# theater ideas



## corradizo (Jan 19, 2014)

I have an area in our unfinished basement storage (rest of basement is done) that I think I can use to make a little theater. It's about 13'wide and 15' long with 9' ceiling joists. Can I do a drop ceiling with black tiles and insulation aboveand then run heavy curtain around the concrete walls to avoid framing them? Only the surround speakers would stick out. I can pad and carpet the floor. Hide subs and LCR behind screen. Any holes in this plot? Any suggestions on heavy curtain? Should I frame the walls and then do the curtain? This will be a 100 percent movie cave/listening room on a budget.

Thanks, 

Pete


----------



## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

Are you concerned with isolating noise from and to other areas of the house?


----------



## corradizo (Jan 19, 2014)

It's not a huge concern but if I can deaden the space a little that would be good.


----------



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

either way will work, but finishing the walls with drywall will help, and doing a double layer of drywall with isolation clips and green goo will really dampen it.


----------



## eclipse911t (Jan 8, 2013)

I'd definitely suggest some real insulation rather than just heavy curtains. The curtains will only absorb higher frequencies making for a very unbalanced room since the low frequencies will not be absorbed at all. 

If your budget can handle it 4-6" of OC703 or rock wool would help placed behind the curtains strategically throughout the room. Perhaps a 12" deep 100% coverage of the rear wall with the pink fluffy stuff would also be a big plus on a budget and have great LF impact.


----------



## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Just curtains are not going to redefine the space. The 'room' will still be the same dimensions and same cubic footage as it is now in terms of acoustics. What you're doing is adding a lot of upper mid and high frequency only absorption, possibly (probably) too much and doing nothing to address the mid and low frequencies.


----------



## corradizo (Jan 19, 2014)

Thanks guys! So my idea of doing this on the cheap is gone, didn't realize the high frequencies would only be addressed. In the finished part of my basement I have r13 in the walls and in the ceiling as I thought it would help keep the heat down there.... And it does. It's not double drywall with clips and green goo (where can I get more info on that technique?) I guess that insulation is also why I have no real ringing above 20hz in my waterfall graphs - or I'm lucky. 

I don't mind taking my time if I have to, so I will need to educate myself on the best most cost effective way to finish out the space. My father in law is a home builder so he can help me. If you have any links to share to get me started I would greatly appreciate it! 

Thanks, 

Pete


----------



## bpape (Sep 14, 2006)

Double drywall and green glue is going toward the other end of the spectrum. Sure it's great for isolation but is that needed or not? If you want to do it on the 'cheaper' end, just build some 2x6 staggered stud walls 1/2 short of the joists above and tie in with DC-04 clips. Then you only need to do RSIC-1 clips on the ceiling. You can pay for that for the cost of the Green Glue and still save some money and just do single drywall on the walls but double on the ceiling. The staggered studs and DC-04 will give excellent isolation for less money.

If you want to do double drywall on top, it will only increase the isolation. More a matter of what you want to do and how much isolation you need. 

In either case though, you now have a more defined, more predictable space that's easier to pressurize with a sub, easier to plan good seating positions, etc.


----------



## eclipse911t (Jan 8, 2013)

All that having been said (which I totally agree with) it does not address the acoustics of the room much. Drywall is more flexible than concrete, but the newly finished room would still need a full set of treatments. 

You've stated two goals. Room acoustics and cheap. You also mentioned that isolation was not that important. 

Therefore I'd probably create 2x6 stud framing for the walls, insulate, and forego the drywall. And go your drop ceiling as planned. You could then cover the walls with curtains or preferably fabric assuming you don't have kids to mess with it. This room would likely be too dead. However it appears you have REW and a mic, so you could measure and listen and add 1/4 plywood as needed over stud spaces that are not first reflection points to liven thing up a bit. 

The curtains/fabric could be done at the final stage. If you decide you hate it you can add drywall at any time and not be out much.


----------



## eclipse911t (Jan 8, 2013)

What are your speakers?

The example I give lends itself well to large efficient dynamic speakers such as horns. 

You may want the drywall route with panels if you have small bookshelf speakers with typical dome tweeters, etc. This will likely cost more however.


----------



## corradizo (Jan 19, 2014)

Wow thanks guys, this is great info. I like that i can phase in the drywall if I want. Framing it shouldn't be too bad either. The speakers i have at Behringer B212xl's. I have a pair right now as mains (lots of opinions on these but i really like them). So i'd likely move them to surround duty and then do an LCR setup with the B215XL's. My subs are (2) DIY sealed 15" using drivers that were originally designed for the Epik Empire driven by an inuke3000dsp. I'd need to get a new AVR, Projector and Screen also (the AVR i have will stay in my media/tv room area). I'm going to sketchup the space soon so i can start planning and budgeting for supplies. I think i'll do the 2 x 6 framing, with insulation, drop ceiling, pad and carpet. 

thanks,

Pete


----------



## Andre (Feb 15, 2010)

Add some pics of the area and perhaps a simple drawing of what you are envisioning


----------

