[Zag]

Hi All,

I've got 10 meters of Victoria black velvet on order and I intend to use it to cover fibreboard panels to line the 1st 1.5 meters, floor and ceiling around my screen.

Firstly I don't really know what fibreboard is or where I can get it from. Ideally I would like to make panels about 2ft x 4ft with bevelled edges, then perhaps use a contact adhesive to attach the velvet to the panel and then once done, velcro or glue the panels to the wall.

I have seen a number of high-end home cinemas with this sort of panelling and I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas/suggestions on how it could be done.

All help/pointers appreciated.

[Isco 3]

Can you show me where you have seen systems with that kind of paneling?
Absorption would need to be distributed throughout the room, in order to comply to the standards.
Before you go out and start duplicating the look of a hi-end room, all I'd like to point out is that the correct panneling is a combination of reflective, absorptive and reflective areas. All these ugly looking treatments are behind the fabric that you see.

There are companies that would sadly panel your room from floor to ceiling with these panels you are trying to build; absorption only. I have seen them in UK magazines as well. This i not how a home cinema sounds like.
There would be no envelopment from the surround speakers, and you will end up with a decay time way off. Plus some other reasons too...

Deadening the area around your front of the room only is not a complete solution, acoustically.
Anyway, if you still feel like doing it , you can use an adhesive like you said. It will work wonders. I have done it myself
The bevelled edges that you see can be routered ends, or timber. Depend on your design. I have custom made panels in my room with bevelled ends, but the were built profesionally. They go in an oven, in order to stretch the fabric and give a permanent tight look.

[Shockabuku]

I *think* Zag is doing this for light absorbtion reasons, rather than sound...? I'm planning the same for my room, although coming out about 14 foot, which is requiring 63 metres of velvet . Still working out how I'm going to do it too. Thinking maybe thin batons stuck/screwed to the walls/ceiling, and stapling the material to them around the edges, glueing in the middle. I could then put some kind of wood trim around the edges (painted black) to cover the staples. Just a thought. I'm also planning on some acoustic absorbtion panels here & there, but those are a different subject entirely & would be mounted over the velvet.

edit - btw, I think fibreboard is the same as MDF, which I'm not convinced would be the best thing to use in this application.

[Zag]

Originally Posted by Shockabuku

I *think* Zag is doing this for light absorbtion reasons, rather than sound...?

Sure am.

My primary reason for the panels will be to stop light reflecting off the walls and ceiling back onto my screen. The effects on the sound quality is a secondary concern.

I was in Elliot Hicks garage cinema conversion at the weekend, that was something else. I was supposed to be demoing an HD-1 but I was more taken aback by the sound coming from his active Genelec set-up. His cinema was lined with dark blue velvet covered panels made from fibreboard which is much lighter than MDF.

The only info I've found so far on their construction is this..

The Panels for both ceiling and walls were made from fibreboard. This was for 2 reasons, one it is far lighter than MDF, and two is a much better material for acoustic reasons.

Words cannot describe how difficult it was cutting the panels for the ceiling, and guaranteeing all the light locations, air con grills, thermostat, loft hatch all lined up

Once they were all cut i applied multiple coats of watered down pva to try and stiffen them up slighlty to allow the fabric to be tensioned around them (otherwise the stuff would just snap).

Then with the use of an incredible glue i found (this was used over the face of the boards to prevent sagging) the fabric was painstakingly cut, pulled round the board and stapled. Just the ceiling took about 5 weeks. The wall panels were far more straigntforward but with the same approach, biggest pain is that the ceiling and floor are never perfectly parallel so there is a lot of faffing about trying to cut the panels to compensate for that.

Shockabuku, you may want to consider getting some material wall track. It allows you to easily attach large swathes of material to walls with a simple locking mechanism. I've had a look for the link but can't find it at the moment I'm afraid. Trawling the DIY section of AVS may help..

Thanks also to VIP Cinemas for your tips.

[Shockabuku]

Cheers for the tip about the wall track stuff, I'm doing some research & have already come up with this product, which looks interesting.

[Zag]

Originally Posted by Shockabuku

Cheers for the tip about the wall track stuff, I'm doing some research & have already come up with this product, which looks interesting.

That was the same site I found and lost. Not a cheap solution, however it is probably a lot quicker than making up panels though.

Cheers

[Baggy]

Have you checked out Mad Mr H's cinema build thread as he used a similar panel system?

[Shockabuku]

Thanks Baggy, I've found the relevant bit on Mad's thread & have pm'd him about the track he's using, as it looks to be just the ticket.

[Baggy]

Keep us informed how you get on.
I'm following this with interest as I'll need to something like it myself eventually.