[Early B.]

I have a doorway in the rear of my room that I'd like to close off while listening to music. The right speaker fires directly into the doorway which opens to the kitchen. Here's a pic:



I'm thinking of propping up of those 2-panel closet doors in the doorway or buy a room divider. Any other ideas?

Does the material need to be hard/rigid or will a thick curtain serve the same purpose? Does the entire door need to be covered so that no sound leaks through?

Thanks.

[JLM]

Nice look!  I'd invest in a nice matching door.  Not totally clear on what you mean by closet doors or room divider.  Not clear on your intention(s) of suggesting a thick curtain. 

What are you trying to accomplish by blocking the doorway?  Acoustic isolation (in and/or out of the room), diffusion, absorption, visual isolation, or a combination of these?  The opening by itself should help the room acoustics by varying the functional depth of the room.

I use a pre-hung exterior insulated fiberglass door to my listening room that has weather seals for a practical degree of isolation.  Two doors in series would be even effective for acoustic isolation but not needed in my case. 

[Early B.]

What are you trying to accomplish by blocking the doorway?  Acoustic isolation (in and/or out of the room), diffusion, absorption, visual isolation, or a combination of these?  The opening by itself should help the room acoustics by varying the functional depth of the room.

I leaned a six-foot table in the doorway to simulate closing it off and the sound improved significantly -- better focus and detail, etc. I suppose I'm trying to achieve acoustic isolation.

I need a solution that I can put up and take down easily. The better half won't take kindly to a permanent door.   

[JLM]

Surprised at your result and at the objection to a door (how about if it matches the paneling?).

Just leaning a table against the opening wouldn't be effective at isolation in or out of the room, worse than leaving it open for absorption or diffusion. 

But if you like blocking it off, why not try a sheet of styrofoam?  You could cut to fit the opening and add duck tape handles and/or dress it up with fabric to help seal it to the opening.  After seeing styrofoam perhaps the objection to a door would go away.   

[Early B.]

Surprised at your result and at the objection to a door (how about if it matches the paneling?).

If the doorway was in the middle of the back wall, the result would probably be different.

The picture doesn't tell the whole story, but that very short hallway into the kitchen (about 5 ft. long) wasn't designed to hang a door. It wouldn't be aesthetically appealing. That's why I'm looking for options other than a door.
 

[richidoo]

I have a doorway in the rear of my room that I'd like to close off while listening to music. The right speaker fires directly into the doorway which opens to the kitchen. Here's a pic:

I'm thinking of propping up of those 2-panel closet doors in the doorway or buy a room divider. Any other ideas?

Does the material need to be hard/rigid or will a thick curtain serve the same purpose? Does the entire door need to be covered so that no sound leaks through?

You want to minimize the open gaps. Small cracks around the sides are OK, like if you installed a hinged door in the doorway, but 1/2" or larger gap will allow a lot of kitchen sound through, but it would still be effective in cutting down reflected stereo sound from the kitchen area.

Any barrier that is either absorptive or solid will do what you want. But a hollow core door, or thin board or thin curtain will not work as well as a more substantial barrier. Thick curtains intended for acoustics will do OK for cutting down reflection of stereo going into the kitchen from coming back into the listening room because the curtain is attenuating it twice, going in and out. But loud noises made in the kitchen might still sound too loud in the listening room with only a thick fabric acoustic curtain. ymmv

If you already have closet doors big enough then give those a try. Seal the edges as best as possible. Even if it's only a temporary situation at least you can determine whether a rigid door will work, and how sealed it really needs to be. You could also hang a thick bed quilt in the doorway to see how acoustic curtain might work.

I installed two big dividing walls (5x9' and 6x12') to separate my listening room from the kitchen. I used 2" FG panels inside framed wood panels so I could open and close them when needed using hinges on one and ceiling track on the other. It works very well. The FG inside the thin plywood does block sound very well. Most of my leakage is the cracks around the edges, but it's not so bad that I have to seal them up. My barriers fit inside the spaces they block, no overlap, but the gap is mostly 1/16" - 1/8". If you could make something like that would be ideal to keep the kitchen noise out of your listening room. A 6" overlapping FG core panel that leans against the doorway with small angled legs and felt seal around the perimiter. You slide it to the side when not needed. But that would change the look of your room. But if you only need to cut down reflections of your stereo coming back from the kitchen, then any substantial barrier would work. I'll help you make a plan for a woodworker to build if you want to go that way. You can buy the FG online.

