[werd]

Pez, put what ever the wife wants in. After that go and get 3 wool rugs, one in front of each speaker and one at your listening position. This will control floor bounce and everybody is happy.

[wgscott]

We looked briefly at cork and I thought it was a terrible idea.  Convinced us to replace carpet with oak.  We still have carpet in the living room (listening room).  At some point (after the dog, who needs the carpet to stand up now, croaks) we were thinking of replacing the carpet with oak.  Is this really an unsound (so to speak) idea?

[JLM]

The only surface worse than varnished hardwood (such as oak) for acoustics would be masonry (stone, ceramic, concrete) flooring. 

Hardwoods might even be worse depending on the subfloor.  Masonry would require a stiff structure underneath, but wood wouldn't.  A "soft" subfloor (OSB/plywood and joists) transmits low frequency vibrations.

[wgscott]

Well, a new carpet is A LOT less expensive.  Our house is on pillar and post, so it probably constitutes a soft floor.

[wgscott]

Dog eventually croaked.  Carpet is now replaced with wood floor and Persian area rug in front of the speakers.  Sound is significantly improved.

[bladesmith]

If it is a low traffic area, go for it. And then add the rugs, like adv'd by "werd"....

If you get a small area of the room with high traffic, you can always replace the squares. If an area gets worn down.

(Just remember to keep some extra squares.)

[mick wolfe]

This really does not speak to the absorption value of the product. I would think it may be a "bit" better then a hardwood floor and no where near carpet. If you do use it I would still plan on throw rugs if nothing else.

Glenn Kuras
GIK Acoustics

That has been my friend's experience with cork. Maybe a shade less lively than wood, but lively nonetheless. My friend says he's never been able to reestablish the pleasant acoustic balance he had with carpet..... even though I remember it being hideous to look at.  Glenn is correct....start shopping for area rugs.

[wgscott]

I can't remember where I saw it, but when I was considering cork, I read that it has a slightly greater reflectivity than a wood floor.

[weatherman1]

Not only is cork more reflective and acoustically active than a good engineered hardwood but if you have windows, keep the shades pulled or drapes closed.  Color bleaching is a problem with cork unless manufacturers have a new process to control this.  I put in random plank rough sawed hickory with thick strategically placed rugs and have never wanted broadloom carpet again. 

[gregfisk]

Steve's experience with is the diametric opposite of my experience with Berber. My wife &  I have used it in two homes, always purchasing the best quality underlayment pad and a good quality carpet. For us, it never wears out (it just gets worn looking after many years.) Now admittedly, we have no kids and no pets with claws. We're anal retentive housekeepers that vacuum every week and use a carpet steamcleaner every time dirt starts showing in the high traffic areas. (We've always liked the very light colored varieties.) If you were one to lay around on the carpet frequently, I could see how you'd find the texture unpleasant. All said, just realize there is a reason that Berber's been a popular choice for many years, and there's no one product that is right for everyone.

I was shaking my head with what Steve was saying, we put berber in our newly built house 20 years ago and it looks almost as good as the day we put in it, no kidding. Granted we paid good money for it and it's only in the bedrooms and on the stairs but it has worn better than any other carpet I have ever had. Of course the tile I put in at the same time in the great room has warn even better, terrible for sound thou and you don't want it in a listening room.

There is a big difference between standard bamboo and woven bamboo for sure. Woven is the way to go in traffic areas, much harder and will hold up a lot longer as the soft bamboo dents very easily.

[Photon46]

After having berber carpet for many years, my wife & I decided we wanted a change and installed stranded bamboo flooring throughout all the house (except for bedrooms.) This isn't the old school soft bamboo, it's a much harder material. Harder than Hickory or Ash I'm told. I was a little concerned about mucking up my excellent listening room's acoustics but my concerns were for naught. The room is a little livelier than it was with carpet, but the basic character of the room is unchanged. I've added a couple more GIK bass traps on one wall to dampen the room's reflectivity and all is fine. We had looked a cork as an alternative but the wear characteristics and propensity for staining and water damage quickly changed my mind about that option.

[bladesmith]

Cork fading would depend a lot on the type of glass in your windows. Most new glass has UV protection built in. How you would find out if you have UV protection, I don't know.

V.....

[Phil]

if you replace carpet throughout the house with hard floors, you will immediately notice how much sound (and dirt) the carpets absorbed.  Hard floors over concrete may require grinding the concrete to reduce high spots (hard flooring only has so much give).  During this process, leave the premises along with your pets (unless you enjoy simulating putting your head in a jet engine). 

Perhaps they don't make carpet as durable as they used to.  We replaced very old berber in one room recently.  The feline would wail on it without effect.  Its replacement, a nice, natural wool fiber couldn't withstand 10 minutes of feline abuse.  (Luckily, a new jute -even stiffer than old berber - scratching post, dosed with catnip, changed her habits.)  If you don't enjoy breathing glue as much as you did in your glory days, you might look into some alternative to the usual adhesive they use to secure the pad to the concrete.  During the time it cures, your audio system might or might not sound better, depending upon your brain's reaction, thus it is a temporary tweak (hopefully). 

[SteveRB]

The best thing I did with the floor in my wood frame building is to stiffen the subfloor with an extra layer of plywood throughout, screwed every 8". This made the entire place feel incredibly solid. There was a noticeably tighter tone to the low end in my speakers.

I then installed solid bamboo, which looks and feels great. Used rugs and treatments to tune the sound. BUT maintained the tight low end.

Made me think the room is like the speaker enclosure: stiffness and braces do wonders to help transmit the energy to your ears, not into warping the boundaries.

That said, anything you do will change the sound and you will have to work to get it right in your 'new' space...

[rmurray]

  After having hardwood floors in the past , carpet has been the best sonic material in my case..