Tongue and groove wood?

[T.Anders]

My wife and I just bought a new house, built in the 70's, very well updated and had planned on putting a theater upstairs in an empty room, but she has gotten word that she will not be returning to her office anytime in the foreseeable future. So, we want to put it in a room in the basement, about 12x16.

Will be using bookshelves, undecided as to what at this point. But, the room as tongue and groove wood in it. The bottom 4 feet is also below grade, so there is a slight bump out of about 4" where the home is sitting on it's foundation.

What do people typically do? What can I do to help acoustics in the room if we don't sheetrock. I kinda like the wood in the basement.

 

[highfigh]

My wife and I just bought a new house, built in the 70's, very well updated and had planned on putting a theater upstairs in an empty room, but she has gotten word that she will not be returning to her office anytime in the foreseeable future. So, we want to put it in a room in the basement, about 12x16.

Will be using bookshelves, undecided as to what at this point. But, the room as tongue and groove wood in it. The bottom 4 feet is also below grade, so there is a slight bump out of about 4" where the home is sitting on it's foundation.

What do people typically do? What can I do to help acoustics in the room if we don't sheetrock. I kinda like the wood in the basement.

You can keep the wooden walls, but you'll want to put things on it that are acoustically absorptive in order to achieve decent sound at higher SPL. If you like movie posters, you can have them printed on fabric, then cover acoustical treatment panels (GIK Acoustics does this). If you want to use other photos, they can still be used.

 

[Eppie]

<snip>
What do people typically do? What can I do to help acoustics in the room if we don't sheetrock. I kinda like the wood in the basement.

Panels need to be fairly thick to be effective at lower frequencies, like around 4". Lots of panels sold on-line are only 2" thick which covers the highs and mids but rolls off in the bass. Try not to go thinner than 3" with absorbers. Some people build their own using acoustic foam and insulation.

Nice thing about panels is that you don't need them to start. See how the room behaves as is. Carpeting is preferred to reflective flooring like wood or vinyl. If the ceiling is unfinished, acoustic tile is better than drywall and if sound transmission to the upstairs is an issue, consider sound isolation methods when installing the ceiling.

Don't go overboard on panels either. You need some reflections in the room as they typically account for half of what you hear. A deadened room can sound as bad as one that is too 'lively'. And to be honest, unless you're an engineer with training in acoustics and the proper equipment, throwing panels up randomly is not a guaranteed solution as every room behaves differently. A DIY solution can be nice because it is lower cost and you can experiment using 3M Command hooks which come off cleanly. If you find something that works, then you can spend the money for something pretty from GIK or others knowing it's not money wasted.