Another new listening room is built

JLM · « **Reply #20 on:** 8 Jun 2013, 08:41 am »

I focused on what couldn't be changed later (shape/size of room). BTW even with the faulty ceiling isolation the room was "spooky" isolated the first few weeks after move in (felt so disconnected from others just a few feet away).

Regarding drainage of downspouts away from the house:

Had mild rainwater intrusion (visibly damp block walls) in previous basement and a popular vendor wanted $5000 to drill weep holes in the bottom of block cores to allow drainage into special perimeter coving (sort of the easy French drain approach). With a degree in civil engineering, the idea of encouraging water to enter the house went against my grain and being Irish I looked for a cheaper solution. So I replaced the 3 foot concrete splash blocks with 10 foot piece of drain tile, using residential elbows and downspout adapters. Being lazy I only buried the tile about 2 inches under grade, but it worked like a charm. Never froze (Michigan winters), never plugged (added wire screens at top of downspouts), and most importantly the basement never got the least but damp again.

Scottdazzle · « **Reply #21 on:** 24 Jun 2013, 10:13 pm »

Soooo, my wife and I went away for a week. I figured that the crew would use the opportunity to finish the job without me nosing around all the time.

Well, they did finish the drywall and painting, but didn't finish the little stuff like installing the light fixtures and vent covers. The contractor forgot

to order the carpet we agreed on before I left town. This sets the whole job back by at least a week while I try to stay calm when I'd much rather be moving everything into the new room.

Anyway the room is now all done except for the carpet and all my stuff. Hopefully I will be moving in by this time next week. Here are some more pics.

Applying green glue between layers of drywall.

Looking into the room from the bottom of the stairs.

In the doorway. The sump pump is a definite item to be hidden by a GIK pillar or soffit trap.

Looking to the left and carpet samples. The support beam is boxed in and heavily insulated. I'll need to work on any acoustical mischief it and the soffit above it may cause.

This is the view from the front left corner back to the entry door. The door is solid by the way. You might be able to see how thick the walls are by looking at the door jamb and window well.

Scottdazzle · « **Reply #22 on:** 24 Jun 2013, 10:20 pm »

Quote from: srlaudio on 30 May 2013, 10:00 pm

Another tip for you: provide an isolated ground to the third pin of your electrical plugs. Drive a couple or maybe even three of six foot copper rods into the earth, couple all together with #6 stranded copper to a centrally located buss bar to distribute individually to your plugs. This will help increase your signal to noise ratio and provide a silent electronic background for the music. The common ground in your house carries a lot of junk signals which manifest themselves in a bad way on your sound. Another good thing is an AC regenerator. These have fallen in price, and provide ripple free symmetrical power to your equipment. These mods would qualify your AC as "tech power". A wonderful thing!

Great suggestions! The copper rods are in the ground and ready to be connected by a real electrician (not me). I'll think about an ac regenerator, but I expect the dedicated lines to be sufficient.

Scottdazzle · « **Reply #23 on:** 16 Jul 2013, 09:12 pm »

Construction of the new listening room is now complete and I have moved my equipment and music into it! Next up: more room treatments. I've got GIK elite pillar bass traps in the corners and Real Traps at the first reflection points, but I need to tame the room a bit. Woodsyi is coming over tomorrow so I will get the benefit of his always excellent advice.

Wired, painted, carpeted and ready.

Earlier today.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #24 on:** 16 Jul 2013, 10:39 pm »

Nice room. Good work avoiding the pot lights, and going for surface mount. I could not in my space, so the ability to keep sound in the basement room is compromised.

WOW you have a lot of vinyl!

bpape · « **Reply #25 on:** 16 Jul 2013, 10:46 pm »

Nicely done. Now sit back and enjoy it....

Bryan

Nick77 · « **Reply #26 on:** 16 Jul 2013, 10:59 pm »

Nice system, and room.

Phil A · « **Reply #27 on:** 16 Jul 2013, 11:09 pm »

Scott - room looks great (especially seeing it a couple of times in the really early stages). I'll have to get over at some point.

Scottdazzle · « **Reply #28 on:** 16 Jul 2013, 11:21 pm »

Quote from: mcgsxr on 16 Jul 2013, 10:39 pm

Nice room. Good work avoiding the pot lights, and going for surface mount. I could not in my space, so the ability to keep sound in the basement room is compromised.

WOW you have a lot of vinyl!

