The best room upgrade: $2250


I live in hot as hell Sunny South Florida. My house is open beam ceiling (no attic). Upstairs without air conditioning on is 95* +!

I finally got around to getting the roof Siliconed to knock down the heat and UVs= lower electric bill. What I didn't know was the impact it would make, quieting my listening/TV room. For the first time in 25 years, no traffic noise from nearby I-95 and I-595!!! And when I turned on the TV the sound was relaxed, not echoing in the room. I haven't yet put the stereo on, but will later today
Glad I did this before my Voyager amp arrives- any day now. I need to get a handle on how this changes the sound before I put in the system
tweak1
These ideas should be thought of as room treatments as much as insulation. I was originator of ambient noise levels in listening room thread, more evidence for how minimizing that can improve the listening experience here.
Update: Im thinking the silicone set up from day one which has further improved the music.

Listened to a variety of music that I am very familiar with, including; Bonnie Raitt, Chris Isaak Heart Shaped World, Jennifer Nettles Playing with Fire, which is one of the worst recordings Ive experienced, but I love the songs. To be fair, some songs are pretty well recorded, but the title song Playing with Fire is a hot mess, but I hear so much more of the music, chorus, etc, then ever before.


Well, I finally hear a lot more of the nuances that was/were recorded. The entire sound stage has opened up in a very big way, notes are much more complete (think micro details)

OP:
Thanks for starting this thread.  I will be looking into the roof treatment.  
Lots of great posts here….

Bpoletti:

I have been trying to find fake plants for diffusion or tall reeds (for lack of a better word).  Reeds perhaps an 1/8 of an inch thick that can be bundled loosely in a tall vase or umbrella stand at first reflection points.  I saw Lars employ such at Axpona 2015 in the Raidho room.  Not had luck finding those so far, either.


I have 17” of rock wool in the ceiling, 6” in the walls. For thermal performance reasons mainly, but my architect said to cover with fire resistant burlap instead of sheetrock and I would have a recording studio quality sound to my room. He was not wrong.

I am not a fan of blown in insulation. The off-gassing fumes are terrible. It’s a petrochemical product that’s bad for the environment.