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Thoughts on My Dedicated Listening Room

Hi Folks:

I am in the design phase of building a house that will feature a dedicated room for audio. My plan is to build a comfortable listening space that I can enjoy that is separate from the main part of the house so that I can listen with friends, late at night, and set up a small two-channel audio business and consulting service. The space is a bonus room over the garage which measures 21 long by 15 wide. It will have a ceiling that peaks at 9 feet and slopes down to the long wall reaching 5 feet where it meets the vertical wall. There will be a large dormer on one of the long walls, roughly in the middle of the room and approximately 8 feet wide. The speakers will be on the short wall firing down the length of the room. The equipment will be between the speakers. I expect to be able to move the speakers well out into the space so the equipment minimally impacts the center image.

I would like the room to look and feel like it could be in anyone's house. To me it feels a little dishonest to invest tons of money in construction materials and room treatments and then have customers take products home to their untreated spaces only to discover that the sound isn't even close to what they heard in the "showroom". That said, this will mostly be a room for me to enjoy my system so I'm prepared to invest in some limited measures that will make the room acoustically sound or at least prevent significant problems. Since the room will be over the garage and away from the main living area, I am not concerned with preventing the sound from migrating from the listening space.

I'd like to hear from likeminded folks who took some basic, practical, budget-minded steps to improve the sonics of their dedicated rooms. Here are a few areas to consider that I have picked up here reading through various threads:

  • Wall stud size and placement/arrangement;
  • Insulation type and application;
  • Sheetrock type and application;
  • Minimizing initial wall and ceiling reflections without the use of expensive/ugly room treatments;
  • Floor supports and floor coverings;

 

128x128dodgealum
erik_squires
16,128 posts
 

Check out GIK acoustics art panels.  You can decorate those panels however you like.  Also check out the AMcoustics room simulator for help understanding what kind of room modes you are going to have.

 

https://amcoustics.com/tools/amroc

cd318
2,636 posts
 

"...a dedicated room for audio?

Ahh, if only I could be so lucky!

If I was that lucky, I guess I'd be most concerned with just how lively I'd want the room to sound.

Just how lively you might prefer will be a matter of personal taste, but I certainly wouldn't want my room to be as anywhere near as acoustically dead as an anaechoic chamber. Far from it.

Then there's always the old handclap test to tell you quite a lot about the way your room behaves.

Perhaps the real problem will depend upon your speakers, and the amount of bass they produce.

But even here, you have resources such as isolation aids to help with any issues.

 

It's also certainly an interesting question to see if there's such a thing as a good room, one that's better for all equipment, all of the time, in all regard.

Good to hear that you can move the speakers out into the room. Otherwise, you'd be ruling out quite a few designs right off the bat.

ghdprentice
7,047 posts
 

I am fortunate enough to have an outstanding audio space. It was acquired quite by accident. The best my dealer/friend has heard in thirty years of installing high end systems, many are $200K+ systems built for the purpose. Unfortunately, it is the exact opposite of what you are planning.

First mine is underground. The quiet is palpable down here. Your plan is to subject the entire structure to vibrations and external noise by putting it above the garage is just a receptor to sound and vibration from the outside world.. My space is asymmetrical in every respect. Basically it is on the top half of a very large Z room. See my UserID to see my main system. The three basic things that makes my space great is: underground, highly asymmetric, and large. Another great thing is that the main bedroom (my partner sleeps during the day) is upstairs and far away from my listening space. She is a light sleeper and cannot hear my system no matter how loud I turn it up.

 

I am sorry to say, but you are completely on the wrong path to having a great listening space. The stud spacing is never going to make up for location, symmetry and size. I would reconsider everything.

 

I am really sorry to be so blunt. Your forthought is fantastic. I wish I had such great forthought… I did not… I was lucky.

Humbly, George

 

 

noromance's avatar
noromance
9,827 posts
 

I have to agree somewhat with George. Although, not in the same league as his space, I’m in the basement too because it sounds so much better with concrete walls and floor. 

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