CR Treatment and Tuning---The home stretch!!

I'll give it a go. Can't gaurantee the validity of the results, but i should be able to provide some rough data that might be useful.

I know I've been dragging my feet this one.. I pulled myself together and am getting ready to start mounting 2 of the units. Tricky puzzle, this one.....How to assemble the units and have access to mounting them.... As usual, some dimensions were wrong from Stuart to the actual space so I'm having to retrofit some stuff. Almost got it sorted and will hopefully have some interesting construction pics up over the next few days....

Ripping off the band aid and beginning the test fitting process....rains coming, so I might get slowed down a bit.

On a side note....I'm having an issue with transmission loss in the LR. I'm looking for anyone who might the answer to this question. What is the best glass panel composition? Is it monolithic 1/2-5/8" glass, dual pane, etc...? I know laminated is better than not. My situation is that I bought dual pane 1/4" over 1/4" sliding doors. Stuart was very hard to get details from in cases like this and I mis-interpreted the model. He actually had it as 1/2 monolithic glass. I want to replace the slider glass in the LR because its getting some occasional noise complaints and I know that this is the weakest link. Also the sound is loudest near that area when standing outside the building. The best I can do with the existing slider is go to 1/4" over 5/16" or 1/4" over 1/4" laminated, due to the fact that I only have a 3/4" overall thickness to work with.I originally didn't go laminated because I was worried about escaping the room in the event of a partial structure failure resulting from an earthquake. We get those here....I'd have a hard time busting out a laminated pane. Going with solid monolithic glass presents possible frame failure issues with the vinyl frame above 1/2", so the glass company tells me. What to do?

If you can go 1/2" plate glass (float glass) that would be the best way to go. cheers john

Thanks John, Much appreciated. I'm Sure that I can..Just have to put spacers in to fill the 3/4" gap. Just to be clear. Plate glass is better than a two 1/4" piece laminate sandwich? I'll assume yes if I don't hear back because that is what you said. Been getting strong laminate suggestions from the glass folks...Rather take your word for it for obvious reasons.

"Plate glass is better than a two 1/4" piece laminate sandwich?" Yes!

Goodie! I'll sleep better now... :D Thanks

Been ahwile....I had a lot of bad weather, then I was just plain using the studio and in no mood to tackle this...Happily, I'm down to a solid process and should see the next three go way smoother. I'll build and put the swinging doors on after all units are mounted on the wall. Beefed up the LR slider glass to 5/8" float in the end...I also swapped out a 3/16" pane in the LR Milgard Quiet line windows to 1/2"...All of that knocked down the noise several db outside, which made the neighbors happy. There will probably be some fairly regular photos until I finish this. Then that's all folks!

Actually, something has been on my mind for awhile. Does anybody care if I keep posting? My purpose for this thread was to give Stuart an incentive to finish my project by showcasing his work... Clearly that's no longer necessary. I have never felt any sense of community about this, since nobody interacts with me or contributes to any real discussion. Basically, i feel like this a one way street snd I'm kinda over it... I'm really enjoying the studio now which is truly amazing. This thread has had over 100,000 views now and yet I have developed zero relationships through this experience on the forum. I'm sure somebody out there could understand why this feels like a waste of my time....

I am new around here, but following your thread and loving all what you have done. So awesome. You must be proud of that. I very much want to see how you finish all of it. Please do keep on making posts with the details.

Stadank0 wrote:

Actually, something has been on my mind for awhile. Does anybody care if I keep posting? My purpose for this thread was to give Stuart an incentive to finish my project by showcasing his work... Clearly that's no longer necessary. I have never felt any sense of community about this, since nobody interacts with me or contributes to any real discussion. Basically, i feel like this a one way street snd I'm kinda over it... I'm really enjoying the studio now which is truly amazing. This thread has had over 100,000 views now and yet I have developed zero relationships through this experience on the forum. I'm sure somebody out there could understand why this feels like a waste of my time....

