[WBC]

I am more than happy with my system!!!!

I have wooden floors through the downstairs of the house.

Although there are alot of soft furnishings in the room (thats a term I picked up from my WIFE!! I don't like men) will carpet make that much difference????


Thanks
Stace (in a manley, threatening pose)

Originally posted by Stace
[B]

I have wooden floors through the downstairs of the house.

Although there are alot of soft furnishings in the room (thats a term I picked up from my WIFE!! I don't like men) will carpet make that much difference????

Do you want to swap your wooden floor with a carpet one?
I think that's bad choice.
I've moved house 3 times in the last 3 years, I've got:
Carpet
Wooden
and ceramic tiles...

By far Wooden floor and ceramic tiles are my fav, carpet is always dirty, almost impossible to clean properly, and very dusty even if it dosent seem so...

[Mylo]

Stace have you got a large rug in the room? I put one on top of my laminate floor and it seems to sound better. It also seems to attrack the dirt making cleaning easier. It could just be that dirt shows up easier though.

[WBC]

Thanks Guys,

Yeah I bought a big rug a while back and it did make a difference.

I also appreciate wooden floors are cleaner and tidier than carpet but it is also incredibly reflective. If I changed to carpet it would only be in this room.

Thanks
Stace

[avanzato]

I've read somewhere that carpet isn't always a good idea. Many pro studios have wooden floors by choice and acoustically treat the walls and ceiling.

Putting down carpet may give you too much of a good thing. It's a large surface area of absorbtion and may 'kill' the sound at certain frequencies. If you have several more rugs in the house you could try an experiment and add them into the room one by one to see if it improves the sound. You might also try hanging them temporarily on the wall, in an artistic way of course, and see if that improves the sound even more.

wooden floors are equally dusty hence why i only have it in the dining room(easier for food stains!)

[Gary Lightfoot]

For multi channel surround it's often reccomended to have absorptive floors, screen wall and side walls up to ear height. Reflective for above ear height and ceiling.

Some also say that you should have reflective side walls floor to ceiling as you don't get reflections in real life. I've carpeted using the first recommendation, and it does sound better than when it was bare. However, if you have furniture in the room, that can do the job of absorbing just as well as wall treatments, though not as controlled. You don't need anything on the walls then..

For rooms that are also family rooms, it's not always easy to get things ideal, but if it sounds OK to you, then that's what matters. My lounge sounds pretty good to me, and that's pretty much the same as any front room with bay window, furniture and fire place.

My cinema room (loft) is totaly different - there isn't any furniture in front of the seating so it sounded a bit echoey until I carpeted the side walls. Your ears should tell you if the sound is good or not, so avanzatos idea of moving rugs around should tell you if there's going to be any improvement by using carpet.

Gary.

[Senninha]

Originally posted by Geoffc10
wooden floors are equally dusty hence why i only have it in the dining room(easier for food stains!)

Theoretically the same amount of dust falls, but as wooden floors are much easier to actually remove the dust from I've always found them less dusty.

Mind you, I live "Japanese style" (absolutely no shoes in the house), and I wouldn't fancy boots and shoes scraping across a wooden floor

[Tesla]

I want wooden floor in my bedroom but my parents say no as it will sound really loud downstairs. (My room is above our living room)

Are they right?

\\Chris

[Gary Lightfoot]

Depends on how much insulation you put under it I think - the green under-pads may help cut down a lot of the noise, but the stuff you get on a roll probably won't do such a good job.

Anyone here with a laminate floor who knows for sure?

Gary.

tesla,

very noisy for other people in the house, its like hotels, you can hear people 2/3 floors up clip klopping around.

[Tesla]

Originally posted by Geoffc10
tesla,

very noisy for other people in the house, its like hotels, you can hear people 2/3 floors up clip klopping around.

Damn - Looks like there right so im not getting it.

What sort of other floor coverings are there. Ideal for HT.

\\Chris

[Gary Lightfoot]

For multi-channel sound such as 5.1/6.1 you need an absorptive floor and screenwall, and absorptive walls up to around ear height. The rest should be reflective. So carpet on the floor is a better surface than a hard one.

Too many reflections can muddle the sound IRC, which is why you need to stop them at their first reflective point. Some even advocate fully absorptive walls as you don't get any reflections in real life, and that's what you're supposed to be mimicking apparently.

I think in your case, a decent, thick undefelt and carpet will be a good idea, as it'll help a little with the sounds transmitting from your room to downstairs, but for actual soundproofing, you'll need to do a lot more than that.

Gary.

Cork floors are becoming popular in Europe (where they like their ceramic floors), they have almost all the advantages of both wood and carpet, although do cost as much as both put together. Not sure if many places do them in UK, the wood and laminate craze still seems too strong.
After having cork, I would find wood too difficult to live with again noise and uncosyness wise, my Hifi definitely had a clatter to it in larger rooms with wood floor.