Building a new room


Hello All,

I will be using a contractor to build a new dedicated audio room in the basement. The room dimensions will roughly be 19'X14'X8'.

Three walls are already finished and are concrete walls behind dry walls. I am thinking of making the third wall with 2X4s and double dry per side with Green Glue used between them. Also plan to add 10-gauge wire for a dedicated audio circuit. I believe this should be 20-amp circuit?. Also will not go with can light. Instead would prefer the ceiling spot lights. Do not plan to run a separate ground, as of now.

What insulation have folks used before for sound proofing? I was at Menyards for picking the Green Glue and came across UltraTouch+ denim insulation. Does this work better in dry walls and in ceilings?

What other points am I missing or should be taking care? Please share your experiences.
128x128milpai
Milpai,I am using one dedicated line with my PS P10 power conditioner that has just my digital components plugged into it. That also includes video items.

The 2nd dedicated line is for my Pass Labs Amp. And the 3rd is for my 3 JL Audio F-113 subs.
My outlets are all the Furutech GTX Rhodium and the outlet frames/covers are the Oyaide. (I think they look better than the Furutech).

I used some of the sonex insulation in the ceiling , but I also used regular fiberglass in the ceiling and walls. I installed a exterior steel door frame.

The music is muted outside of my room, but the bass still radiates to the upper floors.
I have read that having a separate ceiling that does not touch the ceiling joist are the way to go to eliminate the bass transfer.

On the question of power surge, I installed a whole house power surge protector in the breaker box.
Ozzy,
Thanks again for letting me know. My contractor also suggests to use fiber glass.
I have decided to go with a single dedicated 20 amp line (10 gauge) with a single outlet (duplex). I will connect my Brickwall into one port and the amp into another. Will do a comparison and then finalize. I plan to go with either the Furutech GTX or the Oyaide.
I am looking to go with Cullen Cables Crossover Series for my amp, since I would need a longer power cord for the amp.
Any other power cord suggestions in the same price range?

I have read tons of stuff on outlets. So I have decided to go with 2 Porter Ports - one for my living room video and other for my basement video.
I have decided to go with whole house surge protection. This is for the rare case when surge comes to your lines externally. But it looks like most of the surges happen because of internal components like start-stop of machines, equipments, etc. But since dedicated line will not have other equipments hooked up to it, I am thinking that the surge that my audio equipment faces, are all external. Hence the whole house surge protection. What do folks on this forum think?

Does whole house surge protection have negative impact on amplifier performance?
I built a basement listening room with similar dimensions to yours in a previous home, following a Rives Audio design. The walls were built with staggered studs, where the outside was on one row of studs and the inside was on a different row of studs. The inner wall was two layers of sheet rock of different thickness separated by a layer of Green Glue. Rives didn't specify stuffing the walls. Since the room was under my wife's office, I stuffed the cavities between the joists with UltraTouch insulation. The ceiling was two layers of sheet rock with Green Glue. Rives specified a solid door for the room, and I added gaskets around the edge of the door jamb and a sweep on the bottom of the door. Rives' design also included soffits down the long dimension of the room stuffed with fiberglass, triangular bass traps in the front corners, and half round bass traps on the long wall at 1/3 and 2/3 of the length. The front wall was convex, made of masonite bent into a gentle curve. The space behind the masonite was stuffed with fiberglass. The design called for a row of Ikea Billy bookshelves across the back wall, for CD and LP storage. The bookshelves were set at a slight angle to the wall; if you looked down on the shelves they looked something like the teeth of a saw. The shelves made the entire back wall of the room into a giant diffusor. Lastly, Rives' design had four acoustic devices providing absorption and diffusion suspended from the ceiling over the middle of the room, above and in front of the listening position. These were made from 1' x 6' boards. A 2" thick layer of Roxul rock wool, covered in cloth, was glued to the upper surface of the boards. The boards hung at an angle with the rear edge higher than the front. My electrician put the room on a separate subpanel from the rest of the house, and it had five dedicated AC lines with hospital grade outlets. It was by far the best sounding room I've ever had. We weren't going for a sound - proof room but it was exceptionally quiet, and no one in my family ever complained about the sound leaking out, even when I played my system very loud.