# My new Basement HT/Bar area ....



## Spartan (Apr 18, 2008)

Hi Shack!

I am in the middle of reconstructing my basement to add in a theater "area" and bar. It's not a dedicated, closed area but should be a lot of fun for the family and friends.

-Matt


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## Spartan (Apr 18, 2008)

*Re: Hi from Mid-Michigan!*

Ok -- here's a sketchup that I made. The left side (from the stairs over) is already finished. The right side bottom was a finished room, and the furnace room used to be much larger. I have removed some walls, and am now in the process of painting and putting in a drop ceiling...

Soon I will need to make some decisions about:

- projector
- screen
- automated lighting
- amp?

Hopefully I can find those answers here!

Existing gear includes:
- Pio Elite VSX-01
- JBL 7.1 Studio L (2xL890, 4xL820, L8400P sub)
- Samsung BDP-1500 BluRay
- HTPC running SageTV (with Sage Media Server)
- old VCR & LaserDisc players


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## Quake25 (Dec 31, 2008)

*Re: Hi from Mid-Michigan!*

Welcome aboard!

Looks great so far! What software are you using?


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## Spartan (Apr 18, 2008)

*Re: Hi from Mid-Michigan!*



Quake25 said:


> Welcome aboard!
> 
> Looks great so far! What software are you using?


Google Sketchup. It takes a little bit of time to get rolling with it, but once you do, it yields very nice 3D images. If you do want to play with it a bit, I highly recommend checking out the tutorial videos on youtube first.

-Matt


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## Bruce Fisher (Nov 24, 2007)

I think you have too many seats in the bar area... after all you are a Spartan fan - how many people will watch them?? (I'm kidding - wife and I are Purdue alumni )

Looking good!

Have you thought about how you are going to silence the furnace area? I have a similar arrangement with the furnace next to my theater area... and I'm thinking about how to "silence" it as much as possible.


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## Space (Jul 18, 2007)

The only way to stop sound is using mass. It is a misconception that placing huge amounts of sheetrock will stop all sound from entering an area. It will not. When the sound hits a boundary like a wall or a fence it can spread directly around it, if the wave is big enough, go right through it.

Vibration, such as a furnace will produce, and low end rumble, need to be addressed specifically.

Insulation as a sound isolator is a negative effort. It may heat up the highs but over all, it is only part of a good plan.

Depending on what a person has existing as a barrier there may be a requirement to actually tear down some existing work in order to begin towards getting lower levels contained.

That's what I read anyway.


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## Spartan (Apr 18, 2008)

I'm not terribly worried about the furnace noise, as it appears to be pretty quiet. Well, quiet enough that we really don't notice it when we are watching things down there already. The only loudness comes from when the humidifier kicks on. You can really hear the water running thru the small copper line. Regardless, i don't anticipate having to do anything about it.

The furnace room will be insulated with R15 & 1/2" sheetrock. Before it only had the sheetrock, so there will be a little improvement.

Overall, I'm not terribly concerned with the noise since we mostly use the basement in the evenings and the furnace doesn't run much then.


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