If you do a curtain, try to mount it outside the doorway and make it overlap the doorway rather than fit it inside the doorway.

[jriggy]

I leaned a six-foot table in the doorway to simulate closing it off and the sound improved significantly -- better focus and detail, etc. I suppose I'm trying to achieve acoustic isolation.

So are you really wanting to redesign the whole room to full acoustical isolation, which means no sound escapes to the other rooms? Or is it just more about how much better it sounded when there was no opening in your back wall?

If you like the sound with no treatments on the back wall (a travesty IMO), then using a heavy curtain is not what you want to do, as that will ad some absorption where the curtain hangs. If you liked the sound with a hard ‘door like’ surface (your table used) over the opening, then make a hard panel that you can rest to the side or put into place when listening.

[Early B.]

Thanks, Richidoo.

I think I'm going to pursue a solid wood panel that covers the entire doorway. Just need to find or make a portable version. Home Depot has 2-panel closet doors that fit the opening. I just won't install it and I can hide it behind the sofa when not in use.

[Early B.]

If you like the sound with no treatments on the back wall (a travesty IMO),

My audio system is in the den which is shared with family and visited by friends. Otherwise, I'd have treatments all over the room.

[jriggy]

My audio system is in the den which is shared with family and visited by friends. Otherwise, I'd have treatments all over the room.

You could take some hi-rez pictures of the wood grain on those back paneling sections, then have GIK use the images on their ‘art panels’ and boom, acoustic treatments that blend right into the wall.

[mcgsxr]

Is the goal of the "doorway filler" to prevent sound transmission to the adjacent kitchen, or to improve sound IN the room where audio is enjoyed?

When I read the initial post, it seems that you found the sound in the room better with the space filled.

If so, then your idea of a "fake door" makes perfect sense.

IF you're pursuing reduced transmission of sound to the kitchen, I suspect it will take more than just a panel in front of that opening.

I spent a lot of time tinkering with door sweep and weather stripping around the solid core door at the top of my basement stairs (audio setup in the basement) - even a small 1/2 inch gap at the bottom of the door let through a LOT of sound compared to when the sweep was installed.

BUT, you're not looking to hang a door so it may not matter - and perhaps the panel you envision will get you 80% of the way there with less work!

And classy looking space by the way!

[Early B.]

Is the goal of the "doorway filler" to prevent sound transmission to the adjacent kitchen, or to improve sound IN the room where audio is enjoyed? [Answer: BOTH!]

When I read the initial post, it seems that you found the sound in the room better with the space filled.

If so, then your idea of a "fake door" makes perfect sense.

Exactly. "Fake door" is all I'm trying to do. Not trying to hermetically seal the room. 

There's a second doorway on the right side of the room in the back that leads to the vestibule. I'm guessing this opening has a nominal affect on the sound. However, I'll experiment with closing this off, as well, once I deal with the current issue.  I have a free solution that I can try tomorrow evening.

[macrojack]

Is there space on the other side of your paneling where a pocket door might be installed? This approach eliminates the door swing you say you cannot accommodate. Leave it open except when you have your listening sit downs.

The house looks quite old, is it?

[Early B.]

Is there space on the other side of your paneling where a pocket door might be installed? This approach eliminates the door swing you say you cannot accommodate. Leave it open except when you have your listening sit downs.

The house looks quite old, is it?

Aw, man -- a pocket door would be the ideal solution, but it would require extensive work from a contractor and a decent amount of money. I'll look into the cost for a future project, but we have a few other priorities for the house.

The house was built in 1980. We love the real wood paneling in this room. A couple of years ago, we removed the carpet and put down bamboo flooring. I was concerned about it being too dark and overly "woody," but we like it. It's perfect for watching TV and listening to music which is what the room is used for 98% of the time.

 

[veloceleste]

Narrow bi-folds mounted to the insides of the doorway? Would that close off the doorway too much when open?

[jk@home]

Hang a "Barn Door" up there. Minimum modification to the existing structure and you will be trendy. Plus you can add room treatments (absorber or diffusion) panels on it, just like a wall.

https://www.google.com/search?q=barn+door&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjq8tmsw_vgAhVQqp4KHQ3aD1YQ_AUIDygC&biw=1280&bih=612

[Tone Depth]

Would a door with hinges on the top work? (Sort of like an inverted drawbridge)

[Early B.]

Here's a shot of a bi-fold door I got from a friend. Looks pretty good just propped up. If my wife approves, I'll hang it inside the doorway. Free tweak and a problem solved.