Hi Stadank0, I've had a similar experience to yourself. I've not been very busy on my studio for a while as life has got in the way a bit. I noticed that the views are extremely high on many threads, but people aren't very chatty. I suppose this forum tends to be quite professional, and people might feel they need to contribute something of substance to a build thread. This could contribute to less forming relationships. I've loved reading your thread and very much hope you continue to post your progress. It's looking fantastic and I'm sure it sounds amazing too I think a community atmosphere would be beneficial to user retention etc on this forum. Might be worth brainstorming with John ways to help with that. Dan

Thanks for the replies guys.....much appreciated. I have mixed emotions about this whole experience for obvious reasons. On the professional side, I want nothing to do with another acoustic designer as long as I live. I don't say this just to be nasty and bitter. I say this because there is no consensus of professionalism or information. Its the wild west...Every designer is in there own little bunker protecting their egos. There's very little established science for which the professional community can come to any agreement, and boy did I have my ass handed to me in the meantime. Coming back here just feels bad, cause I only feel like I'm doing it to prove that I wasn't beaten. I am really pleased with the results of the studio itself and proud of it too. It certainly blows everyone away that have seen and heard it. I'll keep posting for now. I just needed to feel like there was something good spirited about being here. I don't really have anything else to prove now that I've gotten to this point, so I was ready to drop it otherwise. There's a fairly well known designer named Andre (Avare on gearslutz) who has a slogan in his signature that says "Good studio building is 90% design and 10% construction"....to that I say :finger:

Mate, I’m not as far along in my studio build as you are but having the threads on a forum does help countless people...I agree with Dan, people (and myself) are reluctant to post on a thread unless they feel they can contribute... almost needs like Main Thread with sub threads with conversation/audience comments. I’m a builder and still, building a studio has been somewhat exhausting... most things take twice as long as normal building. The tolerances are smaller, the known ‘robust details’ in construction don’t apply so you rely on designers committing or your own design... which often lacks knowledge or experience so you miss things! Build threads are key for this last bit!

Moreover, you have to figure out how to build most of these features yourself... Even with a good bit of building experience.. things often take more than twice as long. I'm glad I had a machining background and was familiar with programming and running CNCs. If I hadn't gotten access to a CNC router, my life would have been a living hell! What would have taken me several months to fabricate by hand, I was able to do in about a month. I could go on and on, but I absolutely agree with what you're saying and then some! I was getting 0 feedback from anything I was posting, so it was starting to feel pointless. Personally, I have all of the information I need, so this is more for other people's benifit. It most likely would have turned out a bit better if I had the testing feedback from Stuart, but I couldn't stand to suffer him anymore. No regrets there. Fortunately, the LR is solid either way. Thanks again for the moral support all! :mrgreen: I do feel that I should make a point about acoustic design itself... For all my complaining about the people side of the equation, acoustic design is hugely important and not to be taken lightly. This studio would not have come out anywhere near as good had the knowledge not been available through Stuart. I'm sorry to say that the human behavior side of the equation leaves much to be desired. It is very concerning to me that the knowledge as a whole is not well-managed or preserved by this community thus far. There is no solid foundation to preserve or aquire this information that I have seen in my travels. I get the feeling that my experience is highly unusual. It's a miracle that I got as far as I did at this level, and I suspect that not many people do as a whole. I see it as a serious dilemma for studio building. There is no way I could reproduce this under the circumstances. I guarantee you I wouldn't even try. If this place ever burns down, which is a very real possibility in this climate change era, I would never try to rebuild it.( I live in a forested area with an increasing fire danger) fingers crossed on that one of course!

