The general thoughts that went
into the overall plan in designing this room was to accommodate not only audio
but video. The acoustic plan was to
eliminate as many parallel surfaces as possible. The side walls are skewed out by 2” from
front to back to help reduce slap echos.
Both the front and the back of the room incorporate a curve design that
would help scatter sound. I replicated the
ceiling design from a concert hall in Osaka, Japan. The ceiling to floor dimension at the front
of the room, 11.5 feet, expanded in five different planes to 17.5 feet at the
rear of the room.
The walls of the room were built
with 12” cinderblock. Durawall wire
reinforcement was incorporated in between each vertical course. A 1” rebar was inserted into every other vertical
cavity and then the cavities were filled solid with 3500 PSI pea gravel concrete. The walls were framed with 2 x 6 studs on 12” centers. Purlins were inserted and spaced 48” apart in
each vertical cavity.
A dedicated 200 Amp service
supplied all the power requirement for lighting, HVAC, wall outlets, and
dedicated 220 volt outlets for all of the equipment. Fiberglass insulation was then installed in
the walls before ¾” plywood sheeting was glued and screwed over all of the
studs. Two layers of 5/8” fire code
sheetrock were then glued, with Durabond 90, and screwed to the ¾” plywood.
The ceiling was built using trusses on 16” centers spanning from
the front to the rear of the room. The trusses were designed with a space varying
from 10” to 24” in between the top and bottom cords. This space
was designed to accommodate additional insulation, lighting, and HVAC. The ceiling was finished using ¾” tongue and groove
western ridge cedar. This was glued and
stapled to the trusses. The floor was
poured using 3500 PSI concrete to a thickness of 8”.
Acoustic testing was then done by
a Richmond company, “Acoustics First”. ETF measurements were taken and sound panels
were then designed according to a patented algorithm. The panels were then built by Owens Corning
according to prescribed specification.
The finished trim in the room was done in 18th
century motif that incorporated a combination of hardwood raised panels and
appropriately painted trim. Hardwood
tongue and groove flooring was applied over a ¾” plywood substrate glued and
fastened to the concrete floor.
The main electronics in this system
mostly come from Krell. I have always
been a fan of their electronic design and robust construction. Their reputation for quality electronics made
my choices easy. The choice of
additional electronics pretty much fell in line and the choices can be viewed in
my list.
From the time the room was
finished until present, I have had four different loudspeaker systems starting
with a pair of Electro Voice Patricians I built 50 years ago. Being a DIY guy, I always built loudspeaker
systems that were tailored to my personal sonic choices rather than having to
settle for speaker systems designed by others for mass appeal.
Being an audiophile, I am always
searching for better sound and the equipment it takes to experience better
sonic satisfaction. The only limitation
is my lovely wife Sue.
