DVE, but I hope to watch some film before I retire tonight, and the verdict is still out. I dunno, thought I'd share.

How bout you?

I've been swamped with work all week and have not had a chance to do anything. I'm hoping to work with it this weekend but I still have a few deadlines to meet.

Thanks a ton for sharing this. Especially the comments on how you set the black bars. With the S&M disk you are supposed to be able to barely see the black bar 17 and the others should be visible. When I tried the settings from AVS I was able to discern the difference but like I said it was washed out. I'm hoping to bring both numbers closer to zero and get better blacks while still maintaining the shadow detail.

I will let you know what my results are and please let me know anything else you change or find. Thanks!

 

[adk highlander]

Last night I spend another couple of hours tweaking the system.

I ran Audyssey now that I have the carpet, sub in front wall and second sub behind the seating. So the front sub is in the front left and the second is in the back right. This was listed as a good position setup from Gene's article. After I installed the front sub my wife assumed the second one would go. It is funny how making a comment like "but honey it evens out the rooms bass response" just does not fly with most women. After I played a couple of test scene's she relented, at least for now.

I did 3 positions and am happy with the results. At first I thought it seemed muted or I was getting a canceling effect from both subs but after watching a couple of movies and some music I think it is tighter than before and more responsive to tempo changes. It still has the output to scare you but during lower volume it is much better than before.

I also went through the Spears & Munsil disk for the 4th or 5th time and I think I have come up with the best I can. This time I started with the PLUGE Low pattern and then went to the Contrast pattern and that really seemed to help get the contrast and brightness settings more to my liking and very close to the recommended output. So now my contrast is at -14 and brightness is at 6 vs. -20 and 14. I also went through the color patterns and did some minor tweaks.

I then tossed in Underworld Rise of the Lycans (as that is a very dark movie) and now I do feel I am getting the most out of my projector/screen combo. I don't think I have the shadow detail that some other high end projectors offer but the black levels are quite good and the detail is very good.

I think my next steps in gear is going to be a DCX to really tweak the subs as they are quite different. I want/need a few panels for the theater but really I need to add them to the stairs coming down. The carpet has calmed that area down but I can still hear a slap echo when running test tones during Audyssey. So I need some wall pannels and something on the ceiling. A: I don't know how I can get up there to install it and B: the wife may not go for that one.

 

[nibhaz]

Last night I spend another couple of hours tweaking the system.

I ran Audyssey now that I have the carpet, sub in front wall and second sub behind the seating. So the front sub is in the front left and the second is in the back right. This was listed as a good position setup from Gene's article. After I installed the front sub my wife assumed the second one would go. It is funny how making a comment like "but honey it evens out the rooms bass response" just does not fly with most women. After I played a couple of test scene's she relented, at least for now.

I did 3 positions and am happy with the results. At first I thought it seemed muted or I was getting a canceling effect from both subs but after watching a couple of movies and some music I think it is tighter than before and more responsive to tempo changes. It still has the output to scare you but during lower volume it is much better than before.

I also went through the Spears & Munsil disk for the 4th or 5th time and I think I have come up with the best I can. This time I started with the PLUGE Low pattern and then went to the Contrast pattern and that really seemed to help get the contrast and brightness settings more to my liking and very close to the recommended output. So now my contrast is at -14 and brightness is at 6 vs. -20 and 14. I also went through the color patterns and did some minor tweaks.

I then tossed in Underworld Rise of the Lycans (as that is a very dark movie) and now I do feel I am getting the most out of my projector/screen combo. I don't think I have the shadow detail that some other high end projectors offer but the black levels are quite good and the detail is very good.

I think my next steps in gear is going to be a DCX to really tweak the subs as they are quite different. I want/need a few panels for the theater but really I need to add them to the stairs coming down. The carpet has calmed that area down but I can still hear a slap echo when running test tones during Audyssey. So I need some wall pannels and something on the ceiling. A: I don't know how I can get up there to install it and B: the wife may not go for that one.

Craig,

Audyssey is by no means a panacea for room/speaker interactions, but it can defiantly help. I think you are leaving some chips on the table if you only take 3 samples instead the 8 MultEQ-XT allows. The more samples that you take the more information Audyssey has to build a better picture of your room’s interactions and thusly it should be able to create a better EQ for your room. In my experience, the flatter your room’s response is to start with the better job Audyssey does. And your method of taking samples affects the final EQ that it builds. You’ll get the best results if you use a tripod and have zero background noise…no HVAC, no cars driving, no fridge, and no nothing! It can’t hurt to try to maximize your Pre/Pro’s capabilities until you get a DCX to handle the Subs.