Ha! Hope not! Yea it has been a long journey for you... I thought the CNC was in use... crazy, I’ll have to get a company to do those types of details. I’m yet to get into acoustically treating my room... still on the isolation side of things. It seems the isolation science is clear and more learnable than the acoustic treatment to get such high quality results. Your thread will have no doubt been a massive benefit to many people and more to come! Well done my friend, your endurance looks good ; )

I used what's called a "maker space" if your in the states. Its a coop of machinery that you pay a membership to have access to. I stumbled into that through word of mouth. Thank god I did. I would have been screwed. They are somewhat uncommon and mostly centered around burning man folk. If you ever get any design work done on modeling software like I did, you can translate that to cut files for a cnc. There is a bit of a learning curve, but its certainly doable as I demonstrated here. For anybody that has any options to go down this path, feel free to reach out to me for any tips I can share. As always, thanks for the kind words... It helps!

Well some things never change.. Looks like Stuart's up to his old tricks over on Gear Slutz....Another poor sucker calling Stuart out, wondering where his money went... On behalf of everyone you've handled this way including myself....... :finger:

I'd like to echo the Purelythemusic's sentiments. Your experience, thoughts and insight are incredibly helpful to bozos like me ( the same is true for Purelythemusic as well as many others) and I'm certain that is also true for more knowledgable and experienced members. Part of the reason I don't tend to comment on build and design threads is that I simply don't feel qualified to; I'm struggling to justify my own design, so anything I might have to say about anyone else's always seems like a bit of a stretch. I would heartily encourage you to keep posting if you have the time and energy - it is greatly appreciated!

Will do John. The feedback I've been getting from you guys is all I needed...much appreciated. I'll go into a bit more detail on my next picture post about what these wall units are actually doing...

Frank, I know we haven't stayed in touch as much as I would have liked but I truly feel like I made a friend here on the forum! Life has been so damned busy (trying to make money and be a dad/son/brother/husband) I can barely keep up trying to help people on the forum let alone building my studio or staying in touch with friends :cry: But on behalf of everyone on the forum, I can say that your thread very well be the best one on the forum. Please stick around and if anything, post MORE photos of your process. You've been an inspiration to us all, I assure you. Also, with your tuning and building experience, you'd be a great asset to have here at the forum answering questions. Even when Stuart was here, it was tough to keep up with everyone's questions. Please visit the site more and answer questions when you can! Greg

OK then! :thu:

Stadank0 wrote:

Actually, something has been on my mind for awhile. Does anybody care if I keep posting? My purpose for this thread was to give Stuart an incentive to finish my project by showcasing his work... Clearly that's no longer necessary. I have never felt any sense of community about this, since nobody interacts with me or contributes to any real discussion. Basically, i feel like this a one way street snd I'm kinda over it... I'm really enjoying the studio now which is truly amazing. This thread has had over 100,000 views now and yet I have developed zero relationships through this experience on the forum. I'm sure somebody out there could understand why this feels like a waste of my time....

Frank - your little control room is what inspired me to fully take the plunge on my own build! This thread is one of four I've bookmarked to keep following up on just to see how it comes out. I stepped away from the forum after Stuart accepted my money and then stopped returning emails after 2 messages. Then an email to John asking for a recommendation went unanswered and I felt mixed emotions. Luckily for me, I've gained so much knowledge from Stuarts posts I view the money as a donation for sharing... don't get me wrong, it still does feel a little dirty. But, Stuart is a smart guy and I hope he works through some issues, really grows, and maybe gets another chance (in the forums, not by me lol). Anyway, I don't comment much because I don't have any valuable knowledge to offer. To check up on your progress is why I'm back today though. If you were in FL I'd probably be asking to come over to your spot! Really appreciate you sharing the adventure!

Thanks man! Your comments were just what I needed....I'll stick around! What I went through on the "professional" side of things has left me very bitter towards the lot. Wish I could say better. I was treated like the nobody that I am and I'll never forget that. I'll never have their respect, but It means a lot to have all of yours! I'm just sorry that I inspired you to end up getting burned by Stuart. Bet he's wishing he hadn't power tripped me and locked my thread now. Thanks guys!! I've got another unit up on the wall. I'll work on a post tomorrow to detail these things a bit more.....

Frank, they look gorgeous!!! The totally variable treatment must be cool to hear in person hey!?? Also, how'd you end up tuning the membrane in them? Greg