Cinema 651 Acoustic Treatments and building acoustic panels

[kepople]

I am finally happy with the sound in my dedicated Home Theater, so I thought I would post how I got to this point.
I began with an 18x18' room (yes I know, its a square)
I had researched acoustics and decided I would build my own panels and broadband base traps.
The plan evolved, and it was amazing as i added panels hearing the differences.
I got the room finished out and got my seating in place.

An Acoustic DIYer's DREAM...


I began with the Bass traps. I built the platforms first that the bass traps would sit on, filled with sand and insulation.


then cut 4" mineral wool at stacked it in the corners of the screen wall...


I had not decided exactly how I wanted to cover them, and originally was going to build a frame on an angle, but decided, it was too basic. I came up with this plan to make removeable screens and built them from 2x6, and 1x finish grade wood, then covered them with Joanne Speaker fabric.







I then tackled the screen wall. I new i would be needing to decouple the speakers from the wall, so I covered the entire screen wall with 1.5" linacoustic. I mounted it useing sheet rock screws and flanges from the insulation dealer.





I built frames from 1x2's and covered them with Speaker fabric. I left gaps in the insulations so that these panels could slide over the insulation, and I would attach them somehow. turns out they press fit in place, and no screws were required.


Here is the wall with the all the screens installed.



I built the stage and filled with Sand/insulation, glued and screwed so i did not get any vibration from it.

Next came the wall panels. I knew for looks I wanted bigger panels than commercially available. So I planed them to be 6'x2' and 2" thick JM814 on the sides, and 4" thick bass absorbers on the back wall.

I ripped 2x into 14" thick strips to make a supporting lattice for the insulation and to give a mounting point.



I tack glued the insulation panels together at the edges, staggering the panels, then nailed with 2" finish nails through the back of the frame to give the insulation some support.




Okay now what...


I knew I wanted a frame around it, and I knew it would reduce thier effectiveness a little, but I wanted the look.
I built frames from 1x finish grade pine


This gave me the idea of how to mount them. I found these magic brackets at HD that I planned to attach the frames to the wall first, then insert the panels into them.


Primed and painted frames gloss black to match the trim molding.


Location, level and screws into studs or anchors now was the easy part, but I lamented over how to mount them without vibration for weeks...


Finishe rear bass absorbers.




Side wall absorbers were placed at the reflecting points for the center two chairs (mine and the misses). I used the mirror method to locate the mounting points.


As a bonus this methos leaves a 1" gap between the panel and the wall.


I was using industrial Velcro to hold the panels in place, but found it was not needed as like the screen wall, the fit snuggly and press in place.



Screen wall...






Theres one more acoustic treatment planned for the ceiling. A large oval shaped absorber at the 1st reflecting point for all 4 chairs, more for looks, but it cant hurt.
I had concidered adding curtains to the screen wall but that has not passed approval stage yet as i dont want to add reflections to the screen wall.

Overall I am pleased after a fresh room calibration. It amazed me how much difference you could here as you added panels, and all my bad echos are gone. With the addition of the base traps, I thought it was cool that I had to turn my center channel down.
The room has a good musical sound, and it has turned into a music listening room almost as much as a theater. I am still wanting more voice than I have, and some tweaking of the Audessy settings will get me this.

After having done this, I can safely say that no matter how much you spend on your equipment, it will not sound its best until you treat the room!

kirby

[Prof.]

Very nicely done Kirby..

That's a nifty idea with those corner mounting brackets on the outer frame..
The overall results look very nice indeed..

You may find even further improvement if you put bass traps in the rear corners as well..
If you didn't want to have them floor to ceiling, you could just have them up to the chair rail height..

Also, do you have an FSK facing on the rear panels?