Here is the patteren I used on my last run:


If you still have echo slap than you probably need some treatments. I’m sure you know the mantra: 1st reflections, then corners, then everywhere else you can get away with before your budget breaks or you get kicked out of the house by the wife.

Your drop ceiling provides you with the some options depending on the tile that you already have in there and the amount of air gap you have above it. In order to treat the first reflection points located on the ceiling, you can just create a few new ceiling panels mad out of OC 703 covered in acoustically transparent material and drop them into the grid in lieu of the regular tile. If you have 18” of air gap and OC based acoustic tiles up there already, you could fill this area with R30 insulation and get some good absorption down to 50 Hz.

Check out this demo this guy did of before and after treatments. (Headphones help)

Cheers,
Ryan

 

[jostenmeat]

I also went through the Spears & Munsil disk for the 4th or 5th time and I think I have come up with the best I can. This time I started with the PLUGE Low pattern and then went to the Contrast pattern and that really seemed to help get the contrast and brightness settings more to my liking and very close to the recommended output. So now my contrast is at -14 and brightness is at 6 vs. -20 and 14. I also went through the color patterns and did some minor tweaks.

I then tossed in Underworld Rise of the Lycans (as that is a very dark movie) and now I do feel I am getting the most out of my projector/screen combo. I don't think I have the shadow detail that some other high end projectors offer but the black levels are quite good and the detail is very good.

Thanks for sharing, and I'm glad to hear you've made a happy improvement. I am also extremely pleased with my pic right now. I think if I met Spielberg today, I would exclaim, "You've got to see my HT, it has the greatest pic EVAH!". To which he would certainly respond by slapping my smartly across the face, and yelling, "Get a hold of yourself, young man!".

Ok, I still have a tad of green push, only noticeable on the outskirts of a face every once in a while, depending on how the lighting hits it. There is absolutely nothing I can do about that outside of a new PJ, or a $4500 video processor with CMS.

Since the re-cal, Terminator Salvation looked stupendous. The first half of Amadeus last night was a real, serious treat. The latter is definitely not reference material to some, and even before reading about it, I could note elements of DNR. Still, my viewing last night blew away any other viewing of this movie before, for me. A very beautiful presentation, with or without the DNR.

As the narration commences (via conversation with priest and Salieri), there was bright white light coming through the window behind the composer, onto the priest's face. It created a stark silhouette of Salieri's face. The effect was very pronounced, yet seemed perfect to me. Very effective. I am very happy with the overall contrast and brightness now.

 

[adk highlander]

Craig,

Audyssey is by no means a panacea for room/speaker interactions, but it can defiantly help. I think you are leaving some chips on the table if you only take 3 samples instead the 8 MultEQ-XT allows. The more samples that you take the more information Audyssey has to build a better picture of your room’s interactions and thusly it should be able to create a better EQ for your room. In my experience, the flatter your room’s response is to start with the better job Audyssey does. And your method of taking samples affects the final EQ that it builds. You’ll get the best results if you use a tripod and have zero background noise…no HVAC, no cars driving, no fridge, and no nothing! It can’t hurt to try to maximize your Pre/Pro’s capabilities until you get a DCX to handle the Subs.

Here is the patteren I used on my last run:


If you still have echo slap than you probably need some treatments. I’m sure you know the mantra: 1st reflections, then corners, then everywhere else you can get away with before your budget breaks or you get kicked out of the house by the wife.

Your drop ceiling provides you with the some options depending on the tile that you already have in there and the amount of air gap you have above it. In order to treat the first reflection points located on the ceiling, you can just create a few new ceiling panels mad out of OC 703 covered in acoustically transparent material and drop them into the grid in lieu of the regular tile. If you have 18” of air gap and OC based acoustic tiles up there already, you could fill this area with R30 insulation and get some good absorption down to 50 Hz.

Check out this demo this guy did of before and after treatments. (Headphones help)

Cheers,
Ryan

Excellent info. Thanks Ryan.

I have run more positions in the past and I was not as happy with the results as I was with just three positions. I do always use a tripod and make sure it is quiet as possible. I turn off the furnace and the hot water system so nothing can kick on if someone turns on the tap. You have me thinking though and I will attempt more positions and see what I get. Now I just have to wait until both the wife and kid will give me an hour and promise to stay out.

