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The evolution of a basement listening room and building acoustic panels

lokerola

lokerola

AK Subscriber
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It's taken me about two years to get here, but I'm pretty much done with my listening room. Below is a short pictorial history of the remodel. Last weekend I built my first set of acoustic panels. They came out very well I have to say.

The basement is split in a two sections, a front semi-finished section, and rear unfinished section. The rear section was for laundry, home gym, and HVAC stuff. The front section was poorly finished probably 30 or 40 years ago. It was uninsulated, and frankly, kind of scary to be in. My plan was to insulate, run new wiring, fix up sketchy HVAC, and move one wall about 2 feet to get a bit more room in the main area.

The front section is now my dedicated listening room - and I love it!

On to the pics......

Here's where I started. Poor lighting and a creepy basement feel. Notice the pic hanging on the wall. It shows up at the end.
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Demo time
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Where to put stuff?!
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Demo done, now to start remodel
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Remodel, insulation, etc

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Wife helps with Rockwool. So. Much. Rockwool.
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Drywall
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Floor and lights in!
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Testing the main gear spot with JBL
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Next update will be the panels and final shots of the basement.............
 
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OK, now on to the acoustic panel. These are made with 1x6 pine and filled with Rockwool.
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Two were all I needed (for now)
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I bought broadcloth for the fronts and burlap for the back. I officially hate burlap. You can't cut it evenly, it's more of a battle with it. Anyway, onwards with the pics

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So. Many. Staples........

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OK, next thread post will be the final pics!
 
The final product! Note the framed print from pic 1 is on the same place on the same wall. I had it reframed and it's looking much better.

It has a mix of store bought and the home built acoustic panels. There are some larger bass traps behind the corner panels. It all sounds fantastic.

The only thing I might add are some ceiling panels. It's a small space and absorption really seems to help the acoustics. I've never taken room measurements, just gone off of my listening.

Well, off to listen to some tunes!!!!!

Gear:
Rogue Audio ST100 amp
Freya+ preamp
APM200 (everyone needs some bouncing VU meter action)
Parasound HD1100 DAC
Bluesound Node2i
Sony CD player
Technics FM tuner
Denon DP-300F table
Schiit mani phono pre
OHM Walsh 2XO speakers
BIC sub
Cables - nothing special....

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My only question...where is the guitar/bass amp? ;)

But more seriously, what is/are the builds on the baffles in the room corners? My Bose 901's would hate those...:rolleyes:
 
Bill Ashton said:
My only question...where is the guitar/bass amp? ;)
Click to expand...

Ha, good catch! I've got a small Ampeg SVT-210 cabinet and PF-350 amp in the other room. I'm going to build a little rolling platform for it so I can move it around the room. It's such a small space and I don't want to clutter it up too much.
 
Nice! But what I really think you need for that space is a nice, old, Ampeg B-15 (tube, of course) ;)

Let's hear some James Jamerson :)
 
Bill Ashton said:
My only question...where is the guitar/bass amp? ;)

But more seriously, what is/are the builds on the baffles in the room corners? My Bose 901's would hate those...:rolleyes:
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@Bill Ashton I never answered your question about the corner panels. Behind those panels are 4 foot tall bass traps. I bought the panels off of Amazon. They’re cheap GIK knockoffs, but do a good job with absorption. The traps I also bought off Amazon.

After we insulated the framing, but before we hung the drywall, I set up a small receiver and a pair of EPI speakers in the room. It sounded amazing with all the absorption from the Rockwool. Like, really, really good.

I knew I wanted to add a lot of absorption and acoustic panels once the room was completed. I was burned out on remodeling and didn’t want to spend time making custom panels or bass traps, and I was also low on budget. So panels from the major acoustic companies wasn’t going to work either. Anyway, that’s how I ended up ordering them from Amazon.

The system has a great synergy right now, and the OHM’s seems to work in the space. I still think the room needs more panels, so my next project will be panels for the ceiling and one more panel for the side wall.

Thanks!
 
lokerola said:
@Bill Ashton I never answered your question about the corner panels. Behind those panels are 4 foot tall bass traps. I bought the panels off of Amazon. They’re cheap GIK knockoffs, but do a good job with absorption. The traps I also bought off Amazon.

After we insulated the framing, but before we hung the drywall, I set up a small receiver and a pair of EPI speakers in the room. It sounded amazing with all the absorption from the Rockwool. Like, really, really good.

I knew I wanted to add a lot of absorption and acoustic panels once the room was completed. I was burned out on remodeling and didn’t want to spend time making custom panels or bass traps, and I was also low on budget. So panels from the major acoustic companies wasn’t going to work either. Anyway, that’s how I ended up ordering them from Amazon.

The system has a great synergy right now, and the OHM’s seems to work in the space. I still think the room needs more panels, so my next project will be panels for the ceiling and one more panel for the side wall.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Glad I found your thread. I have been looking at those panels on Amazon for my new space. Same reasons, doing a whole house remodel while getting g the room set up.
 
GChief said:
Glad I found your thread. I have been looking at those panels on Amazon for my new space. Same reasons, doing a whole house remodel while getting g the room set up.
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@GChief , one thing to note is how many of these damn things I have in the room. I have the following:
2 bass traps in the corners
12 of the darker 2x2 panels. 8 are in the front of the room (4 per wall) in front of the bass traps, and 4 on a back corner wall
4 of the lighter panels, 2 on each side wall, and 2 on the back wall behind the listening spot.
4 of the white foam diffusers, 2 on each side wall.
2 of the big pine panels I built myself.

At this point the store-bought foam panels with the fake wood fronts helped - but it was really the big Rockwool panels I built that made the biggest immediate impact on sound quality. If I had to do it all over again I would probably skip the store bought stuff and build more of my own panels.

EDIT - I have grown to really like the look of the store bought panels. They’re almost like art to me at this point. Would a more expensive set of panels from one of the big acoustic companies done a better job of absorption? Yea, probably. But these do work for absorption and I like how they look. YMMV!
 
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Kgveteran said:
James Jamerson! A FunkBrother, he had some amazing chops.
Standing in the shadows of motown great Doc
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Definitely! Jameson was amazing. I’m a hack bass player and can hold down a blues shuffle, but that’s where my musical ability ends.
 
lokerola said:
I have grown to really like the look of the store bought panels. They’re almost like art to me at this point. Would a more expensive set of panels from one of the big acoustic companies done a better job of absorption? Yea, probably. But these do work for absorption and I like how they look. YMMV!
Click to expand...
Thanks!! I have been looking at other store bought panels also. They need to be "art" since they are in the main living room. The GFAF will only go some far with plain panels. But she is all about me doing what I need to do.
 
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