Garage into listening room?
So I'm thinking of trying to put a stereo into my garage and use it as my main listening room. It's apx 20x25 with about an18 foot ceiling. It's not finished.
If I set up in an equilateral triangle, say 8 to 10 feet, in the middle of the garage, would that eliminate the need for acoustic treatment? And if I need treatment, I was thinking of putting a carport frame into the garage and using it to support acoustic treatment.
I wish I had thought of trying this out during the weekend versus on my drive into work this morning.
Would this work?
Thanks.
I suspect you would need lots of treatments. It would likely sound cavernous, the cement floors would need thick carpet. You would probably end up moving the speakers to near a wall, and treating the walls. The 18’ ceilings could be a problem, as reflectors. By all means, try it. Maybe at really low volumes it would sound ok. |
As @ghdprentice said.
I'd set up in there as you described, have a listen, and if possible get some measurements. With a REW sweep you could see what the clarity reverb times are in there at various frequencies. That will give you some idea of how much acoustic treatment will be needed in there. It's a nice big space with reasonable dimensions. Does it have any support pillars? I have a similar sized garage with a support beam smack dab in the middle, which complicates any plans I might make for doing the same as you are thinking. It's partially drywalled, and there are a lot of things in there so it doesn't sound cavernous in there at all. Any empty space will tend to sound cavernous even if it isn't that big. If you have lots of shelves and some furniture and various items all over like I do it calms down pretty quickly. Speaking of small reverberant spaces, I was up on the Cascades to Palouse trail this weekend. The outhouses along the way are basically bare walled concrete boxes. Small but amazingly reverberant, which is great for singing! There's also a 2 mile long unlit concrete tunnel to ride or walk through. Also quite reverberant and good for singing in the dark. |
Plug in the numbers and have a look. Just one tool. https://amcoustics.com/tools/amroc?l=20&w=25&h=18&ft=true&r60=0.6
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Thanks, everyone for the suggestions and info. It's just an open garage with no pillars. Since I sold my BMW 650i Coupe, none of my other cars are worthy of being pampered. They will live outside and be happy. Not sure if reverberant outhouses would be so great. Man, that "splash" sound must have echoed! |