I should have explained better about the echo. That is coming from the stairwell coming down to the theater. It is all dry wall and from the floor landing to the ceiling is 20+ feet. The only absorption is the carpet and heavy curtains I use to close off the area. I know I will need to put a few panels on the wall and something on the ceiling to calm this down. I'm supposed to get some framed posters for Christmas which I will mix with panels coming down the stairs.

The drop ceiling in the theater has the highest sound absorption rating I could find and there is R30 above it in the joist area. The slap definitely is coming from the high ceiling in the stairwell.

Very cool video. Geesh now I want test gear so I can do that. I know he did it with a mic but I don't have anything so if I'm going to spend money I want to do it the best I can. Then I could test some friends rooms and charge them.

Thanks for sharing, and I'm glad to hear you've made a happy improvement. I am also extremely pleased with my pic right now. I think if I met Spielberg today, I would exclaim, "You've got to see my HT, it has the greatest pic EVAH!". To which he would certainly respond by slapping my smartly across the face, and yelling, "Get a hold of yourself, young man!".

Ok, I still have a tad of green push, only noticeable on the outskirts of a face every once in a while, depending on how the lighting hits it. There is absolutely nothing I can do about that outside of a new PJ, or a $4500 video processor with CMS.

Since the re-cal, Terminator Salvation looked stupendous. The first half of Amadeus last night was a real, serious treat. The latter is definitely not reference material to some, and even before reading about it, I could note elements of DNR. Still, my viewing last night blew away any other viewing of this movie before, for me. A very beautiful presentation, with or without the DNR.

As the narration commences (via conversation with priest and Salieri), there was bright white light coming through the window behind the composer, onto the priest's face. It created a stark silhouette of Salieri's face. The effect was very pronounced, yet seemed perfect to me. Very effective. I am very happy with the overall contrast and brightness now.

I have not seen Amadeus in years. I'll have to try and find it. I don't know how I could expect more from a $1500 projector and I just need to try and enjoy it and not look for faults.

Some friends brought over a ski movie called Steep on sat that is a history of big mountain skiing not just a music video of guys hucking off kickers. The sad part is half of the guys in the video are dead from a variety of accidents and it really makes you see how truly scary the stuff these guys do is. The video was shot with a variety of sources and of varying quality but the best part was the reaction of my friends not having seen something like this on a big screen. This was before my last calibration but I dont' think they noticed. I just had fun listening to them go oh and ahh.

 

[rmk]

Good stuff here fellas,

I like to run Audyssey 8 positions within a 6'X3' rectangle or smaller. Results have been pretty good of late.

I used the DVE bluray for display calibration and like you concentrated on the pluge patterns, contrast and brightness. Blacks are at their inkiest.

 

[nibhaz]

Excellent info. Thanks Ryan.

I have run more positions in the past and I was not as happy with the results as I was with just three positions. I do always use a tripod and make sure it is quiet as possible. I turn off the furnace and the hot water system so nothing can kick on if someone turns on the tap. You have me thinking though and I will attempt more positions and see what I get. Now I just have to wait until both the wife and kid will give me an hour and promise to stay out.

I should have explained better about the echo. That is coming from the stairwell coming down to the theater. It is all dry wall and from the floor landing to the ceiling is 20+ feet. The only absorption is the carpet and heavy curtains I use to close off the area. I know I will need to put a few panels on the wall and something on the ceiling to calm this down. I'm supposed to get some framed posters for Christmas which I will mix with panels coming down the stairs.

The drop ceiling in the theater has the highest sound absorption rating I could find and there is R30 above it in the joist area. The slap definitely is coming from the high ceiling in the stairwell.

Craig,

Yeah, Audyssey seems to be kind of finicky like that and it can be hard to find a large window of quite time…which is why I think it produces different results with each run. Just keep in mind that the closer the sample points the tighter LP will be, but at the same time the more accurate the EQ will be for the smaller LP, does that make sense?

Your plan to hang panels and other irregular surface in the stair well is an excellent plan of attack. In my personal experience, just hanging a lot of art/decorations, that break up the wall's flat surface go a very long way in reducing echo slap. IMHO the more three dimensional the wall hanging the better the ROI because they will create more diffusion.

This also a great way to get the wife on board, because you can have her pick out the decorations, after you explain that you are looking for more 3D type wall hangings. (Shelves, elaborate wrought iron candle holders, cubby boxes for holding knick knacks, pictures with unusually thick frames or shadow boxes…etc.)

I would still consider putting OC 703 panels at the first reflections points located on the ceiling, but otherwise I would consider the ceiling a low priority item at this point. Just keep in mind that you do have an opportunity for some serious bass absorption if you choose to stuff a thick layer of r30 above your tiles.

