Bass Brace, Spike, and where to brace???

Schurkey

proffitt wrote: »

I still have easy access to the concrete walls just behind the framed walls...

...Spikes for sure. Then, I'll finish the room and select speaker placement. THEN, I might cut the sheetrock, access the concrete and bass brace to the concrete; IF I just get a wild hair one weekend with nothing else to do.

The framing is 2" thick?

All you have to do--and this will save considerable rework--is to put a crosswise (horizontal) 2X4 at brace-height BEFORE sheetrocking the wall, mudding, and paint. This 2X4 to be long enough to give you flexibility in speaker placement. Estimate where the speakers MIGHT go, make sure that you have ~2 feet of 2X4 on either side of the guesstimated placement. 2 sections of 4-foot length would be adequate. More "could" be better, and would cost very little extra.

At the point where you've got the speakers where you want them, the 2X4 glued 'n' screwed to the concrete, directly behind the sheetrock, is waiting for you, ready-to-go. You put the brace against the sheetrock, screw through the sheetrock into the 2X4 that's firmly attached to the concrete--Nothing to it beyond **** in small lag-bolts or light-to-medium-duty wall-anchors. Simple, easy, the cost is only an extra 2X4 or two, some construction adhesive, and maybe some heavy-duty concrete wall anchors.

If your framing is more than 2" thick, just substitute the appropriate-thickness wood.

F1nut

F1Nut - when you tried the bass brace before, did you have it tied to a framed and sheetrock wall?

It was a plaster wall. A very thick, hard plaster wall with old thick hardwood floors and massive joists. Spikes are better.

One problem I found with the bass brace is that you can still move the speaker a bit side to side with the rod acting as a pivot point. If you forced the issue, the rod would break or rip out of the braces for sure. You can't do that with spikes.