Advice on building a dedicated listening room

[bodiezaffa]

Over the past four years, my listening room has been a corner in my unfinished basement.
Cold in the winter and humid in the summer and with ZERO sound insulation between floors, it wasn't long into my sessions before I got the "TURN IN DOWN" order from the Warden (errr, I mean my wife).

So Im very happy to report that we are finally finishing the basement.
Working with a general contractor, Im trying to carve out the space that will be my dedicated listening room.

It looks like I can go any length up to 18ft long and up to 16ft wide. Basement is total 1500 sq ft.
Im not sure if thats a good porportion and wanted to see what fellow AA'ers have or have done.
Ceiling height is a standard 8ft.

Also, would love any tips, tricks or to do's before construction begins in April.
(There is dedicated 20amp circuits already)
Living in Toronto, if anyone has used the services of a local pro, Id love a referral.

[nicoff]

Glad to hear about "20 amp circuits" in plural. That's the most cost effective investment you can make. Consider separate circuits for amps and subwoofers. Allow a dedicated circuit for Digital and electronic components. Cheap to do now, but very expensive later. And if are ever thinking of adding a home theater or multichannel in the future, you will need more amps (and possibly circuits).

[Douglas]

Mark....The Amroc room mode calculator is an excellent indicator to determine acoustic friendly room dimensions.

Just plug in your desired dimensions until the red cross is in the bolt area, see bolt-area chart.

Based on your specifications it looks like 1ike a length of 18 feet and width of 13 feet would do the trick

http://amroc.andymel.eu/?l=18&w=13&h=8&ft=true&r60=0.6

[JMD]

13 feet is awful narrow for a speaker that large though and would preclude anything larger in the future. I would stick with 15 feet wide and then deal with the nodes with treatments. Mine is 15' x 19' and that is pushing it for the Nola's.

[audioguy3107]

Mark - one thing I would highly recommend is thinking about having your dedicated 20 amp circuits in a couple of different places that may make sense in regard to where your equipment rack is going to be. I really love having my rack off on the side wall instead of at the front in between the speakers (if your room allows it of course). Some find the equipment distracting if it's in the front of the room, I've always thought having it on a side wall is a little cleaner look, but that's just IMO. I have a long balanced cable run under the floor, which I realize may not be possible if you're in a basement unless you have a crawl space. Anyway, something to think about if possible. Also don't forget media storage if you have a lot of physical media.

- Buck

[W9TR]

Don't forget to put in ample HVAC, and if you have forced air, include returns. You'll have plenty of gear making heat. A couple of 90 degree bends in the ducting will help with sound isolation. For low frequency isolation there is not substitute for mass, so a heavy, sealed door and double drywall are nice options. Also if you have the option to put in a subfloor I would highly recommend it!

[Jess]

Would the subfloor be for resonance/damping? If he put in a 2" subfloor, this could solve the cabling dilemma. Also, any consideration for seating? A false wall for keeping the look clean (running interconnects etc) might be of use? And if you currently have exposed joists, could a foam insulation help with noise transfer? Just a few thoughts from a novice.

[bodiezaffa]

Some great suggestions.
Thanks and keep them coming.

[80B]

Mark,
Masterlu had a thread on the build-out of his theater room at the Cape. You could learn a lot from that; it's been a few years, but I'm sure a bit of searching can bring it up.

[Mike-48]

I recently had moisture problems in my basement listening room. That led me to find out that construction in basements is highly tricky to do right, especially if there is no vapor barrier under your foundation. If done right, you can forestall most moisture and mold problems.

For example, methods vary for constructing the walls. Many will recommend putting foam against the concrete for insulation and to prevent moisture, then use of only mold-resistant gypsum board (some is treated, other has fiberglass instead of paper backing).

As to the floor, some will advise putting down a vapor barrier and then a floor. However, that is likely to cause condensation under the vapor barrier. Do you want a wet subfloor in your room? An alternative is using synthetic carpet, which can let vapor pass through into the room.

(On the subject of HVAC, you can reduce HVAC noise by using acoustic flex duct, if properly installed.)

IMO, you'd be well advised to educate yourself about basement construction before you begin. I relied upon a highly respected contractor here, and I am sorry I didn't learn more myself. My "excuse" is that I've never owned a house before with a basement, and I didn't realize what could happen. Still, I am incurring expenses for remediation that should not have been necessary.

Knowledge is power! Prepare for the worst case.

And having said that, enjoy your new room!