How did you sound proof your theater/room?

myke

I'm going over options to sound proof my existing bonus room. After going over many options with varying amounts of labor and cost associated with them and now i'm kinda hitting a wall. I cant read anymore :eek: and just want to hear what other people have done.

Thanks

cnh

Do you mean to say soundproof as in deadening sound from other rooms. Or room treatments for problematic spaces; rooms that are too 'dead' or too 'live'?

When I think of soundproofing something I think of my wife hearing the Sub upstairs.

cnh

billbillw

I just rely on distance and closed doors. There are two doors that close off the basement. I can get pretty loud down there and very little sound makes it up to the bedrooms on the 3rd floor. Of course, really bass heavy movies or music (like the pod race in Phantom Menace) can still bother my light sleeping wife. Some people use mass loaded vinyl sheets to cut down the sound. It can be placed behind the drywall or in between layers of flooring. Gets expensive though and its not easy to install unless you do it during construction phase.

Sherardp

Room is sealed with concrete walls, and insulation after that. Afterward, room treatments.

pdxfj

Truly sound proofing a room from the rest of the house is an expensive and labor intensive process. You must decouple the room from the rest of the house, then usually use two layers of drywall along with insulation in the walls. Even have to deaden electrical boxes in the walls, build backer boxes for ceiling lights and so on.

If you haven't already, head over the the AVS forums and look through the dedicated theater build threads. Many people go the sound proof route. Most folks post a lot of pictures and detail the process.

20hz

one method I heard is the walls basically require a second inside wall ( room is getting smaller ) the studs are offset on one wall and dont forget a serious door or a 2 door set , like a hallway .
What ever it takes I wish I had the funds to build one regardless I would like to have a seperate room from the house since bass travels and the rest can be filtered out with $$$ .

WagnerRC

I used r30 mineral wool insulation in the ceiling and r15 wool in the walls. We then used z channel and 5/8" rock.

VR3

I would consider my rooms real quiet - when we gutted my house I put 5/8" sheetrock, walls are insulated and the door are solid core...

Sounds does not travel in my house very well...

reeltrouble1

You need to consider how to keep unwanted sounds out and then how to pressurize the room with the sound you want coming from the speakers. Yes, it takes lots of research and then you have to consider your budget for the project. I built one around 6 years ago and can tell you to plan everything out carefully ahead of time. The thoughts about getting a room inside a room are heading you in the right direction. Consider every opening, lighting, studs, drywall, sound insulation, electrical lines, speaker lines, component wire, if your going to use screws or glue, flooring, furniture, and so on. There will likely be compromises, then go for it, the sky is the limit, have fun.

RT1

myke

WagnerRC wrote: »

I used r30 mineral wool insulation in the ceiling and r15 wool in the walls. We then used z channel and 5/8" rock.

WagnerRC -

is your room in a basement? Can you elaborate on the z channel?

I am thinking genie clips with roxul insulation or some other R insulation with 2 sheets of 5/8" drywall. I wish I could just try the insulation and drywall first to e if its good enough, oh well. Trying not to spend too much.

Anyone is encouraged to chime in!

Thanks for all the great responses!

reeltrouble1

Myke,

If you could put up some pictures of the space it will likely help. Another, thing, when I was building the ReelTime Theater the folks at Polk were very helpful with ideas and solutions to issues and problems, good folks with great advice. They suggested I wire for four subs, turns out two did the job, just an example, the subwoofer waves are very susceptable to cancellation, using at least two goes a long way toward not having your primary chair (or any chair for that matter) sitting in a dead zone. Other suggestions were...use track lighting in lieu of cutting holes in ceiling for cans...rounding any corners to help with diffraction issues, building walls unparallel, to use or not use soffets for wire runs,

RT1

myke

Thanks RT1, I'll try to get some pics up soon. A lot of things you mentioned I've been contemplating. The hardest thing, or one of the hardest things, is not using my setup, i really miss good audio. The other considerations are cost and hw far I really want to take this. The soundproofing (or reduction of escaping sound) seems to be the most difficult and hardest decision yet (I suppose each step will pose challenges....).

reeltrouble1

Well, you don't have to spend a fortune, you can for sure but today's gear can make just about anything possible. I have a "regular" HT in the family room besides the Theater and it sounds great. For years I did a two channel inside the HT, you can get good sound, just a bit of compromise. Everyone is different though in expectation. If you want hi-fi, then you give a bit up for the theater or you can go the other way. The Polk Surround bars are another option to look at, pretty amazing, not going to match a true theater system but the do deliver good sound.

Just ask all the questions you want.

Ron-P

My interior walls have 3/4" drywall installed vertically overlaid with 1/2 drywall installed horizontally. The exterior walls have 3/4" drywall overlaid with 3/4" OSB. All the walls are stuffed with R-13 fiberglass insulation. The room is built with 2x4's and 2x6's and the entire room is assembled with wood screws, no nails.

myke

Ron - is your room a bonus room or other? How do you feel about the steps you've taken, can you hear the sound in the room next to your theater room?

cowtrimmer

If your room is already finished and you dont want to rerock it, The best thing to do it try and capture as much sound as you can and keep it there with wall and ceiling materials.

myke

cowtrimmer wrote: »

If your room is already finished and you dont want to rerock it, The best thing to do it try and capture as much sound as you can and keep it there with wall and ceiling materials.

I was planning on wall treatments and corner treatments already, maybe ot enough if i dont do any sheetrocking but i plan on at least one additional layer on each side of the shared wall between the HT and bedroom, that room is really my MAIN concern.