Questions about Potential Music Room in New House Purchase

ihmeyers

VIP/Donor
Nov 13, 2017
262
193
325
Palm Beach County, Florida
I'm looking at purchasing a house that has a very large basement (almost 3000sqft) with a 31x17x9'4" kids playroom. The flooring is carpet covered concrete. The ceiling is a drop ceiling I would have converted to a standard drywall ceiling. After conversion of the ceiling the room would be roughly 31x17x9'6". A little lower ceiling than I like but the house is in Kentucky, and in that part of the country >10ft ceilings are rare. If I didn't use the basement, the best upstairs room I would have is an office that's 17x13x10, a little on the small side.

Would that basement playroom turn out to be a good room? Certainly enough cubic volume. I ran the dimensions through a mode calculator and it didn't appear bad below 200hz but I am far from an expert. This room would be 2 channel only and have no furniture other than equipment racks and seating.

Thanks in advance.

Ian
South Florida (for now)
 
Last edited:

Bobvin

VIP/Donor
Jun 7, 2014
1,659
2,930
615
Portland
www.purewatersystems.com
Those are very close to the dimensions of my room. There is no reason you can’t make a great sounding room with that space, it all depends on what you’re starting with and where you want to go. Of course, how much you are willing to spend—it will always be about the compromises you make.

I did a full acoustic remodel, gutted the room, etc. My goal was a pleasing aesthetic and sound treatments hidden. My write up is in the thread

'Wilson & ARC for me...'
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/wilson-arc-for-me.15727/
 

ihmeyers

VIP/Donor
Nov 13, 2017
262
193
325
Palm Beach County, Florida
Those are very close to the dimensions of my room. There is no reason you can’t make a great sounding room with that space, it all depends on what you’re starting with and where you want to go. Of course, how much you are willing to spend—it will always be about the compromises you make.

I did a full acoustic remodel, gutted the room, etc. My goal was a pleasing aesthetic and sound treatments hidden. My write up is in the thread

'Wilson & ARC for me...'
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/wilson-arc-for-me.15727/

Thanks for the response. I had told my broker nothing less than 10 ft ceilings which makes it difficult in Kentucky. I live in Florida now where nearly all ceilings (for modern homes) are 10-12 ft. In Kentucky for 10ft 1st floor (mostly), 10ft 2nd floor (very infrequently), 10 ft basement (haven't seen one yet). Wife has already signed off on me doing anything I want to the room, funds permitting. Maybe I will go forward with it. It's at the top of my budget and I really don't want to leave Florida, but it's impossible to find a house with a large dedicated music room here for less than $2mm. For those that aren't familiar with Florida, prices are up 25-30% over a year ago, and hurricanes are getting worse every year. Might be time to move on.

edit...pictures of the room below. Right now a kid's playroom. Completely enclosed. 1st of doors (on left) leads to 9x12 room I'd make a man cave. Other door is utility room. Photo with three doors is walkout to outside driveway. Good set-up to move 500 lb Hansen speakers downstairs.
 

Attachments

  • Room_1.jpg
    Room_1.jpg
    429.2 KB · Views: 38
  • Room 2.jpg
    Room 2.jpg
    519.7 KB · Views: 38
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Ron Resnick

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
16,017
13,347
2,665
Beverly Hills, CA
I'm looking at purchasing a house that has a very large basement (almost 3000sqft) with a 31x17x9'4" kids playroom. The flooring is carpet covered concrete. The ceiling is a drop ceiling I would have converted to a standard drywall ceiling. After conversion of the ceiling the room would be roughly 31x17x9'6". A little lower ceiling than I like but the house is in Kentucky, and in that part of the country >10ft ceilings are rare. If I didn't use the basement, the best upstairs room I would have is an office that's 17x13x10, a little on the small side.

Would that basement playroom turn out to be a good room? Certainly enough cubic volume. I ran the dimensions through a mode calculator and it didn't appear bad below 200hz but I am far from an expert. This room would be 2 channel only and have no furniture other than equipment racks and seating.

Thanks in advance.

Ian
South Florida (for now)

These seem like great dimensions to me! 31' length is great!