Things look like they are turning out great! Enjoy your work and don’t get too hung up on the details!

 

[adk highlander]

Good stuff here fellas,

I like to run Audyssey 8 positions within a 6'X3' rectangle or smaller. Results have been pretty good of late.

I used the DVE bluray for display calibration and like you concentrated on the pluge patterns, contrast and brightness. Blacks are at their inkiest.

Thanks RMK. So to make sure I understand you did not take any measurements from your back row of seating? Did you vary your height of the mic in these different postions?

Here is the patteren I used on my last run:


Yeah, Audyssey seems to be kind of finicky like that and it can be hard to find a large window of quite time…which is why I think it produces different results with each run. Just keep in mind that the closer the sample points the tighter LP will be, but at the same time the more accurate the EQ will be for the smaller LP, does that make sense?

Thanks again for this. So you put your outer two positons at the edge of those seating positons but at ear height? This makes sense. When I was doing my earlier measurements with 6+ positions I had the spread out to all my possible seating positions so my rectangle was more like 8 x 6.

Craig,


Your plan to hang panels and other irregular surface in the stair well is an excellent plan of attack. In my personal experience, just hanging a lot of art/decorations, that break up the wall's flat surface go a very long way in reducing echo slap. IMHO the more three dimensional the wall hanging the better the ROI because they will create more diffusion.

This also a great way to get the wife on board, because you can have her pick out the decorations, after you explain that you are looking for more 3D type wall hangings. (Shelves, elaborate wrought iron candle holders, cubby boxes for holding knick knacks, pictures with unusually thick frames or shadow boxes…etc.)

I would still consider putting OC 703 panels at the first reflections points located on the ceiling, but otherwise I would consider the ceiling a low priority item at this point. Just keep in mind that you do have an opportunity for some serious bass absorption if you choose to stuff a thick layer of r30 above your tiles.

Things look like they are turning out great! Enjoy your work and don’t get too hung up on the details!

The shelves and 3d hangings is a good idea. I had not thought of doing more than panels and pictures but you are right. I'll give her some cash and send her to TJ Max and see what she can find.

I'm up in the air as to wheather I want to build my own panels or just buy some. Now that winter has hit I don't have any work space and I am not cutting that stuff in the house. I did find these on ebay and I doubt I could do them cheaper per panel. What kind of panels do you have?

 

[rmk]

Thanks RMK. So to make sure I understand you did not take any measurements from your back row of seating? Did you vary your height of the mic in these different postions?

I did three positions centered on the three front row seats at ear height, three more 18" in front of these measurements (same height) and the final two were 12" either side of the center seat (1st measurement position) but 18" behind and 6" higher. I took no measurements from the back row seats.

When I had the Audyssey Pro Kit I did 18 measurements including the back row seat locations. I actually prefer the results of the 8 point MultEQ XT to the Pro Kit results.

A fellow hobbyist suggested making all 8 Audyssey measurements in a small circle around the primary LP. I haven't tried that yet but it would be interesting to try.

 

[nibhaz]

Thanks again for this. So you put your outer two positons at the edge of those seating positons but at ear height? This makes sense. When I was doing my earlier measurements with 6+ positions I had the spread out to all my possible seating positions so my rectangle was more like 8 x 6.

In the simplest of terms, Audyssey looks at all of the various sampling points, and then using algorithms decides which information is most pertinent to creating the EQ. In other words, the more correlations there are in FR between the samples, the more heavily Audyssey weighs this info, whilst major anomalies and differences are give less weighting in building the final EQ. I know that there are FR differences in the vertical plane in my room so that is why I varied the height of some of my samples. 25% up, 25% down, and 50% ear level…I don’t know it just seems logical to me

The shelves and 3d hangings is a good idea. I had not thought of doing more than panels and pictures but you are right. I'll give her some cash and send her to TJ Max and see what she can find.

TJ Maxx is an excellent source for this type of stuff! Other options depending on what is in you area are: Gordman’s and Hobby Lobby. What wife doesn’t like to be sent shopping?

I'm up in the air as to wheather I want to build my own panels or just buy some. Now that winter has hit I don't have any work space and I am not cutting that stuff in the house. I did find these on ebay and I doubt I could do them cheaper per panel. What kind of panels do you have?

I have DIY panels that I built using this method.

Depending on the quality of wood, type of fabric, tools on hand, and the price you pay for insulation you can make a 4” panel that performs much better than the 2”ATS panels for about the same price. Put a 2” air gap behind the DIY and it will smoke the ATS.

