Wooden Vs Carpeting for HT

Hey All,

Just need to know your thoughts on what works best for HT acoustically. Is it the wall to wall carpeting or wooden laminate flooring. Carpeting as you all know is high maintenance and doesnt look as good as a wooden floor. I am very keen to go for wooden but some people I talked to suggested going wtw. Whats your say.

Wooden flooring might make the surface very reflective while carpeting might make it dead. Having said that - it really depends on your priorities.

If it’s a dedicated HT, then carpeting is the way to go as it absorbs the sound waves and hence minimizes any bouncing off.

On the other hand, let’s say if it’s a multi purpose room/living room which doubles as your HiFi listening also, IME its better to go for wooden flooring with a think carpet/rug as desired.

Best Regards.

Hey Unleash ...I have been mulling over the same idea that is to go for wooden flooring and dumping some rugs in there. Some people I have spoken to suggested that if walls are treated (acoustic panels) then its OK to go for wooden else stick to carpet. Whats you take on that. I would like to know that if I can derive the same quality of acoustics with wooden/ rug combo as against on w-t-w carpet.

Micjak:

One way is to line the whole floor with wooden flooring. You then locate the exact spots where the sound is reflected from, and cover that area with a rug. There is a thread where I have explained how you can locate these reflective spots.

cheers

Venkat, can you give me the path to that thread you mentioned

Please check the following threads. Awdeophile had shown the same technique long before. Mine was just a repetition.

http://www.hifivision.com/av-enhance...room-size.html

http://www.hifivision.com/av-enhance...om-set-up.html

http://www.hifivision.com/av-enhance...acoustics.html

Cheers

I was reading somewhere that for a Stereo setup - it's good to leave the floor reflective and have the first reflection point on the ceiling dead. This apparently increases the height of the sound stage.

Any thoughts anyone?

Hi
I dont remember ever seeing that its good to to leave the floor reflective, however, it doesnt matter so much (as much as side wall reflections both 1st and 2 ones). Treating celing is definitely recommended (above the speakers)
cheers

So what can we do to curb the side wall reflections. I ve spoken to Armstrong fellas here they suggest panels which are quite expensive. Is there a budget solution to this.

One of the most common inexpensive and methods is to make the panels yourself with the help of a carpenter. Take a plywood some 2 to 25. feet wide. The length should be 75& of your wall height. Stick 1/4 inch glass wool on top of the plywood, and cover the whole thing with a cloth of your choice. You can also mount corner liners to beautify the panel, like it is done in photo frames. The thickness of the glass wool can be varied to suit your choice. Some people also prefer to nails buttons in the middle like they do in sofas. Glass wool is available nowadays as sheets.

You now have your panels. You can now mount the panels on the points of reflection on your walls.

For the ceiling, you can hang the same panels as shown below.



The width of the panel can again be 75% of the width of your room. Unless your room is very wide, you need just panels mounted one behind the other based upon your reflection points. It is advisable to mount the panels at a slight angle facing the loudspeakers.

To mount the panels you can use a simple chain on the four corners of the panels. Or you can use the aluminum raisers that are used for false ceilings.

Cheers