Pete's Basement Build.

I am currently in the design stage of my two room basement build. I would like to achieve a STC of 63 throughout as detailed on pg. 55 of Mr. Gervais' book. for room details and my ideas so far in this .skp file.I would prefer to keep the live room in its current location. Problems I'm having with the control room design. -I would like the room to be as big as possible -I would like the speakers firing the length of the room. -I would like to work around existing Hvac -and obviously symmetrical and properly acoustically treated. any thoughts??

these are my ideas on the ctrl room side. keeping the furnace in the existing location. some questions: 1) how hard is it to move a furnace 6 feet?? I think I'll get a quote. 2) how close can i box the furnace in?? (leaving an access door) 3) should I just put the ctrl room on the live room side?? and vice versa - I wanted the live room as isolated as possible from furnace and main house ducts which is why i'd like to keep rooms where they are. 4) do i really need a furnace and AC in my house?

Hi, up date your profile so we know where you live. some Answers: 1) how hard is it to move a furnace 6 feet?? Get a quote. 2) how close can i box the furnace in? Get quote guy to tell you 3) should I just put the ctrl room on the live room side?? Yes, the pole is just bearable in the live room. but total wrong in keeping the control room symmetrical. - I wanted the live room as isolated as possible from furnace and main house ducts which is why i'd like to keep rooms where they are. So you'll need to build your walls thick. mass, mass, mass and prob RC aswell 4) do i really need a furnace and AC in my house? Where do you live??? I'd say yes.

Thanks for the reply Lilith_envy. Yeah question 4 was my attempt at a joke. We've got pretty cold winters here in Southern Ontario. It should say my location in my profile, that was the first thing I did. here is another idea for the control room. Will the imaging be okay with this room? (its symmetrical to about a foot past the listening position but opens up after that) Are there any problems I should know about with this design of the control room??

I would suggest that you rotate your CR 90° to the right, so that it is facing the "water heater" area. They way you have it now, your speakers are firing across the short axis of the room, not down the long axis. Rotating the room will fix that, and will also allow you to make it much more symmetrical.

something like this???

Yeah, that's the idea. Except that it's very long and narrow like that, so I think I'd maybe try to cut it off a bit, like this: You should be able to get a good ratio with something like that, and you can use the space at the back for storage, a vocal booth, amp booth, machine room, air exchange room, etc. In fact, if you wanted to make it a vocal booth, then you could flip the CR 180° so it faces that area, put in a window, and you'd have great sight lines in there, too, plus a door in the rear of your CR going out to the bathroom and staircase! - Stuart -

well heres my latest idea.

That's looking better Pete. The angle on your slots measures at around 13 degrees - I'd reduce it to 6 to make the room feel wider. The control room rear door is a problem as it's a directly behind you direct reflection but you could place an absorption Gobo behind the couch to solve that . The wall unit on the flat wall on your left as you enter the control room could have a doorway to the live room.

Thanks for the interest in my build John. Is this an option to avoid the gobo?? The extra doors are a tough choice for me. Cost, Work, only 6'4" clearance. vs. covienience. We'll see how things go.

this would be better IMO. The problem is you don't have any ceiling space so you have to use the rear of the room to act as a bass trap. The second door is an option.

Wow that looks great. Thank you very much. Does the platform for the sofa serve an acoustic purpose (part of the bass trapping)?? I'm planning on building the control room ceiling inside out and having it fully treated. Would this be best??

The platform is a communication addition. If you sit at a console in a typical office style chair on wheels and turn around and converse with someone sitting on a couch the person on the couch looks up at you - not good if they are the client. When you raise the couch they then come up to the same eye level as you. It sounds pedantic but it really makes a difference - the other aspect is it's great to lay back in the raised couch at the end of a session and blast your self with the track you worked on :) Yes - an inside out ceiling is a must for such a low ceiling.