HT has no back wall

[bwolf]

I need some assistance with the set up of a home theater in my finished basement. My basement is in a big "U" shape. In one wing of the "U" is my HT setup. My question is this...the dimensions of that wing are about 20' x 60'. Essentially, the back of my set up has no wall, it just opens up into a large open common area. Acoustically, how can I set up my theater to get optimal sound. Right now it tends to be fairly "echoey" as the majority of my basement is empty. I just want to clean up the sound and get good, crisp audio rather than just loud audio. Do I need to build some absorbers?

My rears are mounted from the ceiling at the rear of my set up so I was going to start by dropping an 18" backdrop from the ceilling to conceal the speakers, but I don't know if that will do anything acoustically. I'm currently in the process of "building in" my components and speakers so I'd like to make any adjustments now while I'm messing with everything though I don't want to wall off the theater completely.

There may be nothing that can be done, but i thought I would get some opinions. Thanks.

Equip:
Marantz SR5000
Cheap Sony DVD player
B&W 602 S2 fronts
B&W LCR6 center
B&W 600 S2 rears
Velodyne sub
65" Mitsubishi rear projection TV

 

[Bryce_H]

Easy, build a temporary wall. I know easy is easier said than done, but you could do this with minimal impact to the existing structures. This will have the most impact to the sound of your HT. I believe sound absorbers will have minimal impact to teh overall sound of your HT, due to you will still have sound "escapeing" out the back of the HT. A wal would be my recommendation.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I need some assistance with the set up of a home theater in my finished basement. My basement is in a big "U" shape. In one wing of the "U" is my HT setup. My question is this...the dimensions of that wing are about 20' x 60'. Essentially, the back of my set up has no wall, it just opens up into a large open common area. Acoustically, how can I set up my theater to get optimal sound. Right now it tends to be fairly "echoey" as the majority of my basement is empty. I just want to clean up the sound and get good, crisp audio rather than just loud audio. Do I need to build some absorbers?

My rears are mounted from the ceiling at the rear of my set up so I was going to start by dropping an 18" backdrop from the ceilling to conceal the speakers, but I don't know if that will do anything acoustically. I'm currently in the process of "building in" my components and speakers so I'd like to make any adjustments now while I'm messing with everything though I don't want to wall off the theater completely.

There may be nothing that can be done, but i thought I would get some opinions. Thanks.

You need to think about acoustic treatment as well. The echo is coming from that 60 ft dimension

 

[bwolf]

What kind of acoustic treatment? The thought did cross my mind as far as putting up a wall or temp wall, but I really don't want to divide the space. I know it's not going to be the "perfect" home theater, but I would like to do the best that I can to get the best sound I can out of the space I have.

 

[Ethan Winer]

BW,

> Do I need to build some absorbers? <

Sure, that will help, and even 6 inch thick fluffy fiberglass will make a large improvement. I would not build a solid wall because that will make the bass response much worse inside the room.

--Ethan

 

[j_garcia]

How about a curtain at the end of the room?

 

[AVRat]

How far is the back of the theater space? I'll second J Garcia's curtain option. One that is heavy, sound absorbing, floor to ceiling, and can be tied back when not in use.

 

[bwolf]

I believe the end of the theater space is probably about 30ft. The heavy cutain idea has definitely crossed my mind. Especially since I plan on dropping an 18" header from the ceiling to conceal the rear speakers from the rest of the basement. It would be pretty easy to attach a curtain rod system to it. I'm not sure how the wife will feel about it though.

 

[Ethan Winer]

> The heavy cutain idea has definitely crossed my mind. <

That will certainly give you better bass response inside the main part of the room. And if the curtain is heavy enough it will also help reduce hearing the sound of echo rattling around in the rest of the space. Maybe you can rent some heavy moving blankets just to try that first, since "nice" heavy curtains can be expensive.

--Ethan

 

[bwolf]

Yes, my other concern with the curtains is cost...I think I can look at that as a long-term solution, but I may just deal with the audio issues for awhile until I can save up some money for something like that. Thanks for all of the suggestions.

 

[Methost]

I have a similar problem only my missing wall is one of the side. And I have a 16' vaulted ceiling in that room so a header or curtain is out of the question. I was just planning on making a nice speaker stand for my left side speaker and only pulling it out in to position when HT is in use. Not a great situation.

 

[mtrycrafts]

What kind of acoustic treatment? The thought did cross my mind as far as putting up a wall or temp wall, but I really don't want to divide the space. I know it's not going to be the "perfect" home theater, but I would like to do the best that I can to get the best sound I can out of the space I have.

You need absorbers on the walls, floor and ceiling to reduce that echo. Unfortunately you may need to do some of that treatment on the farthest walls for that, but include the walls closer to the speakers too.