Building the Perfect Room

hello chaps and chapesses

i plan to build a dedicated listening room/studio on the first floor of my current bungalow. this will take advantage the outlook from there, and give me a chance to build something that sounds better than my current room, which is very big, odd shaped and has a concrete floor.
i'm at the early stage, and this is my thinking so far:
i'm a bass freak, i love drum'n'bass, dub, reggae, hard house, trance and chillout, as well as all the usual pink floyd, kruder and dorfmeister etc
my background is as a rave/free party /festival organiser, but i've also sold esoteric hi-fi in the past
the best sq i've heard on my travels is in wooden structures, and the best of all an old river barge beached by chelsea bridge a few years ago

so i really like the idea of a wooden structure, but in dynamic tension, like a boat.

so, the question is,
what would be the best internal shape?

i'm no fan of high ceilings, and i like the idea of using curves rather than corners.

the system:
rock turntable, yba 3 box cd player
2 x handbuilt 300watt power amps, built by chris bryant to david cathro's specs
pre-amp to match

speakers are the alon phalanx system, open baffle and outboard crossovers, extensively modified by chris and david

subwoofer is to be comprised of four ceiling mounted infinitely baffled subwoofers, each 1m cubed and sitting in the loft above the room, open end facing down, mounted on an arc maintaining the same distance from the listening position as the main speakers,
each manifold to hold four 15inch drivers, 16 in total, driven by dedicated high quality (non plate) pa power amps tbc with ~700watts/driver

i have no neighbours and enjoy high spl's...but you already guessed that

many thanks for your opinions
luvgav

 

Hi Gav

I'm also just planning a build so it will be interesting to see how we both get on.

Mine will be on a much smaller scale than yours though, Harbeth SHL5s possibly with 2 x 10in Active Subs to deal with everything Sub 80-100Hz.

I've got quite a small room and everything has to be (almost) domestically acceptable.

I'm guessing you are looking at lots of slot resonators to cover the whole range. Try having a look at this article for an outline of what is possible in a room:

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue16/lavigneroom.htm


DIY calculators should at least give you a pretty good idea of dimensions:

http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html

You probably already know the basics but if not then the posts by 'Tenson' on the Pinkfish Media reference area are worth a read.

I look forward to seeing how you progress.

Good luck

 

Bit OTT dont ya think? we run 2 twin 18 EAW's and they produce enough sub to pin you against the wall 20 meters away,even on outdoor gigs 4 (8 drivers) boxes are often more than enough to produce the need to empty one bowels.

 

but not in an infinite baffle configuration, which is tremendously inefficient, and totally unsuitable for pa use

have a look here:

http://ibsubwoofers.proboards.com/index.cgi?

should give you an idea where i'm coming from?

 

thanks for that scot, i'll get reading

e2a:
i'm not concerned with soundproofing so much as creating a room that sounds good for those inside. luckily i don't have neighbours

 

aah..i recognise the article now

i remember reading it with great optimism, only to get to the end and a result i would have been devastated to achieve; a loss of bass extension!