One sidewall is all wood framing and drywall? And the other sidewall is about half wood framing and drywall and about half big windows?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ihmeyers

Folsom

VIP/Donor
Oct 25, 2015
6,024
1,490
520
Eastern WA
Can you remove the drop ceiling then do some organizing and paint it a dark color? I've seen this in commercial spaces.
 

Elliot G.

Industry Expert
Jul 22, 2010
3,286
2,959
1,360
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
www.bendingwaveusa.com
I'm looking at purchasing a house that has a very large basement (almost 3000sqft) with a 31x17x9'4" kids playroom. The flooring is carpet covered concrete. The ceiling is a drop ceiling I would have converted to a standard drywall ceiling. After conversion of the ceiling the room would be roughly 31x17x9'6". A little lower ceiling than I like but the house is in Kentucky, and in that part of the country >10ft ceilings are rare. If I didn't use the basement, the best upstairs room I would have is an office that's 17x13x10, a little on the small side.

Would that basement playroom turn out to be a good room? Certainly enough cubic volume. I ran the dimensions through a mode calculator and it didn't appear bad below 200hz but I am far from an expert. This room would be 2 channel only and have no furniture other than equipment racks and seating.

Thanks in advance.

Ian
South Florida (for now)
You might want to contract Norm Varney at avroomservices he is an really good source for help on room sizes and build out
 
  • Like
Reactions: ihmeyers

ihmeyers

VIP/Donor
Nov 13, 2017
262
193
325
Palm Beach County, Florida
Can you remove the drop ceiling then do some organizing and paint it a dark color? I've seen this in commercial spaces.
I'm planning on doing that. We're doing a Facetime tour tomorrow to see how much I can squeeze out by getting rid of the drop ceiling. I thought my agent told me we can get to 9' 6". Now he says he doesn't remember, lol.

It's crazy, the seller put big, big money into the kitchen but then just left the drop ceiling the builder originally installed. It could be nice entertaining space if they spent money on the basement. I told my wife she would be able cook my scrambled eggs and Hamburger Helper on a commercial grade Wolf Range. :) I have VERY pedestrian tastes when it comes to food.

Thanks very much for all the feedback.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bobvin and Folsom

Cellcbern

VIP/Donor
Jul 30, 2015
1,222
726
585
70
Washington, DC
I'm looking at purchasing a house that has a very large basement (almost 3000sqft) with a 31x17x9'4" kids playroom. The flooring is carpet covered concrete. The ceiling is a drop ceiling I would have converted to a standard drywall ceiling. After conversion of the ceiling the room would be roughly 31x17x9'6". A little lower ceiling than I like but the house is in Kentucky, and in that part of the country >10ft ceilings are rare. If I didn't use the basement, the best upstairs room I would have is an office that's 17x13x10, a little on the small side.

Would that basement playroom turn out to be a good room? Certainly enough cubic volume. I ran the dimensions through a mode calculator and it didn't appear bad below 200hz but I am far from an expert. This room would be 2 channel only and have no furniture other than equipment racks and seating.

Thanks in advance.

Ian
South Florida (for now)
If you keep (or raise) the dropped ceiling it will allow you to easliy insert acoustic panels at the ceiling first reflection points, and put sound insulation material behind them. When I had my dedicated basement listening room built I used acoustic drywall for the walls and had the ceiling dropped so I could easily mount ceiling acoustical panels. You will still need ceiling acoustical treatments with a drywall ceiling but they will be harder to deploy. For the absolute best sonics you should replace all of the standard ceiling tile where you are not using acoustic panels with acoustical tiles (I haven't done that yet but I plan to). The typical fiberglass ceiling tiles are designed for energy efficiency (i.e., to retain warm or cool air depending on the season) and do very little to improve listening room sonics. My room in the photo is 16'd x 10'w x 8'h. Both your basement and office dimensions sound OK. IMG_0686.jpg
 
Last edited:

ihmeyers

VIP/Donor
Nov 13, 2017
262
193
325
Palm Beach County, Florida
Looks like house is a no go because of non-music room issues the seller isn't will to repair (mold in a basement room for one).

Side note, I've always thought buying a house would be fun and it always sucks. Back to square one.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: christoph

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
Sorry for your turmoil :oops:
But good that you found out about the mold before you bought the house :eek:
 
Last edited:

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing