Howdy; I would like to thank all those who gave me very valuable info in PART I).
Question: "NON-parallel walls". Assuming one of the "golden room" formulae has been used to calculate a dimension. To apply what I have been researching about the use of NON-Parallel walls, what baseline measurements are decreased or increased?
I.E. (non "G.R.") 20' long, 15' wide, do you just bring in or push out 1 end on each dimension say 1"? or is it based on formulae based calculations, as in non-parallel sided speaker cabinets & if so where do I access these formulae?
Dougofthenorth ("milk & cookies kept you awake Sebastian?"-which movie?)
PS: I have been doing some reading up on info on how to build a "Bass trap" to decrease undesired effects in HT rooms! - Man! I am enjoying this newfound dimension: A/V tech - it's a trip!


This message was edited by Dougofthenorth on 12/27/01 19:10.19.

Doug, as a guess, I don't think 1" would be enough. I think that 1' would be more appropriate for a room that size, maybe more.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

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This message was edited by Dougofthenorth on 12/28/01 08:47.12.

Thanks Larry; After a little research, I have decided to go with a "simple" box using the "golden Room" calculations. Then I will use baffles & traps to finish the interior. Beyond that it gets extremely complicated. I.E. [Link: silcom.com]

There is a lot of BS surrounding acoustics, and a lot of it comes from vendors looking to sell you fixes to problems that can be designed out or at least minimized by design.
If you are building this from scratch and want a reference quality room, call in a pro. Acoustics consultants such as Walters-Storyk Design Group, and closer to our industry Keith Yates Design Group, can specify the dimensions, building materials, and construction methods to truly make a difference.
Be sure to ber realistic about your budget and expectations, the room can get way out of hand, or have a bizarre aesthetic if you REALLY want to design in acoustical bliss.
Browse around at the Walters-Storyk site and check out the Chiu and May projects in the portfolio as examples of what an acoustic design should be.
Also, be sure to visit the resources pages.
www.wsdg.com

those guys designed my all-time favorite venue, the 9:30 Club in DC

I need more clients that even CARE about this!!!
It's taken' most of my life to convince them to NOT 'put the TV' in a corner!!!
Dual purpose room or not, do you really think your going to spend more time looking at the fake fire, or the TV !!

I've spent most of my life dealing with acoustics; making the room 'perfect' for audio reproduction, only to be shot down by the d**n 'designers' !

I have installed some killer theaters( that I had total control of the room layout) that were dedicated to being just that, but, for the norm, I dislike 'designers' !!! Can you tell?

I fully aggree with 2nd rick's suggestion.

I might post tommorow with some REAL information after I calm down from todays experience with another 'designer'!! That basically messed up everything!

Sorry for the vent!

You don,t have to build an 'anachoaic chamber' to have excellent sound, but you can do a lot to help if you have 'control' of the room!

About two years ago, when I was planning the finishing of my basement in to an HT room, I found a very cool spreadsheet application through, I believe it was, Home Theater magazine online. The spreadsheet was an Excell spreadsheet that would allow you to plug in room dimensions and would calculate resonant modes for those dimensions. Even neater (is that a word???) was that it would give you locations in the room for resonant peaks and troughs (allows you to figure out where NOT to put your seating).

I'm not certain it was Home Theater magazine and the post with the spreadsheet was a year or so old when I found it but I do still have the spreadsheet on my laptop if you'ld like it. Just need to figure out how I could email it to you...if you're interested just let me know.

Thanks,

Karl

There is a room mode calculator in the resources at WSDG:

[Link: wsdg.com]

The problem with non parrallel rooms yields UNPREDICTABLE results. Its better to have a rectangular room will PREDICTABLE results and act accordingly.

its my understanding that a bass trap, depending on frequency, needs to be about 5 feet in diameter. Do you have that kind of room? I would suggest contacting someone who specializes in this kind of stuff. It may be alot easier to position the seats in a way that avoids the modes of the room instead of trying, unsuccessfully to eliminate them.

$500 or $1,000 spent on proper setup BEFORE room is built is cheaper than chasing problems you may or may not have. Once equipment is installed, a few bucks on calibrating everything will also yield great results.

Sigh, you know sometimes this board gives me a glimpse of the customers I would love to have.

Most of my customers are loaded but old, and can't understand why they don't just need a CRT TV in the corner. We sell them DVD players, and have to test it with our own DVDs because they've never even used one before - and these are people in million-dollar houses!

Hell, one of my customers was asking me how these cell phone things work last week, and was overjoyed to hear about pre-pay phones - then she proceeded to try and price-match everything we installed with Walmart prices...

I think I need to lie down now, I have a headache.

Remember, there is NO such thing as the perfect room. Therefore as OEX mentioned, and others have aluded to, positioning of the seating to avoid the null points is one of the 1st areas that you will look at. Recognizing this fact will go a long way to building a good sounding Home Theatre.

The May home theatre example shown in the Walters-Storyk Design Group web site is an excellent example of how a well designed home theatre should be built. If you haven't read the acoustical section carefully please read it.

STC levels of 70 require a lot of materials, physical space and money to achieve. If you read carefully, the people at Walters-Storyk Design Group used approximately 2 feet in width and 2.5 feet in length of the room for acoustical treament/dampening.

Now that's what I call a base trap.

IMHO, there is no such thing as a perfect room, but I'd be willing to bet that the May home theatre is pretty close.

I've been in acousticly (sp?) perfect rooms before... I used to work in one.
I was standing in the orchestra pit when my boss started talking. I thought he was standing next to me, but he wasn't- he was on the other side of the theater, speaking with a normal voice.