Neophyte setting up new room. Advice needed.

nedaust

nedaust

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Feb 12, 2014
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I am seeking advice for setting up my new audio room. I have attached the room’s blueprint. I’ll refer to the wall with the window seat as “the west wall”. The room is on the ground-floor, has wall-to-wall carpeting, and has 9’ ceilings.

Changes that I’m planning to make:
- Cover the entire west wall with thick curtains (we won’t be using the west door).
- Turn the closets on the south wall’s west side into built-in shelves.
- Either acoustically isolate or physically move the furnace.
- Add a door to the east wall’s opening into the hallway.

Questions:
? Which wall would you use as the front? My speakers are sealed/non-ported (Magico Q3). I like the idea of using the west wall as front, with the curtains behind my speakers. However, based on the formula that Magico recommends for determining speaker distance to side-walls, while the speakers would be equidistant from the curtain, they would be different distances from the true front wall, with one in front of the recessed window and the other in front of the (non-recessed) door. Would that be a big concern, given that my speakers are sealed?

? Should I plan on putting my components into the west wall’s built-in shelves or on a free-standing rack? My understanding is that there are pros and cons in terms of the required lengths of various cords and vibration-isolation (the built in option would be wood without integrated vibration control).

Please feel free to offer any other advice you might have. I want to make sure I have the basic things right from the outset. Then, if it seems necessary, I’ll enlist the help of a professional.
Thanks!
 

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nedaust said:
I am seeking advice for setting up my new audio room. I have attached the room’s blueprint. I’ll refer to the wall with the window seat as “the west wall”. The room is on the ground-floor, has wall-to-wall carpeting, and has 9’ ceilings.

Changes that I’m planning to make:
- Cover the entire west wall with thick curtains (we won’t be using the west door).
- Turn the closets on the south wall’s west side into built-in shelves.
- Either acoustically isolate or physically move the furnace.
- Add a door to the east wall’s opening into the hallway.

Questions:
? Which wall would you use as the front? My speakers are sealed/non-ported (Magico Q3). I like the idea of using the west wall as front, with the curtains behind my speakers. However, based on the formula that Magico recommends for determining speaker distance to side-walls, while the speakers would be equidistant from the curtain, they would be different distances from the true front wall, with one in front of the recessed window and the other in front of the (non-recessed) door. Would that be a big concern, given that my speakers are sealed?



? Should I plan on putting my components into the west wall’s built-in shelves or on a free-standing rack? My understanding is that there are pros and cons in terms of the required lengths of various cords and vibration-isolation (the built in option would be wood without integrated vibration control).



Please feel free to offer any other advice you might have. I want to make sure I have the basic things right from the outset. Then, if it seems necessary, I’ll enlist the help of a professional.
Thanks!
Click to expand...


1. I would use the North wall. My first reaction was the east wall, but I kind of like the North wall (actual photos of the room would help).

2. Put your gear in the built-in shelves, except for your amp(s) which you can put beside (monos) or between (stereo) your speakers. Just make sure you use XLR from your preamp to your amps.
 
About between the North and East walls; that top right corner. ...It's very rare that we see people using a corner of their room as the central focus point, but I feel that in your particular room it could work well acoustically. And the gear could go into that corner.
...That's a free opinion Ned, and welcome! :)

If I was inside that room I would have a better feel for it. ...And your room, from that plan, is interesting because it seems to be ideal for experimentation; any wall (East, North, West, or South) has interesting possibilities.

A professional would be a good help, in regards to acoustics, dimensions, exact cubic footage, furniture, windows, doors, etc.
 
Thank you very much for your guidance. I’m grateful to have a resource like audioshark to help me get the most out of this great hobby.

I will come back and post some pictures as things come together. The audio room is in my new house and I don’t move in until May 9, so updates will come after that date.

- Buck
 
Hi Buck,

First, welcome to AS, Buck!

You have a nice sized room there. Congrats!

You have an almost square room (22x24). I auditioned my Alexias in a room of similar proportions (squarish) and it was quite boomy in the bass. You might have similar challenges with your room. Is there an opportunity to use a more rectangular room in your new house? If not, no worries, there are things that will help ameliorate any issues that may arise (acoustic treatments, dsp, etc). But if there are alternative rooms, you may want to consider that. Would suggest the North wall as well with this room.

Good luck with the room and please keep us posted as to how it progresses!
 
Allen, thanks a lot!

The opposite end of the same floor has a den and bedroom which I plan to combine into a single room. The resulting room will measure 26' in length, 16' wide on one end, 13.5' wide on the other end, and 9' in height. It has only a small window, is nowhere near the furnace, and is much farther from the neighbors. All good things. However, the room is altogether less attractive and I have a bit of a hard time imagining myself hanging out in there. I was really planning to use it as a gym but if it's clearly going to be a better audio-room, I'll change plans.

I have attached a copy of the blueprint of the rest of the floor. The rooms I'm planning to combine are on the east side, labeled "bed" and "den".


full basement.jpg
 
Hi Buck,

I think the other room might be a getter room sound wise. Great thing, you have options and see which works gets for you. But I'd bet on the rectangular room!;)
 
I also need to decide whether to keep my guitars, guitar amplifier, and organ in this room. The guitar amp has two 12 inch speakers. The organ has two 12 inch speakers and two tweeters. For guitars, I have one acoustic and six electrics.

I’ve read that having other speakers in the room, besides the ones connected to your stereo, tends to have a negative effect on sound. Do you guys believe that to be true? Would guitar strings also resonate and have a negative effect?

I like the idea of having all of my music-related stuff in one room. However, I’ll separate the music-listening and music-making stuff, if that’s what needs to be done.

Thanks for your continued guidance.

- Buck
 
Here's a picture of the room. I've used the north wall as the front.

The initial setup sounds good to me. I think I'll visit a Magico dealer again soon, so that I can hear the Q3 well-positioned and in an acoustically treated room. If that room sounds considerably better than mine then I'll hire a pro. I may use Rives Audio.
 

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Buck, the space looks awesome! Great for reproducing music or making music! Very nice!
 
I’ve read that having other speakers in the room, besides the ones connected to your stereo, tends to have a negative effect on sound. Do you guys believe that to be true? Would guitar strings also resonate and have a negative effect?
Click to expand...

No that is not true at all. If the strings resonate you can put thin paper in them to stop that. Honestly though that would be the least of your problems. In a room like yours you need a good amount of bass trapping in corners to help control null/peaks and long end decay (think of this like low end reverb). You also need absorption in the early reflection points. You can read and see videos on the topic.
Articles - Acoustic Panels | Bass Traps | Diffusors | GIK Acoustics
Educational Videos - Acoustic Panels | Bass Traps | Diffusors | GIK Acoustics
 
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