[klh]

They are up and basically done. Thanks to all for your help... especially Ethan and Bryan. Glenn, too. All of you have contributed to my knowledge and I appreciate it. My dad and wife also helped with the installation and fabrication... it would have been very difficult without them.

Here are some pics of what has gone on. Please ignore the need for touch up paint... as well as the water spots on my camera. I threw in a little something extra at the end for fun.


Front left... note the opening to the rest of the house.


Front right... note the IB subwoofer above the TV!!!


View towards the rear of the room... note the lovely bass traps .


Framing of 1st reflection panels for the right and left wall. All first reflection panels have 2" 3# unfaced rigid fiberglass panels... this and the following two photos were taken before the rigid fiberglass was installed.


Framing of 1st reflection panels for the front wall.


Framing of 1st reflection panel for the ceiling cloud.


Front left. The fiberglass panels within the 1st reflection absorber are about 4" out from the wall.


Close up of the upper front left corner (above the opening)... note the truncated vertical cross corner bass trap. It is 6" thick 8# mineral wool.


Font wall of the theater... note the horizontal cross corner traps and IB centered above the TV. The wall is bare in the middle in anticipation of getting a front projector and screen. The horizontal cross corner traps have two 12" wide and one 8" wide 2" thick 3# rigid fiberglass panels laminated together (for a total thickness of 6") and the one facing into the room has a kraft/foil skim on it.


The ceiling cloud... note that it is hung by i and j bolts screwed into the rafters and the framing of the absorber. The fiberglass panels are about 5" off the ceiling.


Close up of the IB... it has two opposing Ascendant Audio Avalanche 18" subs. This is obviously a shot of one of the drivers... getting a shot with both in view (and dicernable) is very difficult.


A cross sectional view of how the horizontal cross corner traps are attached. I'll be sure to cover up the ends... I just wanted to leave it open to take photos and show how they were attached.


Right wall.


Right rear view (when facing the TV)... note the bass trap along the rear wall behind the couch. It is spaced 1' off the wall and is 6" thick 8# mineral wool.


Left rear view. Note the prominant vertical cross corner bass trap. It is 6" thick 8# mineral wool.

As for the IB's output, I took some SPL measurements with the most recent digital Rat Shack SPL meter. With Sonnies corrections for this version of the meter, the results are promising. For reference, I used Ethan Winer's test tones downloaded from his website. I'm going to have to describe the plot as I don't have a working scanner and the results were manually drawn on logarithmic graph paper.

Pink noise was set to 75 dB. The in room response from the main seated position started at 77dB at 10 Hz and steadily and for the most part evenly rose to 97 dB at 37 Hz (there were a few minor blips). It then dropped to 83 dB at 46 Hz. After that it rose to 100 dB at 56Hz (and stayed there until 63Hz). From there it droped to 95 dB at 76 Hz and then rose to 99 dB at 81 Hz (and stayed there until 100 Hz). Then it slowly dropped to about 75 dB at 140 Hz.

All of this was done with the sub amp gain turned up 100% (or more accurately the attenuation set to zero). The sub output level from the integrated amp set to a point (+4). This was done because it's the maximum level I can set it to for my listening preferences (the clip light on the Samson S700 has only flickered once). I normally listen to movies with the volume on the integrated amp set at 40 (but the setup and levels are otherwise the same). In order for the pink noise to be at 75 dB I had to have the volume set to 20. Although I don't have the manual in front of me, I believe that when I set the volume to 40, the response is 20dB louder than it would be at 20. So, without EQ, I think I'm capable of 97 dB at 10 Hz! I'm sure I could turn it up even more, but I just don't like to listen that loud. BTW, the front left, center, front right and surround speakers all cross over to the sub at 80 Hz, and the sub also gets all of the LFE signal.

What I gather from this is with my new parametric EQ (Behringer DSP 1124p), I'll be able to cut significant response across the board and still be flat to 10 Hz. Moreover, I'll have room for a decent house curve and not have to worry about destroying my Avalanches by over excursion or clipping the amp. I think the null at 46 Hz most likely comes from having the IB centered right to left and having the main listening postion centered right to left. Even though there is a significant drop in SPL, it's still well above the pink noise level. It could definitely be worse. When I set up the BFD, I'll do several curves. One for center seating for music, one for center seating for movies, one for sitting a foot or so left (and right) of center for when my wife and I watch movies together. It'll take some work, but the potential is there!

And... just for a little fun, I thought I'd add this...



BTW, that is a bald man's head at the bottom of the last photo!

[launche]

Excellent work KLH. 

I like the routed cutouts in the framing.
Looking forward to hearing your listening impressions of the completed project 

P.S. You had me with the treatments.

