Home Theater Sound Proofing?

Question

We are in the process of building a new home and it will include a "theater" room. I'm trying to figure out the best and most economical way to sound-proof the room, as it will be in the basement, below our bedroom. I've considered accoustical drop ceiling tiles, staggered 2X4 walls for the interior walls, leaving a 1" gap between the foundation wall and 2X4 wall and of course using insulation. What would be the best insulation to use and are there any other ideas I should consider? I'm already pushing the wallet on the home itself so I need some economical solutions.

Answer 1

It depends how you define sound proofing. The other answers will help with midrange and treble, but do almost nothing for bass ... the real issue in my view.

I faced this same issue when I built a home theatre in my basement and I read a lot and came to understand several key points:
- bass is only controlled by a combination of mass (read heavy material like doube drywall) and damping/decoupling (preventing the vibrations from travelling through a wall or ceiling/floor to the other side;
- the room must be sealed (except for air ducts which must be baffled) to prevent treble from getting through;
- sound-proofing efforts frequently fail due to either small openings left unplugged (treble) or "coupling" between surfaces by wrongly placed nails or screws ... so careful construction is essential.

I came across a product that, while not exactly cheap, works very well to decouple sound transmission. The so called Resilient Sound Isolation Clips (RSIC, See link for pictures, etc). They hold metal furring channels to which one (or for greater sound reduction two) layers of drywall are attached. They introduce an elastomer between the drywall and underlying structural member (e.g. stud, joist) and when combined with insulation in the cavity and a non-drying elastomeric caulking around edges of the drywall provide very effective "sound proofing" by decoupling the inner and outer surface and damping resonation in the cavity bewteen

I used them in the ceiling (with one layer of 1/2" drywall), but chose to use staggered studs (with the interior filled with heavyweight fiberglass insulation designed for sound applications) for the walls. I chose this approach because it gives equivalent resulys but is less expensive than RSICs since I was doing the work myself. (Note: If I had contracted it I would have specified RSICs for walls and ceiling since the RSICs lower labour costs). I also chose to use a prehung exterior door for the HT (there is a guest bedroom next door) itself since provides much better sound baffling

I'm quite satisfied with the results ... despite my use of only a single layer of drywall and no special efforts to baffle ductwork. Even when the sound is quite loud in the theatre it is not annoying upstairs or in the bedroom next door, and most important to me bass is well controlled.

Check out the specs and ratings for various construction options using RSICs on their website. They provide a wealth of useful information.

One final note, RSICs would also be a good choice for retrofitting an existing wall / room since they would obviate the need to pull existing walls apart.

Hope this helps.

Source(s):

http://www.pac-intl.com/

Answer 2

You need a balance between reflective and absorptive walls , ceiling and floor.That way you can try different positions for the speakers.
In1984 i had a room put on the back of our house for music only.It is 26 feet long 15 feet wide and 8 feet high.the ceiling is reflective .The floor is carpeted ,The 2 side walls are covered with movable curtains.The front wall has 2 curtains that join in the middle the rear wall behind the listening chairs is bare. All the curtains can move to vary the acoustics in the room.2years i bought a projector and screen. The screen is mounted on the front wall and is retractable.I had to alter the front curtains to accommodate the screen.They are in the open position but still absorb the sound behind the speakers.

The final result is very pleasing and i am able to get a good sound from the speakers.
I know this is a long story but i thought it might help.

Answer 3

It depends how you define sound proofing. The other answers will help with midrange and treble, but do almost nothing for bass ... the real issue in my view.

I faced this same issue when I built a home theatre in my basement and I read a lot and came to understand several key points:
- bass is only controlled by a combination of mass (read heavy material like doube drywall) and damping/decoupling (preventing the vibrations from travelling through a wall or ceiling/floor to the other side;
- the room must be sealed (except for air ducts which must be baffled) to prevent treble from getting through;
- sound-proofing efforts frequently fail due to either small openings left unplugged (treble) or "coupling" between surfaces by wrongly placed nails or screws ... so careful construction is essential.

I came across a product that, while not exactly cheap, works very well to decouple sound transmission. The so called Resilient Sound Isolation Clips (RSIC, See link for pictures, etc). They hold metal furring channels to which one (or for greater sound reduction two) layers of drywall are attached. They introduce an elastomer between the drywall and underlying structural member (e.g. stud, joist) and when combined with insulation in the cavity and a non-drying elastomeric caulking around edges of the drywall provide very effective "sound proofing" by decoupling the inner and outer surface and damping resonation in the cavity bewteen

I used them in the ceiling (with one layer of 1/2" drywall), but chose to use staggered studs (with the interior filled with heavyweight fiberglass insulation designed for sound applications) for the walls. I chose this approach because it gives equivalent resulys but is less expensive than RSICs since I was doing the work myself. (Note: If I had contracted it I would have specified RSICs for walls and ceiling since the RSICs lower labour costs). I also chose to use a prehung exterior door for the HT (there is a guest bedroom next door) itself since provides much better sound baffling

I'm quite satisfied with the results ... despite my use of only a single layer of drywall and no special efforts to baffle ductwork. Even when the sound is quite loud in the theatre it is not annoying upstairs or in the bedroom next door, and most important to me bass is well controlled.

Check out the specs and ratings for various construction options using RSICs on their website. They provide a wealth of useful information.

One final note, RSICs would also be a good choice for retrofitting an existing wall / room since they would obviate the need to pull existing walls apart.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

try very heavy curtains like in the real theaters and behind them 2x2 squares of 1/2" thick foam. It dosent have to be acoustical foam or anything fancy like that just use regular cheap foam. Or place blocks of acoustical foam in a nice pattern and use them as decor (check your local HT stores and see what they used) The insulation idea is good but I guarantee it will cost more. Try doing an image search on google and yahoo for ideas

Answer 5

Try Green Glue. A Visco-elastic compound you put between two layers of gyprock.
Far better low frequencie isolation than any Boral, MLV or isolation mount method.