Acoustically Treating a Bomb Shelter


Seriously.  My house came with a 1960s era bomb shelter.  It's a total of 2,200 square feet of Cold War Era awesomeness, basically divided into two 51X21 long rectangular rooms.

It's under a pool and pool house, easily 15 feet down. Hard concrete walls. Huge metal out swing doors that could keep out Bob Dylan looking for a string bean. 

We turned one big room into a giant pantry, wine cellar, and storage room.

The other I softened with hardwood floors, sheet rock (with foam insulation) on walls and ceiling, in that it could make an excellent apartment, being 1000 sf by itself, not counting the kitchen and bath.  And has two entrances, one at each end.  Very airy with good ventilation (and expensive filters).

It's this (now) 50 X 20 room iswhere my listening area is.  Ceilings are 14 foot sloping down (the short way on the rectangle) to 12 feet.

I've divided it into three areas of roughly equal area.  One end has a power rack and tons of free weights and whatnot.  On top of the hardwood is a protective layer, hardwood, and then rubber horse stall mats.  Kitchen and bath beyond that.

The other end is an emergency bedroom, with flip down Murphy beds, etc.  Area rug where the wife does yoga.  At its end are double metal doors, then stairs, then another metal door.

The middle third is my listening area.  Speakers and subs on the higher-ceiling side, although I could flip it.  Set up in the classic 60 degree triangle with a leather couch facing the speakers.  Chairs to the side, and a table I use as a desk behind the couch.  Area rug.  Decor: think Andy Warhol meets Austin Powers.

My thought is I don't get a lot of reflection from either the right or left side, due to the width of the room, and the stuff in each room.  I suspect I mainly get reverb off the back wall.  And perhaps the ceiling, although it is sloped up to the speakers.

I'm thinking all I need is some absorption on the back wall, immediately behind the couch/table (so facing the speakers), as I sit closer to the back wall than the speakers.   Perhaps something on the ceiling about 2/3 of the way across the room.

Thoughts?  I'd like to be informed a tad before I get involved with GIK or one of those groups.

davetheoilguy

Yeah, I’ve got the system there already, although I have a new turntable I need to assemble.  And missing a shelf from my rack.

I’ll post pictures after I get it looking reasonable.

Dave I agree with others that sounds like an awesome situation and never bothering neighbors or family is a win in itself. Regarding room treatments and such your best bet would be to use a program like REW and get yourself a mic and measure your room. That way you won't be blindly spending on treatments that aren't necessary or don't treat your problems.

You have a wonderful opportunity to build a music room that is second to none. The first decision is the exact room dimensions. This matters very much - and there is very much snake out to distract you.

Fortunately, the science has been done, and done in style. The famous Cox, author of my acoustics text, has published a report of his research into room dimensions, the result of a major simulation considering hundreds of thousands of room ratios. It turns out that most are bad. Perhaps a quarter are OK, and a few percent are good.

His research is reprinted on the website of the University of Salford School of Acoustics  (UK). When you read the research, you will note that an inch either side of optimal detracts from the resultant sound. Then there is the rigidity of the walls - not to prevent transmission, but to prevent the walls from flexing like 22nd grade woofers. There was an article on this about 4 years ago in Absolute Sound or Stereophile. I used Quietrock 545, backed by firm styrene over concrete or premium 3/4" plywood, and cases on cases of elastomeric glue from Chemlink.

GOOD  LUCK on a TREMENDOUS opportunity.

So if the ceiling is concrete, that has to addressed as well as the flooring and walls.

But it does sound like a fun project.

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