[TomS]

I am re-doing my dedicated basement listening room, so am considering various options for the flooring.  Current room is 13x24x8.  The left side 24' and front 13' walls are poured concrete with 2x4 attached framing, insulation, and single drywall sheets with drywalled ceiling.  The right hand 24' wall is 2x4 framing interior with drywall and one door.  I am not not concerned at all about isolation, just the best sound.  My room is already heavily bass trapped with RealTraps everywhere they fit, as well as panels at the first reflection points on walls and ceiling.

My main question is this:  I had carpet with pad on poured concrete floor before.  That is now gone, so I am considering laminate or engineered wood floors with foam underlayment as required, along with area rugs on top as make sense.  I don't want to suddenly create an overly reflective environment, but I have grown to absolutely HATE carpet and I am gradually getting it out of my house.  Also, both speakers I currently use (Merlin VSM-MX and Emerald Physics CS2s) use rigid pointed spikes couple directly to the concrete through carpet.  Now, they would not couple the same way due to the layer of laminate/wood and foam, so I'm concerned about that.

Waddya recommend without breaking the bank?

Tom

[kgturner]

if you can't spring for hard wood, i'd suggest engineered before laminate. i put laminate in my house, but i'm going to be selling within a year or two. i don't care for the look of the laminate i have as the grain pattern repeats too often for my taste. as far as coupling, could you just spike directly into the wood? i know this is a major concern regarding scratches, but if you set once and forget your speakers, you'll never see the little hole where they dig in. plus it'll give you a good marker for future reference.

kevin t

[TomS]

I do too much switching of speakers so marks on the floor would be a problem.  I have the little flat metal discs with places for the spike points.  Just not sure what the best method of coupling is going to be if there is a foam or felt paper underneath.  Also, the reflectivity of the floor itself is a concern as that's the one thing the carpet does do well.

[Bemopti123]

Depending whether the basement is really below level and the humidity conditions, I would consider tiling the place, at least that is the most durable and humidity proof option which I took when I did the basement of my house. 

[TomS]

I thought about that but at about 700 sq ft. that's a bunch of installation $$.  Last time I did about 550' myself and it about killed me 

[zybar]

Tom,

I assume real wood is out due to cost and possible humidty issues?

Personally, I would go with Engineered Wood if real wood doesn't make sense.

I have never liked laminate.

Tile could look good, but I agree that it is a pain in the ass to put down compared to real or engineered wood.

George

[bpape]

Regardless of which way you go, doing any type of hard, reflective flooring will require additional absorption in the room to tame the livlness - most likely on the ceiling.

Bryan

[rajacat]

How about snap to fit cork flooring? Relatively easy install, soft underfoot and sound deadening properties.
http://www.lumberliquidators.com/catalog/thumbnail.jsp?parentCategoryId=2&categoryId=10&nonFlooring=1&&WT.mc_id=cork&WT.srch=1&gclid=CJDH-66J6pkCFRlcagodLiigSA

-Roy

[zybar]

Regardless of which way you go, doing any type of hard, reflective flooring will require additional absorption in the room to tame the livlness - most likely on the ceiling.

Bryan

Bryan,

What about area rugs?

I have a good sized area rug right in front of my speakers on a hardwood floor and based on some simple A/B tests it is doing a pretty good job in improving my sonics.

George

[TomS]

Cork is a good suggestion, never really thought about it.  What happens if it gets damp or even wet?  Does it just dry out? 

I had planned maybe an 8x10 and 5x8 thick rug to tame the floor reflections.  Hadn't really thought about putting more on the ceiling but that makes sense to counter the increased energy from the floor.

[oneinthepipe]

Cork is a good suggestion, never really thought about it.  What happens if it gets damp or even wet?  Does it just dry out? 

I had planned maybe an 8x10 and 5x8 thick rug to tame the floor reflections.  Hadn't really thought about putting more on the ceiling but that makes sense to counter the increased energy from the floor.

