Which Plasterboard/isolation for in wall speakers wall?

TB303

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Hello people,
As part of a home cinema setup I'm planning to place 3 in-wall speakers (probably B&W 7.4 or 7.3) behind an AT projector screen.
I'll need to add 3-4cm to the wall which is already made up of plasterboard and metal profiles in it. My builders suggest we'll just add one or two layers of plaster board, however I wonder if there is any type that's especially suited to house in-wall speakers?

I'm less concerned about sound leakage (the other side of the wall is a bathroom) and more about sound quality, vibration reduction etc. The speakers won't have back boxes, but I'll place some acoustic/fireproof isolation behind them.

Advice, suggestions and tips are welcome - thank you very much.
 
I'll be watching with interest as I'm considering in-walls and ATS in our extension we are embarking on too and how best to approach it.
 
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The main issue seems to be that most accustic boards/materials/treatments are concerned with blocking sound from entering or leaving the room - which is not my concern here.

I'm looking for an extra rigid/sold plasterboards to mount the speakers too, so it's mainly about minimising vibrations etc...
 
Hello people,
As part of a home cinema setup I'm planning to place 3 in-wall speakers (probably B&W 7.4 or 7.3) behind an AT projector screen.
I'll need to add 3-4cm to the wall which is already made up of plasterboard and metal profiles in it. My builders suggest we'll just add one or two layers of plaster board
Is the AT screen to be fixed, or an up/down solution?

, however I wonder if there is any type that's especially suited to house in-wall speakers?

I'm less concerned about sound leakage (the other side of the wall is a bathroom) and more about sound quality, vibration reduction etc. The speakers won't have back boxes, but I'll place some acoustic/fireproof isolation behind them.

Advice, suggestions and tips are welcome - thank you very much.

The main issue seems to be that most accustic boards/materials/treatments are concerned with blocking sound from entering or leaving the room - which is not my concern here.

I'm looking for an extra rigid/sold plasterboards to mount the speakers too, so it's mainly about minimising vibrations etc...
If you're going for a solution similar to what your builder suggested, do 1 layer of 18mm OSB, and then a layer of plasterboard on top (I assume you're then having it plastered?).
 
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Is the AT screen to be fixed, or an up/down solution?




If you're going for a solution similar to what your builder suggested, do 1 layer or 18mm OSB, and then a layer of plasterboard on top (I assume you're then having it plastered?).
Thanks you, the AT screen will be electric installed on the ceililng or wall.
 
If they don’t have backboxes then the bulk of the lower frequencies will be done by the subs anyway. Shouldnt be any issues with vibrations.
 
The main thing to concern yourself with is initially how to fit the speakers into the wall. Sometimes some inwall sockets ( Appleby Backboxes for electrical sockets ) expect the thickness of the wall they are going into to be 12.5-15mm deep. If they are thicker, it can be a bugger to reduce this after installing the wall.

I'm pretty sure if it's a dedicated in wall speaker ( like for example an MK Sound IW950 ) it will have dedicated clamps that will allow a varying depth, upto perhaps 50mm.

The advantage of ply then plasterboard is when you come to fix anything to the wall, you won't need to worry you can just screw into it. I would suggest putting the cut-outs in before fitting as your so close to the rear wall.. Trying to put the wall up then putting a jigsaw in might be a problem because of the depth of the blade. It might hit the wall behind. Also think about where your studs end, so you can ensure your speakers fit where you want them too.

Please note the price of ply has recently gone mad. If you're looking for stiff and dead I would suggest 15mm thick plasterboard and to be honest it doesn't matter if it's normal PB or 'SoundBloc' as you're not worried about transfer. That way you only have one later of product to screw to the wall, cheaper, quicker and easier.

If I were doing it to stop noise, I'd probably got two sheets of 12.5mm with staggered joints with sealant around the edges. Skimmed. Hell, I would through a sound deadening material between the two.
 
Had that exact same problem with the MKIW85s. 18mm OSB and 15mm Plasterboard made it almost impossible to fit them. The bigger in walls with the clamps weren’t an issue.
 
If you do plan to do the thicker 18mm, you need to plot out where your speakers are going and make a hole bigger in the 18mm ply. It's a bit of a faff !
 
Thanks people,
I have great builders so I trust them, if you are curious we went with 4 layers of 3 accustic plaster baords (at varying thinkess + OSB and two layers of soundtech between the 1st 2nd and 3rd boards + sealent etc. We want to add 7cm to the wall.

I hope it'll work, I'll report back once it's actually built and the speakers are playing...
 
Thanks people,
I have great builders so I trust them, if you are curious we went with 4 layers of 3 accustic plaster baords (at varying thinkess + OSB and two layers of soundtech between the 1st 2nd and 3rd boards + sealent etc.
Pardon?
 
If you weren’t worried about sound leakage, why have they added 7cm of acoustic plasterboard and OSB?
 
Just so I could fit in a 10cm speaker... there's a room at the other side of the wall and I couldn't move it... Checked with the Misses, apparantly we 'have' to have that bathroom... go figure :)

And since it's 3 rather large in wall speakers I didn't want them to vibrate each other, so the comoposition of the wall is to dampen vibrations, I hope.
 
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They could have just used larger stud work but your builders/money. Hope you get the outcome you are after. 👍
 

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