Porn girls are truly a dime a dozen but some good room treatments now that's priceless...no need to dirty up your good efforts with those ???

[klh]

I cut the holes in the framing in order to decrease weight and increase the absorptive surface area of the panels. I didn't use a router, though. All I did was drill 4 holes, one for each corner, and connect them with a saber saw. The holes are pretty raw, but it doesn't matter. They are covered with cloth and the roughness actually helps hold the rigid fiberglass in place. Cutting all those holes was a major PITA, though. It took forever.

As for the "Girls Next Door" I haven't seen them in his magazine... believe it or not the only reason I know of them is my wife likes to watch their show on MTV (or whatever station it's on). This photo is from a signing session they had at a conference in Las Vegas I went to two weeks ago. And, no, it wasn't a conference of the seedy variety ... it was for eyecare professionals.

[PhilNYC]

Porn girls are truly a dime a dozen but some good room treatments now that's priceless...no need to dirty up your good efforts with those ???

I think those are Hef's girlfriends, no? aa

[klh]

Exactly.

[launche]

Thanks the best the Hef can do...wow.

I don't watch the show but is there a difference between Hef's girls and porn girls...excuse my ingorance if there is.

Don't get me wrong I am a man and can appreciate the eye candy for "eye professionals"

Again, good work on the treatments.

[klh]

Thanks for the complements... this project has taken quite a while to complete.

What's funny is my wife loves to watch the show, but is very conservative when it comes to herself. She rarely wears v-neck type shirts, almost always wears long skirts or pants and usually has her arms covered. She says the show her guilty pleasure... I was shocked (and intrigued) the first time I saw her watching it. The show doesn't really show anything risque... it's just about their day-to-day life. Nonetheless, it was quite a surprise. I had to take a photo when we saw them at the conference... it was for her of course .

BTW, Launche... how did you know who they were?

[Ethan Winer]

> this project has taken quite a while to complete. <

I bet. And I'm sure it was worth it. Excellent job my friend!

--Ethan

[launche]

Thanks for the complements... this project has taken quite a while to complete.

What's funny is my wife loves to watch the show, but is very conservative when it comes to herself. She rarely wears v-neck type shirts, almost always wears long skirts or pants and usually has her arms covered. She says the show her guilty pleasure... I was shocked (and intrigued) the first time I saw her watching it. The show doesn't really show anything risque... it's just about their day-to-day life. Nonetheless, it was quite a surprise. I had to take a photo when we saw them at the conference... it was for her of course .

BTW, Launche... how did you know who they were?

I didn't until you or Phil mentioned it.  Really, I just looked at them and inferred as to their profession, plus I thought I saw some adult mags they were signing but that was probably incorrect. 
I am a health professional and I have an eye for high risk STD candidates. 

[nathanm]

I see you gained a lot of Ghost Orb activity when you installed your treatments, klh!  That is a good sign, those are probably the spirits of dead audiophiles bestowing their blessings from beyond the grave. 

[klh]

Thanks for the complements everyone.

Funny, Launche... I didn't notice the mags before, but it looks like one is a Playboy. You're absolutely right about the STD thing, though. I wouldn't be surprised at all if any or all of them have had or been treated for at least one of the big three.

[lonewolfny42]

Nice job on building your room treatments....and thanks for the photo's !!!

[launche]

Now I don't mean to imply anything about these young ladies.  You would probably be safer with them than the average person on the street from my experience.

I actually came home and ran across the show on the cable menu and watched a few minutes before the football game came on.  For one, as I mentioned before Hef can do ALOT better, these are everyday girls IMO, nothing special at all.  Plus they didn't seem to be too bright and when I saw one of them kissing her little dog all in the mouth I had to change the channel as I knew my initial thoughts were correct.  Just a pet peeve of mine, I am not a fan of single women with dogs...uhh uhh no way Jose.

[klh]

The youngest has a striking lack of intelligence. It seems pretty obvious what both sides are after!

Anyways, back to the room treatments. I love the sound in the room. My wife is now complaining that I'm spending too much time up there listening to music and watching movies! Of course things sound incredible in the main listening position, but I'm most happy with how well things sound when walking around the room. Particularly in the low end. The variation in output when playing bass heavy beats while walking around was horrible before they went up. The Standing waves have been dramatically decreased. It really is much more enjoyable no matter where you sit.

I highly recommend acoustically treating your room. In fact, it's probably a good idea to treat any room in the house where people tend to congregate. It could be as simple has having very subtle absorption panels covered with a decorative fabric sporatically placed... especially if your room is not carpeted and/or there is a lot of open wall space. I noticed this the last time I went to LV. The Bellagio has acoustic panels in the hallway going back towards the monorail between it and the Monte Carlo. There is lots of marble and glass, so they put up beautiful panels, and they really help. They are quite striking.

