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Help Building an Audio Room

Hi All

I have been allotted a 15x15 x 10h room in the corner of my basement by the wife.
While I’m very happy to have a dedicated audio room, I have some questions and concerns. I’m hoping you all might be able to help. 

1) Three of the walls are poured concrete.  The space has crazy slap eco already and the 4th/back wall is not even closed in yet.

I am having the walls framed in, insulated, electrical, drywall etc. I am thinking of having them frame and build one wall an additional distance off the cement wall some amount so the room is not a square

Is that a good idea?  If so, how much out of square does it need to be to benefit from not being 15x15? Is 15x14 enough? Should I go for 15x13?  I can set up the speakers about any way I would like. 
 

2) Next question.  Should I have them install a certain type of insulation behind the drywall?  Money is an object, but now is my chance to build the room the best way I can within reason and to offset the square room I’m starting with. 
 

3) Anything else I should consider before/as they begin to frame, etc? 
 

Thanks very much!
 

jo1mtb
kota1
2,706 posts
 

If you decide to go with on wall treatments this "recipe" worked very well for me. The placement guidelines start at about the :49 minute mark:

 

jo1mtb OP
119 posts
 

Thank you all so much! I really am overwhelmed by the community, ideas, and support on here. You all are awesome!

I’m going to go with 13x15x9 and mobile in-room sound treatment. It’s not a forever home. If it turns out to be a forever home, when the kids launch, I’ll have bigger rooms to chose from at that point. I hope :) ....WAF. 

Thank again so very much!. I got Harley’s book... thick!

johnnycamp5's avatar
johnnycamp5
122 posts
 

Yes a rectangle is better than a square shape for your room.

But what’s better again is no “parallel” walls (no square corners).

Why not make the front wall (speaker wall) 13’ wide and back wall 15’ wide?

Now the the left and right side walls are not parallel to each other which is better still.

It would likely be visually unnoticeable …

Also the resilient channel is invaluable. Please don’t consider skipping it even though it’s a bit pricey, it makes a huge difference in bass response in any room. Or isolation clips which are better still. 

jo1mtb OP
119 posts
 

I figured I would check in on this to share some 'results'. 

I ended up having the builders frame the 15x15' room 14x13.5x10h' room and added the sound/fire insulation between the drywall and the poured concrete walls.  Also, there is low-pile carpet (higher than Berber) with a thick pad. The back corner of the room is open about 4' wide into a hallway. Added two medium upholstered chairs. I sat down in the area where I would be listening.  The echo of my voice was very apparent. 

The results: I gave up quickly.  The (slap, I think) echo was so bad, I saw many more dollar signs and an ugly room full of sound treatment.  I've moved my system back up to the main living area.  Much better and no further cost. 

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