*
We’re finishing out a basement in December and one room will be a home theater. The homeowners went on one of those street of dreams tours and saw a theater that had some sort of fabric/sound deadening materials on the wall. We already planned on doing normal sound deadening stuff but am not familiar with what to do here. Any thoughts? General advice on home theaters? I can’t find a good website so a referal would be great to.
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story

Ensure optimal heat pump performance under wet and potentially damaging conditions with these helpful tips and product recommendations.
Featured Video
SawStop's Portable Tablesaw is Bigger and Better Than BeforeHighlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
*
Check out a company called Lamvin. We buy most of our sound panels through them. USG also has a line of sound panels, talk to you local USG drywall supplier and they might be able to dig up some info for you. None of these things are cheap. But, my guess is that if the client can afford a dedicated theatre room than they can afford the panels. If you can't find them locally than contact me and I will get you more info.
*Here's another producthttp://www.knauffiberglass.com/products/Dsp_Data.cfm?ID=12
*Check out http://www.soundproofing.com and http://www.usg.com/design_solutions/2_3_4_acoustictips.aspThey both have good info from the cheap and dirty to very expensive.
*What are the homeowners trying to achieve? Is the goal to soundproof the room from the rest of the house. Sound absorbing wall material really isn't that important for this. The keys to acoustically isolating the room involves eliminating any holes between rooms (ductwork, etc.), insulating the interior wall and ceiling spaces, decoupling the solid building elements in the walls (rubber gaskets between the sheetrock and studs, maybe even double walls with dead spaces between, etc.).An entirely different goal is to try to achieve an acoustically proper room. This is a much more complex and difficult task (not necessarily expensive but requires some knowledge of acoustics). In most room this will require a balance of sound reflection, sound absorption, sound diffusion and often treating the corners of the room (where sound waves multiply). This can often be done just as well after the room is completed. Many people that are trying to achieve these goals will actually hire an acoustic consultant for advise. Using some expensive sound absorbing wall material without understanding where to put it is a waste of time (it would be just as likely to do more harm than good).I am actually a hard core audiophile in my spare time. Here is a link to a picture of my dedicated audio room with some pictures of my acoustic treatments. (www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/pix/jim/) You would be shocked at the difference that the acoustic treatments make to the sound - far more important than the specific electronic components. When I listen to music (or home theater), I can almost exactly reproduce the sound and position of the musicians on the original stage where the recording was made. A good source of audio and room treatment information is (www.audioasylum.com).The bottom line is that the homeowners better start doing their homework or hire someone who knows what they are doing.
*Try these forums:http://www.hometheaterspot.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=1http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=19
*
We're finishing out a basement in December and one room will be a home theater. The homeowners went on one of those street of dreams tours and saw a theater that had some sort of fabric/sound deadening materials on the wall. We already planned on doing normal sound deadening stuff but am not familiar with what to do here. Any thoughts? General advice on home theaters? I can't find a good website so a referal would be great to.