[launche]

Did you use any reflective material in the panels...say between the wool and the fabric?

I recently finished three panels (two really rough designs and one final design) I had some plastic wrap type material around the house and I used that...wool>>batting>>plastic wrap>>fabric.

The good that about the plastic wrap was that I made some pieces wrapped in plastic and then I could handle them easier without worrying about the wool fibers shedding all over the place.

I wish I could do my corners where the ceiling meets the wall and the 1st reflection point on the ceiling but the wife won't have that but I've got an idea for something that might work reasonably well.

[klh]

The only traps that have the reflective surface are the horizontal cross corner ones. They are 6" thick 3# rigid fiberglass and have the kraft/foil skim on the surface facing into the room. You can actually see the foil poking it's ugly head through the traps on the close up photo of the front left corner. The foil only shows up when bright light hits the traps at just the right angle so the reflection comes right at you. I've heard that the foil not only reflect the higher frequencies but also act as a pseudomembrane and thus increase the effectiveness of absorbing the lower frequencies. For me it was really important as I had so much trapping the room would be extremely dead without it. I've contemplated adding a foil/skim to the vertical cross corner traps, but I like the sound so much it's probably not worth the hassle.

[klh]

I finally finished dialing in my dual Ascendant Audio Avalanche 18" IB sub last night. The BFD really helps tame the response.



Just ignore the dB's on the left. Actual measurements are about 20dB higher, but the overall shape of the REW plot is almost identical to the corrected RS SPL meter's measured response. The only difference is there is an unaccounted peak at 120Hz (which is why I have the dip in the REW plot at 120 Hz).  The other difference is the REW plot only measures the sub. When the sub and mains are on the response flattens out at 80Hz and stays at 75dB (which correlates to ~56dB on the REW plot). The result is a beautiful house curve with a peak at about 22Hz that is 14dB hotter than the pink noise. I realize the curve may be considered a littel excessive, but the bass is so clean... it's exilerating.

I absolutely love the sound now that it is finalized. BTW, the amp is nowhere near clipping, so even though I boosted a few areas there appears to be no side effects. I had the VLFs boosted more (about +8dB all the way down to 10Hz), but got a bit scared when watching WOTW. When the road cracks as the first machine rises the 18" drivers were damn close to their limit... I swear it looked like they were moving 2.5-3" peak to peak!!! In fact, I think I heard them bottoming just a little. Since I love the Avalanches I kept the same boost from 20Hz and up, but tapered the lower frequency boost to nothing at 10Hz (75dB). Now I can enjoy the superb response without a worry.

[launche]

Look really good Klh,

If my next home allows, I will do an IB setup for HT.
I almost went insane with a quad tumult design a few months ago but decided to hold off until I get a better space.
We're flying up the Carolina's next month to look at homes.
Looks like things are coming together very nicely.

[klh]

Thanks for the complement Launche. I also had an IB in mind when we bought our house. My wife had no idea, but it was actually one of the main reasons for liking the house we ended up buying. I don't know what I'll do if we end up moving and I can't have another IB. That would be a very sad day. Once you've gone infinitely baffled, there's no goin back.

[klh]

Well, I finally finished off the room. I filled in the spaces between the corner traps so there aren't any breaks. I went for the seamless appearance, but these photos really magnify imperfections. I also finished painting the the details like the minidoor accessing the attic in the front left. A big project was installing a solid core door also in the front left to isolate the room from the rest of the house. This was in part to decrease sound leaving the room, but more to eliminate light entering the room. I also sealed off the windows with blackout cloth to make the room 100% light controlled. The outer aspect of the BOC was glued to the sheetrock with liguid nails and then puddy was used to smoth over the edge. I then primed and painted them so they blend in. A cool little addition was mood lighting immediately right and left of the couch (and below the wall mount surround speakers). I covered the shades with leftover cloth from the side 1st reflection absorbers and rear bass trap. Lastly, I got my new RS1 projector and paired it with a PS3. The room sounds great and the image(ing) is top notch. We're very excited. Oh yeah, we also got a new couch. The only real project left to do is deal with the baseboards and trim. I'm thinking about painting them black. I also want to hide the cables going around to the back of the room. The trim around the door and IB subwoofer is also of concern... I think it needs to be darker. We'll probably get rid of the lawn chairs and get a couple dark brown microfiber recliners. Throw in a couple pillows to tie together the blue, aqua and brown and we'll be set.

Anyways... on to the photos:


Front Left


Front Center


Front Right


Right Rear


Rear