# Building a Riser - Need some suggestions/Help



## DESCypher (Jan 27, 2012)

I'm about to start building my riser and have been reading about riser construction and just wanted some advice. My ceiling is about 8' and I've determined that I need a 13" height riser with the help of people here and Roman. The calculator I used said 11' 1/8" but Roman says to add 2' to it to adjust for when the people in the back decide to recline and the front doesn't. That being said I need some advice on the construction.

1. I have a subwoofer in the back corner of the room where the riser is going. Should I place the subwoofer on the riser or build the riser around it and leave it on the floor? If I put it on the riser what should I look out for or what should I consider?
2. Do I need to put holes in the riser?
3. Should I fill it with sand? I've heard people also using concret to keep the riser firm. I have wood floors and want to keep them which is why I'm looking for something to keep it from the floor making noise.
4. Anything else I should consider?

I'll keep reading in the mean time.

Thanks


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## fax6202 (Apr 5, 2012)

A suggestion that was made to me, of which I followed was to wire some A/V to the riser. I have 2 HDMI, Comp, Component, Cat 6, and RCA for headphones. Its all in one wall plate and very discreet. This will be mostly for anything i just want to plug and play for example my kids game systems or a laptop.


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## DESCypher (Jan 27, 2012)

Anyone else? Any suggestions?


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

Pre-wiring is good and put anything in you think you'll need now. Even better is to put in some conduit as well for whatever new wire or need pops up in the future. I did that at my last house and ended up using that conduit a couple of times when I moved stuff around.

13" is a good riser height. Mine was on a 2x12 with two layers of plywood, for the same height. I let the plywood overhang by about 3/4" to give the carpeting a lip that looked a lot nicer than just a box.

Cross bracing is a must. Also known as blocking. Just small pieces between the joists to prevent twist and resonance. Also stiffens the floor.

Space joists industry standard 16" on center, which will make any standard piece of plywood hit the supports perfectly without cutting.

I stuffed mine with insulation only and did not put it on rubber feet, but my floor was sealed and had linoleum on it. Riser went on the linoleum, carpeting then went on everywhere else. Building a sub into the riser would be awesome and I considered this, but I wasn't sure on location and that is a permanent install 

That's all I can think of for now. Good luck.


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## DESCypher (Jan 27, 2012)

Thanks Anthony; this helps me. I like the conduit idea so I'll put that in. If anything I'm going to run some cat6 cable in there; not sure I would need HDMI. What kind of insulation did you use? What I am going to do with the subwoofer is to put it on top of the riser and just buy one of those isolator's and put it on top of it. Cheaper...


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## fax6202 (Apr 5, 2012)

Not sure what others used by I used R-19 for 2x6 framing (5.5 inches thick)


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## DESCypher (Jan 27, 2012)

Thanks; I've seen different insulations being used myself.


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

I would use Roxul Safe and Sound. Lowes near me carries it. It is purely for sound deadening. No R value at all. It comes in 16" and 24" bats and is precut to 48" lengths. It is mineral wool, not fiberglass. Still use gloves, but it isn't nearly as nasty to handle (or breathe).

http://www.roxul.com/residential/products/roxul+safe'n'sound™


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## DESCypher (Jan 27, 2012)

Anthony said:


> I would use Roxul Safe and Sound. Lowes near me carries it. It is purely for sound deadening. No R value at all. It comes in 16" and 24" bats and is precut to 48" lengths. It is mineral wool, not fiberglass. Still use gloves, but it isn't nearly as nasty to handle (or breathe).
> 
> http://www.roxul.com/residential/products/roxul+safe'n'sound™


Thanks... Would I have any issues placing my sub on the riser?


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

You might get a little extra resonance, but if you build it tight, insulate it and double up on the plywood top, I think it should be fine.

I had my NHT1259 sub (sealed, big box) which was on casters on my riser and it sounded fine. No rattles. As long as it's well braced it won't act like a resonator. BTW, I learned that the hard way. I had too little insulation, no bracing, and one layer of plywood and my riser sucked the bass out of my room. Added cross bracing, more insulation, and another layer of plywood (and a bucket of screws) and the bass cleaned up nicely.

Good luck!


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## DESCypher (Jan 27, 2012)

Anthony said:


> You might get a little extra resonance, but if you build it tight, insulate it and double up on the plywood top, I think it should be fine.
> 
> I had my NHT1259 sub (sealed, big box) which was on casters on my riser and it sounded fine. No rattles. As long as it's well braced it won't act like a resonator. BTW, I learned that the hard way. I had too little insulation, no bracing, and one layer of plywood and my riser sucked the bass out of my room. Added cross bracing, more insulation, and another layer of plywood (and a bucket of screws) and the bass cleaned up nicely.
> 
> Good luck!


That sounds like a plan. thanks


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## Syko62 (May 6, 2012)

fax6202 said:


> A suggestion that was made to me, of which I followed was to wire some A/V to the riser. I have 2 HDMI, Comp, Component, Cat 6, and RCA for headphones. Its all in one wall plate and very discreet. This will be mostly for anything i just want to plug and play for example my kids game systems or a laptop.


Hi I have just joined this form as I am building my first HT. I have just built my seating platform and I do not know anything about the cabling I saw this and thought it would be very prudent to install something similar in my riser while I am at this stage. My question is do all these cables run to the AV amp or other equipment as well? I am ok on the construction but struggling on the equipment side of things. Glad for this forum.


Any advice is much appreciated

Cheers Chris


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## fax6202 (Apr 5, 2012)

would all run to your A/V receiver, wherever that might be. I have a seperate closet for all of my components so I have all of my A/V wiring termintated to a panel in that closet


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## DESCypher (Jan 27, 2012)

You have to decide where your homerun is. It's mostly going to your closet where all of your equipment is.


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## DESCypher (Jan 27, 2012)

The riser got built yesterday and I'm happy with it. Only one layer of plywood was used but lots of insulation. Did a test yesterday with the woofer and everything sounded fine. I still have lots of bass but of course I'm not measuring it; just sounds fine. It was built 13" high but I'm thinking I could have gone with 12" but still fine. The measurement came to 10'7/8" but was advised to go with between 13" and 14" to account for reclining.


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