Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Acoustics in a loft

>>I'm also not sure what dB you usually listen at.

About 20 dB less than Dennis (Tharkun), apparently . Seriously, I usually listen to music around 80dB, movies around 85dB, "really loud" music can be up around 95dB. The M2s can (just) do that with a good sub in a smaller room but they sure aren't going to make a dent on this room.

So, like, what should I cover the walls with, huh ?

I'm wondering if you're not going to get some weird resonance out of the piano. Being a guitar player, I know nothing about these things. Does having the key cover closed just kill everything, or do you still get the occasional hum?

I am actually a bit concerned about resonances off the piano. Right now the HT is in the basement and the piano is in the living room so I don't get a chance to hear them together.

The only saving grace is that I was originally planning on putting the HT down in the basement... until two months ago when I suddenly realized that I wasn't planning to finish the basement yet due to budget concerns, so where the heck am I gonna put the HT ?

I'm not planning on playing the HT real loud so hoping it won't be a concern... and if it is a real problem then I can move the HT down into the basement in the future after I save some more pennies...

Thanks !!

John:
I've been gone for the weekend and have a lot to do tonight. But I'm skimming through the forums and came across your new photos here. Nice, nice place. Type of house I dream of! So nice, I showed the photos to Joyce and she said "Will those windows effect his projection system?"

Any question why I love her? And...... will it?

John
It certainly looks like it will sound good.
Looks like a place to be VERY proud of.

>>So nice, I showed the photos to Joyce and she said "Will those windows effect his projection system?" Any question why I love her? And...... will it?

You are a lucky man.

There will be a bit of a problem on summer evenings because the setting sun will wash across the seating area. The screen will actually be in that triangular alcove (about 18 feet deep at the top, 6 feet deep at the floor) which should block light from the screen unless I have a lot of fat people in white shirts watching the movie.

You did get me thinking about wall finishes on the left hand side some more. They probably need to be darker (or more "woodish" ) than I first thought. Excellent timing there !!

I should mention that Dennis is doing a great job of convincing me to finish the angled walls in T&G pine rather than drywall... while my real estate agent (and good friend, part of the "design council") is pushing hard for drywall to keep the place bright and boost resale value

I have my HT in my loft until I finish the HT room in the basement. One thing for certain, is that sound carries to the great room below. When the youngin is watching something upstairs, even at very low levels, it is very distracting downstairs. I suspect you’ll have the same problem. And for your reference, my HT speaker system is a POS Bose system with those little cubes, so I can’t imagine having a need for my M80’s up there. But the other side to this, is you could listen to stereo downstairs if you wish. The sound will definitely carry. As far as pine vrs rock, I have T&G knotty pine on all my ceilings, and rock on the gable walls in my log home. I used a clear latex wood coating with a satin finish on the pine. It is not dark at all. Actually, if anything, it has a slight yellow tint to it and it reflects light from the windows quite well. Even at night when the sun’s down, the house is still light and not dark at as one would expect. With the gables being rock, painted off-white in a semi gloss, the house is unusually bright and airy. I have a lot of windows, which help too.