Sound proofing of my home cinema

Hello!

I recently bought a house with three reception rooms allowing me to have my own dedicated home cinema.
At the moment my equipment is all in the lounge in my current house.

What i would like to know is:--

1.where(online)can i find a company who can provide me with sound insulation for my home cinema,and how effective is it???

2.where can i find fixtures and fittings ie-lighting etc that i can control from my phillips pronto at the moment im controling my lights via infra red but i need some uplighters for the walls.

3.And finally seating ie lazyboys(large leather recliners).

Any help would be appreciated

thanks Danny Cox(plymouth)

Hi,

Soundproofing materials can be bought from :-

http://www.domesticsoundproofing.co.uk/index.htm

Used correctly, these products can be very effective. Soundproofing involves a great deal of care and attention to detail, not to mention expense. A half-hearted attempt will probably provide little, if any, noticable difference. The above website has some very informative help sheets.

For remote controlled dimmers, take a look at :-

http://www.letsautomate.com

The LM12 is useful for controlling plug in lamps and the LD10 DIN rail dimmers for permanant fixtures. An IR7243 will let you control these from your Pronto.

Finally, check out :-

http://www.la-z-boy.co.uk

cheers,

Andy.

[ptmbradley]

If you don't mind the 'basic' model, just check out the Argos catalogue.

Ptm

[Gary Lightfoot]

Hi Danny,

You can soundproof your room using relatively inexpensive stuff like rockwool insualtion and plasterboard to great effect.

The best method is the 'room within a room' which means making a new floor, walls and ceiling which are isolated from the existing ones.

The next best method is building new walls one inch away from the existing walls using 4x2" wood, and filling with 4ins of insulation. Then you fit two layers of 1/2" plasterboard, and seal all edges using silicon rubber. The insulation reduces high frquencies, and the plasterboard (mass) reduces bass transfer.

Anywhere air can travel, so can sound, so that is why you seal any edges/gaps with silicon. You can build a false ceiling in a similar way. Just make sure it doesn't touch the ceiling above if you can. Otherwise you can fit another layer of plasterboard, then use insulation to fill under the floorboards in the room above. Use silicon to fill the gaps between floorboards and skirting, and use a thick good quality underlay.

I used a similar method for my loft cinema, and it works quite well.

Go to www.avsforum.com and look in the home theater construction forum for more info. Use the search facility to get more info on the above methods.

You can get all the materials from Wickes or B&Q.

HTH

Gary.

[Chris Frost]

If you plan to seal the air gaps in a room then you should also think about add air conditioning. Even non-sound proofed rooms can get very hot and uncomfortable, anyone who went to The Event last summer will vouch for that!

Adding air-con can also increase the noise inside the room. You can reduce this by bending the ducting through at least five 90 degree corners to minimise mechanical noise, then using vents with a large surface area to reduce the "whoosh" noise as air passes through.

Regards

[Gary Lightfoot]

Hi Chris,

ventilation is a good point. Bad ventilation could spoil the viewing experience if everyone is uncomfortably hot and sweaty...

Due to my HT room being my loft, I've allowed for an air vent in the ceiling which is where air is circulating between the insulation and the roof felt/tiles. There are vents in the means of escape window, and I fitted an extract fan which will vent outside via the old chimney which originaly extended down to the kitchen.

temperature in the loft runs about 3degrees C warmer in the Summer compared to the rest of the house, and that was before the vent fan was fitted. I may fit some heating for the winter if it's needed. So far it hasn't been due to a radiator being located directly below the loft access - which is nice.

Depending on the location of Danny's HT room-to-be, he may not have to worry about some sound escape to outside via the windows. He probably won't want to seal those up anyway, so this could be his means of ventilation.

What are your ideas there Danny?

Gary.

Well thanks for the responses from you all im still undecided wether or not too go the cheaper route or spend out on proper insulation.

What do u think????


the house is detatched so im not worried about annoying neighbours!

The HT will be in the second lounge that is on the ground level of the building next too the first lounge with just the hall dividing the too rooms.

(By the way im not stinking rich this house is just a bargain).

So i,m trying to avoid annoying the wife as i dont want her winging about noise whilst shes watching coronation street!!!!!(know what i meen lads).

So what do u reckon.

Also a new question!!!

Im using a sony kp41-ds1 rear projection tv at the moment but i want a good projector at a price no higher than £2500-£3000.

OR would i be better off buying a larger screen rear projction set like the 56" toshiba or th sony kp51-ds1???

Let me know your thoughts

regards Danny Cox

[ReTrO]

There is a company near to where I work in High Wycombe that manufactures and supplies sound insulation board, for walls,c eiling and floors. I'm searching the net for info on them at the moment. I'll post again if I can find anything.

They are based in Gomm Road, High Wycombe if you want to search yourself. I think Dawson's in Bournemouth deal with them also.


ED: Found them:

ECOMAX ACOUSTICS LTD
Gomm Road High Wycombe Bucks HP13 7DJ
Tel: 01494 436345 Fax: 01494 465274

Hope this helps.

Danny,

Re the projector, give Roland @ B4 Projection a call. I'm sure he could sort you out within your budget, I think he includes 12 month on-site warranty with his PJ's also. His details are all over this site... just check out the PJ forum.

HTH
Steve

[Jase]

Hi

Checkout www.customaudio.freeserve.co.uk

They have soundproofing materials etc

cheers