I have 10 sheets of 2” 703 sitting in my garage right now and the plan is to buy some of these to put them in. I paid around $8 each for my sheets of 703 so that means that my final cost for each 4” panel will be around $43…slightly more than my DIYs, but a lot less work. When factoring in convenience, price, and performance I am not sure that this route can be beat!


Man I am long winded

 

[adk highlander]

Thanks again Ryan. I really have to do work tonight so I can't be hanging out here tonight. I will check out the vid later and I'll have to stop at Lowes when I'm doing Christmas shopping this weekend and check out prices on the 703.

Cheers.

 

[nibhaz]

Craig,

There is a good chance that you won’t find rigid fiberglass at a big box store, and if you ask about it, the sales people won’t know what it is or if they can get it.

Being the super nice guy that I am (bored at work) I compiled a list of locations in your area that will carry OC 703 or its equivalent.

These first three are probably a little over 5hrs away, but most definitely can get you OC 703 at a very reasonable price.

SPI

Address:
6439 Deere Road
Syracuse, NY
USA, 13206
Main Phone: (315) 474-5190
Fax: (315) 474-7319
Email: syracuse@spi-co.com

Address:
14 Sword Street
Auburn, MA
USA, 01501-2181
Main Phone: (508) 792-1133
Fax: (508) 753-7145

Roofing & Insulation Supply/RIS Insulation Supply

Address:
10 C Street
Suite 15B
Auburn, MA 01501
(p) 508/767.3800
(p) 866/777.4361
(f) 508/767.3803


These two are probably the closest at a little over 2hours away.


Wallboard Supply Company
121 Commerce St.
P. O. Box 1432
Williston, VT 05495
Phone: (802) 863-8897
Fax: (802) 863-8898

They carry Knauf

You’d be looking for Insulation Board Plain 2" 3.0 PCF (48 kg/m3)


JR Builders Supply Corp
117 Karner Road,
Albany, NY 12205
Main Phone: (518) 456-1771
Fax: (518) 456-0997

They carry CertainTeed ( I think)

You’d be looking for 24”x 48”x2” CB 300 or OEM 300

Keep in mind I’m just pointing you towards rigid fiberglass because it is the easiest to work with. The main spec that you should be concerned with is a density of 3.0 PCF (48 kg/m3). This seems to be the sweet spot for price and performance in fiberglass.

 

[adk highlander]

Wow Ryan you are the man. I'm sorry I didn't reply earlier. I've been cranking at work all week. I will rep you as soon as I can. I need to spread some around before I can hit you again.

Have you posted pics of your setup? I'd really like to see your panels installed.

Thanks again man and I hope you and your family have a great Holiday.

 

[nibhaz]

Hope this helps?

Hey Craig,

It was actually no problem at all, a little time consuming, but better than actually doing real work. I enjoy doing this type of information gathering.

The main advantages to going the DIY route are custom sizing and fabric selection. Involving the wife in the fabric selection and planning process will greatly enhance your chances of producing a product with some WAF. I can tell you from my experience that you should buy the fabric with your wife…cell phone pictures while she is out of town may produce mixed results.

Here are some pictures of the panels I’ve made.

This was the first panel I made and my favorite, but the pattern is a little too crazy to have all over the place. Total thickness is about 4” (2” of OC 705 + 1”x2” wood frame) I put little rubber “feet” on the back to ensure that the air gap is 2” because the 1”x2” isn’t truly 2”.









Here is the backside, as you can plainly see I wasn’t too concerned about how finished it looked.







Here is the mounting method I used: Heavy duty picture hangers and wire.







View of the wood frame. I glued and screwed each joint, and further reinforced each corner with small L brackets.







This is what a 6” panel looks like coming off the wall. The handrail from the stairs should give you a good frame of reference. (Warning: panels of this size can be shocking to female types when built and hung in there absences)







All three 6” panels on the back wall. Takes a little getting used to having something that thick protrude into the room, but it now seems perfectly normal to me…house guest still probably think I’m crazy. In hindsight, I probably would have gone with one patterned panel and two plain panels…but hey, I’m no interior decorator.







Here is the real advantage of DIY: Custom sizing. This panel is for my right side 1st reflection point. Limited space…no problem! Actually sitting in the love seat you can hear the difference…an eerie lack of audible reflections, but that seat is for guest only, so I don’t mind at all.







P.S. I hope you and your family have a great holiday as well!

P.S.S. Keep in mind that this is just one of the many ways to build a panel. If you like the look of GIK panels with the wood sides that would be a really easy build as well, but you’d be increasing the cost and weight of each panel due to more wood…