CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

dturco · Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 4:59 pm Post subject: soundproofing?

My lazy ass finally installed door jamb strips and exterior style threshold at the theater door.

It is worth the time. It has made a big difference in sound transmission to the rest of the house.

It is not sound proof, but it did greatly reduce the traveling sound. Shocked

I am very surprised and pleased with the results.It is CHEAP and effective [within reason].

No I did not use a sound meter, Just my wifes ears.

Again it is definitely worth the time. Thumbs Up

garyfritz · Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 12026 Location: Fort Collins, CO

I assume it's higher-freq stuff that was leaking out before? I wouldn't expect weatherstripping and thresholds to make much difference for the low boomy stuff. That's what I have the biggest problem with, and that's the hardest to fix -- especially after the room is built.

dturco · Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 5:30 pm Post subject:

Yup the bass still shakes the house but only when pushed. It is not it soundproof by any stretch of the imagination, just quieter than before.

Edit: I'm sorry without the backstory it doesn't make much sense.

During construction I did take measures to "soundproof' 1 layer of 3/4 plywood a layer of rubber roofing and a 2nd layer of 3/4 plywood and siliconed all the tongue and grove edges and butt edges and the entire perimeter of floor.

Theater is on 2nd floor.

Also used silicone instead of glue during drywall installation. Fiberglass insulation was used between floors and in all walls too.

The door was always supposed to be what I just did.

As I said My lazy ass. Smile

rod · Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 5:29 am Post subject:

I'm not a audio expert technician but I think your wife's ears trump the sound meter any day!

JustGreg · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 3098 Location: Kenosha, WI

wowchad · Joined: 29 Oct 2009 Posts: 53 Location: Milwaukee'ish, WI

garyfritz · Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 12026 Location: Fort Collins, CO

I think the only way to really avoid sound transmission through the ductwork is to isolate the HT. Give it its own HVAC so its ductwork doesn't connect to the rest of the house.

Unfortunately most of us can't do that, so I don't know that there's much you can do about sound transmission through the ducts.

Low bass is the biggest problem, and that conducts right through walls. (Or ceiling/floor in your case.) Isolation and mass are the way you stop bass. Ideally you'd isolate the HT -- box-inside-box construction -- so the HT walls don't touch the rest of the house and so don't conduct the sound. Again, most of us can't do that. You can use things like sheetrock isolation clips and Green Glue to deaden the connection between sheetrock and joist so less bass gets conducted through.

Mass is the other thing. Not much bass goes through the foundation because the mass absorbs it, just like eggshell foam absorbs high frequencies. You can put more mass between the HT and the house by double-sheetrocking. (And Green Glue between the layers of rock.) It won't completely solve the problem but it helps.

It also helps to pack the rafters with insulation. That's going to have more effect on midranges than on really low stuff, but it helps the bass too.