Newbie HT Room layout and sound isolation questions

[Exterous]

Great news! Upper Management has approved my initial proposal to finish my basement!

Now I know those of you familiar with my current setup are shocked that I would consider renovating what could be considered as near perfection. For those who are not I have included pictures so you may properly understand the awesomeness that is my basement:

Yes, that's right - it's time for the pre-cast concrete walls and open floor joists to go despite their many positive acoustical benefits.

Some may wonder as to why I chose to do things a bit backwards - ie buying the equipment before having the room. Well, I had the (mis)fortune of working for Circuit city when they went out of business and $245 for a brand new Epson Home Cinema Lite 1080P project, $50 recliner and various other insanely cheap items was just too cheap to pass up (That monster power conditioner cost $1!).

The current setup space is very much cluttered by 6'10" high I-beams, support columns, furnace and water heater so the theatre will be located down half a level. Sadly an I-beam again breaks up the space (along with similar height duct work), limiting my space to 12'6" x20' - although I will need to leave space for sump pump access.

(^Back wall)

(^ Front wall)

(Side part with I-beam, ducts and radon pip (far left))

This is my initial plan:

(Top view - equipment room above theater room)

(Distance from couch to 100" screen is ~7.5 feet. Distance from abstract recliner is ~13.5')

There is another large constraint as well. Upper Management also pointed out that she will be attending school next year to keep her teaching certification and that this project cannot interfere with another Upper Management initiative - redoing the Master Bath in two years. Thus the budget (If I want to do this now instead of 3 years down the line) will be between $750 and $1000 - but I do plan on doing all the work myself (except wiring a new circuit into the breaker)

Sadly the budget precludes most of the sound treatments most of you get to play with but my main question is if there is anything I can do that is relatively cheap to isolate the sound in the existing room? Since it will be adjacent to an unfinished storage room, my main conern is minimizing the noise that makes it to the floor above. Are there additional precautions I can take to avoid this (I don't plan on rececssed lighting)? I am planing on adding an additional solid core door to the room in addition to the interior door at the top of the stairs

I am thinking about equipment rack ideas and I want to have a room that I can access from the back to make dealing with components easier. I am also planning on wiring it for my (future) server and whole house Ethernet switch. The downside is that there is a radon exhaust pipe running to my attic in my planned area and as much as I want to move it....well, I really don't want to mess with that at all. My question is that if I enclose the rest of the room with frame and drywall - drywall the ceiling and seal around the pipe hole will that do a decent job of sound insulation? Will it matter with the amount of sound proofing I can afford?

I want to thank you for taking the time to read my rambling post (hopefully it was at least a little entertaining) and for any ideas you may have to improve my proposal!

 

[Exterous]

*hopeful bump*

 

[bpape]

To improve the sound you're hearing, keep the seating away from the walls as much as possible. Sitting in the corner is the worst possible place to be.

For isolation, make sure you insulate the walls and ceiling, use 2 layers of drywall, any shared walls will be 2x6 base and top with staggered studs. Make sure to use a solid core door and box around all lights, outlets, switches, etc.

Bryan

 

[Exterous]

Thanks for your help!!!

 

[Bryce_H]

I built my HT up from concrete floor/walls and ceiling joists. Many of my older posts are about my journey in doing all the work myself (except HVAC, plumbing for the wet bar, and drywall).

If you are truely starting from concrete floor/walls there are lot of things you should do before you even start building. If you design the room right then many of your potential sound issues will never become issues. The design of the room is the single biggest factor in how your room sounds. Everything else is secondary.

I would advise you to do as much research on your own to educate yourself about the different considerations for builing a home theater room.

I will look for more resources later but you might start here. It discusses some of the basic construction options. On an old post of mine I have an Excel attachment to assist in determining the ideal dimensions of the room (at least as best as you can get them given your constraints). My normal laptop is in tech support (getting an upgrade) and therefore I do not have a lot of my resources readily available.

Also this was one of the best threads out there for preventing mistakes or incurring regrets

Remember - research twice then build!

It was a great journey for me. You can see finished results in old posts of mine.