Vicoustics and Soundproof Cow
 

Hello all.

Finally have raised the "extra cash" (not to be confused with just "cash") to build my listening room in my basement.
In my research, Vicoustics and Soundproof Cow have garnered many positive reviews as places to find materials and treatments.
Has anyone on AA used any of these company offerings?
Would appreciate any thoughts and suggestions.

Also, the space being partitioned for the room has 2 fixed dimensions: 14ft wide and 7'5" ceiling height. The length of room can anywhere up to 22ft.
That said, aesthetically, 19ft would work best.
Is there any negatives not utilizing the extra 2ft?

Thanks to all who respond.

Watching closely. Same stage in process here. Thanks.

Vicoustics and Soundproof Cow
 

My first dedicated room had similar dimensions in width and height (basement eh?). My length was just under 20’.

I ultimately had it sounding pretty good but it needed a combination of 6 GIK 244 Panels and some Vicoustic panels to sound it’s best.

You will have a serious bass bump in the 26-30HZ range due to the length of your room - no matter what length you finalize on. I cured that first with an MEN220 and speaker placement when I had my IRS Betas, Then by strategic placement of speakers and a subwoofer when I got my Strads.

As long as it is a dedicated room and you have carte blanche on listening and speaker positions, you will get it to sound great!

I like the Vicoustic Waveguide panels. They are much more aesthetically pleasing than big GIK 244 panels... No experience with Soundproof Cow.

Watch for used Stillpoint Aperture panels. They bring significant benefits in a small package.

A couple of questions:
What is a MEN220

Ive been thinking of adding a pair of subs to get the added bass extension just not possible with the speakers alone. Would this be a mistake based on your comments of bass bump?

Did you put any special padding on the floor. Was yours concrete?

2 thumbs upon the apeture panels. I have 3 of them and think they do an amazing job.

Vicoustics and Soundproof Cow
 

The McIntosh MEN220 aka Audio ‘Swiss army’ knife is a highly versatile crossover, Room Correction equalizer and custom EQ.

I don’t know what speakers you have but you likely not be missing the very lowest octaves if your speakers go that low. The length of your room will easily generate standing waves at the lowest octaves. In my case, I needed to significantly reduce the output of my Betas woofer columns, play with their individual positions and adjust the Betas own crossover.

With the Strads, I had plenty of bass also but found adding the sub and moving it around allowed me to balance out some bumps at the lowest octaves.

Mark... I have lots of experience with both Vicoustics and Soundproof Cow. Vicoustics makes a great product, and I use them in a few of my rooms.

Quiet Batt from Soundproof Cow is my “go to” standard for sound proof/isolation in the building stage. It can get costly, as you will be amazed how much you will need for your whole room, plus the shipping cost. My average room/job uses 35/55 cases.

I’m a dealer for Soundproof Cow, and can save you money. :ok:

This was just a partial delivery when I did my 2-Channel room and Theater in Cape Cod.

https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...1&d=1247701440

You will need a very special tool to cut quiet batt, nothing else works. Ask me how I know. ;)

https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...2&d=1247701449

Quiet Batt installed in my 2-Channel room.

https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...0&d=1248439628

https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...1&d=1248439638

https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...2&d=1248439646

https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...3&d=1248439658

https://www.audioaficionado.org/atta...4&d=1248439669

I have SF Amati Futura speakers. They replaced a pair of Focal Sopra 2. IMO, the SF bested the Focals in sound stage, voice and details but the Focal's kicked ass in bass.

Im concerned about the standing bass waves. I agree with your assessment.
Interesting how playing with sub placement balanced out the room. Where did the sub end up in the room?

Thanks Ivan. Can we talk tomorrow afternoon if you have time?

Vicoustics and Soundproof Cow
 

Don’t really remember exact location but since my room was quite symmetric, I was able to use REW’s modeling function to zero in pretty quickly. I think it was between the Strads on the right side but closer to the listening position than the Strads. The sub position also allowed me to not stress so much about optimizing the position of the Strads for bass. I focused their placement on realistic staging.

After listening for a few months though, I had the sub crossover set at 40 hz and ran the Strads at full range with no crossover. It worked well in that room.

Interestingly enough, in my new house, I found I needed a crossover and now run the Strads and my sub sub crossed at about 90 Hz.

The point is you need to experiment and for me, I like to measure using REW. Final positioning is by ear.

PM sent

Reaching out to vicoustics today. See what they have to say

[emoji6]

Does one need this type of soundproofing insulation for SQ impact, if you have an isolated room (distance wise) from the rest of the house? In my situation, my room will be isolated by distance from the rest of the house (may need this or a similar product in the ceiling), so I'm mostly focused on improving SQ rather than soundproofing the room. Of course, this should make it quieter overall inside the room, which should have a positive effect on SQ.

Thanks in advance.

Vicoustics and Soundproof Cow
 

Your last sentence is the key in your situation.

If you envision noise outside your room potentially disturbing your listening ...... kids playroom, etc then soundproofing would be beneficial and you could enjoy your system at lower listening levels with the help of soundproofing.

If you don’t have any worries about disturbing any one inside your house (wife, kids) or even those walking down a sidewalk outside, then I don’t see the need to spend the money on soundproofing.

I did soundproof the room I’m currently building, with the help of an acoustic engineer and a top shelf construction crew, because my family doesn’t share in my enthusiasm and there is a kids playroom above my media room.

Generally speaking, there isn’t any significant improvement in SQ by soundproofing a room although my acoustical engineer claims that a side benefit of the isolation clip system I employed in my wall construction is a tighter bass response.

I've read that about the bass response in several different places. I suspect like everything, it will come down to a $$ vs. benefit analysis.

Thanks for your reply.

There’s a great article written by Paul McGowan of PS Audio. He talks about when bbuilding the second listening room, he decided to do all the acoustic modifications after the room was built instead of making decisions to be integrated in the build

https://www.psaudio.com/pauls-posts/taming-the-room/

Yep. Have read that one. Their movements from the old listening room to the new space has been very informing for someone in my spot.

Ditto!

Hi Ivan,

I'm still in my planning stage for a new room but how much will I need to cover a 16' L x 13' 10" W x 8' H room?

Paul... give SoundProof Cow a call; get their quote. I will save you money, when you are ready. ;)

Will do...thanks Ivan! :thumbsup:

Ivan,

Is there a reason why you chose the Soundproof Cow product over Roxul Safe and Sound? Is the performance better with Soundproof Cow? Thnx.

Yes, I find it to be a much better product.