Thanks. Yes, I have way too much vinyl. There's a bunch more you can't see in the photos. At my age, if I started today I'd never get around to all of them again. I'm getting ready to start putting some on ebay, after the CAF. I went through many years of buying lots of records and cd's but not investing in suitably high quality equipment. I've turned the corner and I'm going the other way with whatever future I have. I want to get the maximum pleasure from my music from now on.

Scottdazzle · « **Reply #29 on:** 16 Jul 2013, 11:22 pm »

Quote from: Phil A on 16 Jul 2013, 11:09 pm

Scott - room looks great (especially seeing it a couple of times in the really early stages). I'll have to get over at some point.

Phil, I'd like that. Give me a month or two to get the room treatments all sorted out.

Guy 13 · « **Reply #30 on:** 16 Jul 2013, 11:49 pm »

Hi Scottdazzle and all Audio Circle members.
Your room is small, but nice and cozy.
I prefer small than large room.
The contractor that built our all armored concrete house is now (After one year settling down) repairing all the crack and believe me, there are lots of them.
When everything is finish in 10 years from now, (Joking) I will down size my listening room and might do some (Little) acoustic treatment.

Guy 13

Scottdazzle · « **Reply #31 on:** 16 Jul 2013, 11:55 pm »

Quote from: Guy 13 on 16 Jul 2013, 11:49 pm

Hi Scottdazzle and all Audio Circle members.
Your room is small, but nice and cozy.
I prefer small than large room.
The contractor that built our all armored concrete house is now (After one year settling down) repairing all the crack and believe me, there are lots of them.
When everything is finish in 10 years from now, (Joking) I will down size my listening room and might do some (Little) acoustic treatment.

Guy 13

Guy,

I have been in a typical house in Saigon, so I know what you're talking about. My son lived there for awhile and gave us a grand tour of the country. I hope you can get to work on room treatments soon. Those boxy dimensions and hard walls must be a big challenge to an audiophile!

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #32 on:** 17 Jul 2013, 12:43 am »

That's great!
Thanks for allowing us to follow along. Looks like you made good time. Only a couple months. Well done Sire.

Bob

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #33 on:** 17 Jul 2013, 04:24 am »

What an amazing room! Nice lookin' rig, too!

Guy 13 · « **Reply #34 on:** 17 Jul 2013, 10:40 am »

Quote from: Scottdazzle on 16 Jul 2013, 11:55 pm

Guy,

I have been in a typical house in Saigon, so I know what you're talking about. My son lived there for awhile and gave us a grand tour of the country. I hope you can get to work on room treatments soon. Those boxy dimensions and hard walls must be a big challenge to an audiophile!

Hi Scottdazzle and all Audio Circle members.
For you, how many years is " awhile " ?
I've been here for 18 years...
I plan to go back to my home country Canada next year
and I was wondering if it's worth the investment?
Once gone, my wife and her family will use the room for Karaoke singing
and the Vietnamese could not care less about good acoustics.
Here a few pictures of what my listening room look like during the repairs.
Guy 13

All the wall on the fourth floor are also all cracked up...

Guy 13 · « **Reply #35 on:** 21 Jul 2013, 03:49 am »

Hi all Audio Circle members.
I hope I am not bumping here anyone topic.
My listening room is being repaired, well the wall and ceiling anyway.
Here is what now it looks like.

Guy 13

Tyson · « **Reply #36 on:** 21 Jul 2013, 04:55 am »

Great room Scott!

My only advice - move your equipment rack as close to the wall as you can. The closer it is to your speakers, the more it will mess up imaging.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #37 on:** 21 Jul 2013, 04:57 am »

That's a pretty large listening room, Guy 13! Lookin' good.

Guy 13 · « **Reply #38 on:** 21 Jul 2013, 08:36 am »

Quote from: Rob Babcock on 21 Jul 2013, 04:57 am

That's a pretty large listening room, Guy 13! Lookin' good.

Hi Rob and all Audio Circle members.
Yes, I guess I am lucky with such a large listening room.
The dimensions are: 12 feet at the narrow end and 15 feet at the wider end.
The total length is 22.5 feet, but I use only 15 feet the remaining of the 7.5 feet is for my office it's separated by a curtain wall that also act as a diffusor and/or absorber.
The fun and expensive next step will be to acoustically treat the room.

Guy 13

Hipper · « **Reply #39 on:** 21 Jul 2013, 05:09 pm »

You sure those cracks aren't pre-historic paintings?

I can make out a horse and a bird....