2. misc-audio
  3. 125556-3278

Type of flooring in a listening room?

Hi, I am considering new flooring in my listening room. I currently have wall to wall carpet in a 14x22 ft. room. The carpet is on a concrete slab floor. The speakers sit on the long wall about 4 ft. from the back wall and about 8 ft. apart. My listening seat is about 8 ft. from the speakers. 

I am considering a Vinyl Plank flooring called COREtec Plus. It has a thin layer of cork backing for sound deadening, but I think this is mainly for footfalls when walking across the floor. Does anyone have opinions on the effect of sound with a vinyl plank flooring vs. wall to wall carpet. I do not want to put up sound absorbing material all over the room. I know that would not go over well with my wife. 
slowhand
sfar's avatar
sfar
1,757 posts
 
A flat weave Berber-style carpet with a high quality pad underneath should make both you and your wife happy.
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
If you do decide to go with wall to wall carpet please invest in a natural wool carpet. Synthetics do not sound as good, I've wasted a fair amount of money on synthetic rugs in my room and wondered why the sound became hard and unpleasant, a nice thick wool rug and all is good, I have to assume the same would hold for carpet. Alternatively if a 80:20 or above wool is too pricey get a plain carpet and look for some good wool rugs on sale to apply to the main area between listening seat and speakers
grinnell
1,087 posts
 
Yes get a nice Persian rug put it right in front of the speakers

like the flooring you are considering

wall2wall is so 70's  :)

marqmike
839 posts
 
Folkfreak has a good point about natural wool. It has much more natural sounding qualities. It also is tons more comfortable, and lasts about 3-5 times longer. However if you have a lot of humidity in your area and your basement, if that is where you are talking about, I would not suggest wool carpet or even carpet in general. But if it is not highly humid and you do get wool, your wife will probably be really happy with it.
czarivey
5,912 posts
 
Laminate floors are super cheap, very easy to clean, nice looking and long lasting. They're neutral to sound. Area rug on top is good idea. Wool carpet is the worst for health. It releases the most of dust in the air that you breathe and they're hard to clean. The more I deal with any other type of floor, the more I'm fan of laminate.
More to discover