I have absorption on the ceiling, which makes an enormous difference.  Bryan suggested diffusion on the ceiling, which would have undoubtedly been better, even in my small room, but I have an insurmountable installation issue, i.e., wife.  She didn't mind me hanging (4) 2'X4' broadband absorption panels from the ceiling, which makes the room as dark as the floor of a rain forest, but she objected to my removing and covering the light fixture and installing D1 diffusors attached to furring strips on the ceiling.  I even showed her a photo of the diffusors (my 1st mistake, but I thought they look "cool").  Go figure.

A rug that covers the reflection points on the floor between the speakers and listener is essential, in my very limited experience.

Years ago, in my previous home, when I was younger and my knees were better, I installed Pergo-style laminated flooring (Hardy brand on clearance at Home Depot for $0.77 a square foot).  I didn't like the concept of plastic flooring or the constantly repeating pattern, but the stuff was dirt cheap, and the installation was easy, and the room was below level, where I was concerned about moisture.  The floor "floated", but I don't think that there would be an resonance because of the floor's weight. 

My mother-in-law has cork tile flooring in two rooms and a hallway, and the cork was very reasonably priced and has held up very well, in both her kitchen and in a finished room in her basement, even in the presence of periodic moisture, but cork flooring is generally not recommended for damp rooms.  The cork comes in a variety of colors, and her flooring is very attractive.

[bpape]

Regardless of which way you go, doing any type of hard, reflective flooring will require additional absorption in the room to tame the livlness - most likely on the ceiling.

Bryan

Bryan,

What about area rugs?

I have a good sized area rug right in front of my speakers on a hardwood floor and based on some simple A/B tests it is doing a pretty good job in improving my sonics.

George

That will help with floor reflections - but only at higher frequencies.  A good carpet plus a good pad will reach at lest down below 1kHz

Bryan

[oneinthepipe]

Regardless of which way you go, doing any type of hard, reflective flooring will require additional absorption in the room to tame the livlness - most likely on the ceiling.

Bryan

Bryan,

What about area rugs?

I have a good sized area rug right in front of my speakers on a hardwood floor and based on some simple A/B tests it is doing a pretty good job in improving my sonics.

George

That will help with floor reflections - but only at higher frequencies.  A good carpet plus a good pad will reach at lest down below 1kHz

Bryan

Bryan,

For those of us that can't carpet the room, will those thick rug pads that are sold at Overstock.com, if you are familiar with them, be helpful under an area rug?

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Premium-Hard-Surface-and-Carpet-Rug-Pad-6-x-9/311745/product.html

[bpape]

Sure.  Anything that you can do to thicken the absorption (as long as its not a cheap, closed cell foam) will help to extend things.  Just don't expect anything in the dialog range down.

Bryan

[TomS]

Any idea how this cork stuff would compare to the carpet/pad (1 khz)?  Is it really any good for absorption other than higher frequencies like the area rug ?

[oneinthepipe]

Any idea how this cork stuff would compare to the carpet/pad (1 khz)?  Is it really any good for absorption other than higher frequencies like the area rug ?

The cork is usually sealed with several coats of polyurethane, similar to hardwood flooring, and I assume that the surface would be reflective.  Otherwise, cork is purported to absorb sound better than wood.

[bpape]

Any type of sealed hard product will definitely be completely relfective about 1kHz and somewhat down to 500Hz or so.

Bryan

[TomS]

Thanks Bryan.  So it sounds like I'd be just as well off with engineered hardwood and some area rugs with pads.  Then work on that ceiling some more 

[honesthoff]

I would think the least expensive flooring which you can tolerate plus acoustic wall and corner treatments will sound better than any of the other proposed options.

[bpape]

Real wood floors definitely have a sound of their own.  They're very highly prized in top notch recording studios.  If you can swing it and want a hard floor, they're gorgeous.

Bryan