The Home Theater Thread
12-26-2012, 08:10 PM
#41
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I was thinking wall-to-wall ceramic tile for maximum echo/reverb. 
On a serious note, looking at carpet on the floor (I know not an acoustical treatment, but better than hardwood/laminate/tile/etc...), acoustic baffled ceiling tiles, and probably some well placed acoustic fabric wrapped wood frames on the walls. There has to be some balance between acoustic treatment and decor for the wife. Regardless, the layout of the general area leaves much to be desired, so there are always compromises.
On a serious note, looking at carpet on the floor (I know not an acoustical treatment, but better than hardwood/laminate/tile/etc...), acoustic baffled ceiling tiles, and probably some well placed acoustic fabric wrapped wood frames on the walls. There has to be some balance between acoustic treatment and decor for the wife. Regardless, the layout of the general area leaves much to be desired, so there are always compromises.
Yes, good acoustical treatment can look awesome.
Here you go.
I am a fan of broadband absorbers made with fiberglass board: Owens Corning 703 and 705. When set up properly, OC 703/5 can legitimately absorb deep bass >100hz as well as bass and mids. With some fabric on top of the board you can help out your high frequency early reflections as well. It is very easy to deal with high frequencies- they have much less energy than bass frequencies. If however, you do not tame your mids and bass like you do your highs, your room will sound muffled and boomy. That is bad.
You don't need to cover every single wall with absorption, but corners and primary reflection zones are key. This includes the ceiling.
OC 703/5 is very inexpensive. You can DIY broadband absorbers or buy them pre-made. I have done both.
Here are some instructional links:
(pdf)
http://www.readyacoustics.com/DIY-BA...-MADE-EASY.pdf
Original DIY Bass Trap Recipe - Updated - Jon Risch - Tweakers' Asylum
Build a Better Bass Trap
Buy em premade:
DIY Bass Traps - kits & Acoustic Panels: Ready Acoustics
DIY Bass Traps - kits & Acoustic Panels: Ready Acoustics
For around $500-$1500 you can easily make an average box shaped living room sound much much much better and much less fatiguing. Even the casual layperson e.g., "Wifey" will notice the difference. If I had the choice between $2000 speakers and no treatment or $200 speakers and treatment, I would always choose treatment.
The end.
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12-27-2012, 04:23 PM
#42
I need a new TV stand now. Something just a touch wider than my 40" TV, with at least 2 shelf surfaces and enough room to hold a receiver, an HTPC, an XBox360, and possibly a Blu-Ray and/or CD player down the road.
I prefer natural wood to glass and metal, and tend to like simple designs in art deco or mission style.
Best I've come up with so far is this:
I prefer natural wood to glass and metal, and tend to like simple designs in art deco or mission style.
Best I've come up with so far is this:
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12-27-2012, 08:45 PM
#44
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Some cool stuff in here! Here's a few pics of the theater I built in the bonus room shortly after I bought the house. Still not done, but I've got enough crap to do!
It's a little over 120" acoustically transparent screen from Seymour AV, I built the frame and trampoline tensioned it. There's a void behind the screen where I've got three MTM speakers I built, and the electronics reside (accessed through a trap door on the side of the wall). Rear speakers I also built myself based on Usher drivers. Sub is a large sonosub built on a 12" Adire Audio Shiva driver, which has since **** the bed and been replaced by a Dayton equivalent. Planning on going to 4 15's at some point. Projector is an Epson 8350, fed by one of Pioneer's flagship receivers (got a smoking deal on that one). I have a PS3, but will be augmenting with a dedicated Blu Ray player soon enough.
The wall itself is framed out in 2x4's (roughly) and covered in a black fabric. It's actually four separate sections, a left, a right, a parallelogram shaped header, and then the screen panel. There are velvet masking panels around the screen to cover the tensioning clips and absorb stray light. Windows facing front are covered by DIY masking panels to catch most of the stray light (I get some leakage on the perimeter), and the rear window is covered by a DIY panel that I framed out, backed with fiberboard, and then trimmed out to look like a vintage ticket booth.
All in all, not the best, but it makes for great gaming and movie night with the family. I've got a popcorn machine and vintage coke cooler that I'll be working into a candy counter to go in a recessed nook facing the front yard. Best part about it all is that if I go to sell and they want their room back, the entire screen wall is held upright by 4 screws, and the window coverings are just held on with picture frame brackets. Would take about 20 minutes to convert back to a normal room (don't know why anyone would want to, though...)
It's a little over 120" acoustically transparent screen from Seymour AV, I built the frame and trampoline tensioned it. There's a void behind the screen where I've got three MTM speakers I built, and the electronics reside (accessed through a trap door on the side of the wall). Rear speakers I also built myself based on Usher drivers. Sub is a large sonosub built on a 12" Adire Audio Shiva driver, which has since **** the bed and been replaced by a Dayton equivalent. Planning on going to 4 15's at some point. Projector is an Epson 8350, fed by one of Pioneer's flagship receivers (got a smoking deal on that one). I have a PS3, but will be augmenting with a dedicated Blu Ray player soon enough.
The wall itself is framed out in 2x4's (roughly) and covered in a black fabric. It's actually four separate sections, a left, a right, a parallelogram shaped header, and then the screen panel. There are velvet masking panels around the screen to cover the tensioning clips and absorb stray light. Windows facing front are covered by DIY masking panels to catch most of the stray light (I get some leakage on the perimeter), and the rear window is covered by a DIY panel that I framed out, backed with fiberboard, and then trimmed out to look like a vintage ticket booth.
All in all, not the best, but it makes for great gaming and movie night with the family. I've got a popcorn machine and vintage coke cooler that I'll be working into a candy counter to go in a recessed nook facing the front yard. Best part about it all is that if I go to sell and they want their room back, the entire screen wall is held upright by 4 screws, and the window coverings are just held on with picture frame brackets. Would take about 20 minutes to convert back to a normal room (don't know why anyone would want to, though...)
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12-27-2012, 10:20 PM
#46
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It's one of those bonus room over the garage deals. Most of what you see is the roof pitch, which is steeper on one side of the room. On the left is where the windows kick out and break the roof line. I deliberately searched for a big bonus room when house hunting so I could put a theater room in. While it's not ideal, it will certainly fit the bill until I outgrow the home. I have three big home theater seats in there now, but could easily go five wide without interrupting the walking room.
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12-28-2012, 11:52 AM
#49
Yup, SP-FS52's. The only towers I found at (or near) that price point that had nearly universally excellent reviews on everything from Amazon to high-end HiFi forums. I think you'd probably have to nearly triple the price to find something noticeably better.
On a related note, how important are carpet spikes? How much am I losing if the speakers are just sitting on the carpeted floor?
On a related note, how important are carpet spikes? How much am I losing if the speakers are just sitting on the carpeted floor?
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12-28-2012, 12:13 PM
#52
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I hated them when I had them. Speakers just transmitted all the vibration to the floor, and I got this low frequency drumming throughout the whole house. Playing anything loud meant the whole house vibrated.
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12-28-2012, 03:46 PM
#53
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Depends on the substrate the spikes are plugging into. My mains and my sub are all spiked, the basement is carpet + pad over concrete, so it's a stable surface. I can see where the spikes plugging into a plywood subfloor would make one giant sounding board.
Bass definition is cleaned up considerably by using them when you can.
Bass definition is cleaned up considerably by using them when you can.
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12-31-2012, 12:43 AM
#58
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You see, it's posts like this that make me truly wonder if you are bipolar. Where is the the happy we love you Fae? This is the "dammit I'm 60 and livin in a trailer park and I hatez my kidz" old woman Fae.
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