Room Construction

[darthsteve]

Hello!

I am about to build a home theatre in my basement. From my research (Home Depot, Black & Decker Building Basements and Attics book), the room should be rectangular, the TV should be in on the short wall, the floor should be carpet, and the walls should be painted dark. Apparently, bookshelves are recommended (along the rear wall? Sides?) to reduce sound reflections.

I am curious about what type/colour of paint to use to reduce glare and light reflections? What soundproofing material should I use under the drywall to get the best results (i.e. not drive my wife nuts while I am watching Star Wars at 800 watts)?

Does anyone have any other construction tips, or pointers to Web sites? Please advise.

[pradike]

First of all, do plenty of measuring and planning. We spent over 3 months planning ours on paper, and doing "homework" on the sames kinds of questions you have - BEFORE - even contacting a contractor and/or audio-video guru. Measure and re-measure. Consider heating, cooling, noise from air conditioning, speaker placement, etc. We used an audio/video (CEDIA certified) expert firm who helped with the technical aspects of the design - that may influence your physical design as well....so do that first - get bids, drawings, etc.

I would also suggested you FIRST do alot of reading - Home Builders Magazine, Home Theater Magazine, Sound & Vision Magazine, etc.

Also, read through the FAQ sections on this site - there is great info here.

THEN starting getting ideas and quotes from contractors. Make sure you see some of their finished work as references - that may give you some ideas as well.

Paint should be medium dark or darker non-glossy (use good quality paint - you won't regret it - we used a Taupe shade from Porter paint. Regular fiberglass batting is usually good for insulation, but your audio/video folks may suggest something else depending on the design and location of your room (below bedrooms?).

Here's a site for our Theater, so you can see one example of results (a 16 X 21 Theater with additional finished rooms. Please note these are scanned photos, not digital photos:

Our Home Theater (http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=145678&ck=)

The best idea I can give you is plan, measure, and re-plan BEFORE you do anything else. Once you THINK you know what you really want to do, THEN move forward with the bids and work itself - it will make the process so much smoother and the results better.

[darthsteve]

Here is a cool home theatre room, with pictures of the construction phase: http://www.dillonworks.com/portfolio/starwarstheater/index.html


They talk about: "The fabric-backed star fields work in tandem with the gray acoustic panels, meeting the THX requirements of the sound engineer."


Is there a Web site that discusses THX requirements in more detail? Gray acoustic panels? Tips for wall materials and soundproofing? Paint?

[pradike]

THX requirements revolve around the surround equipment, not really the construction/building requirements. I've seen the "Star Wars Mother Ship" theater that you have in your posting link before, and its a $300,000 theater - slightly above my budget!

Anyway...you can get THX certified receivers, DVD players, and speakers. These things, as well as speaker placement for the 7.1 THX surround concept are the primary considerations. I have the Onkyo 989v2 THX receiver and the Onkyo DV-800 DVD/SACD unit.

I wanted THX 7.1 surround in my Theater for personal taste (there are about 125 THX-certified DVDs out there), as well as to somewhat "future proof" the speaker configuration - and the results of having it are most pleasing.

My recommendation is also to consider quality speakers. You don't necessarily have to have "THX certified speakers" to get the THX sound - the receiver and DVD units are far more critical for this purpose. Go to the THX.com site for more info, and a list of certified equipment.

Good luck!

[57U]

Please don't make the mistake of believing that just because something is THX certified, it's superior to other equipment. THX equipment does meet certain requirements, however, there's lots of stuff out there that doesn't pay the THX license that's as good or better.

[darthsteve]

These are all great comments!

But please, let's re-focus this thread on room construction. I need tips and ideas for construction materials, soundproofing, doors, paint, furnace vents, etc. Actual audio/visual equipement is discussed in other threads.

To get us started again, here is an informative site I just found:
http://www.asc-soundproof.com/wd-articles-soundboard.htm