# Need help on building a listening room



## CulinaryGod (Jun 5, 2008)

Hey all, like the title says, I need a little help building my first sound room. The room size is not very big so a massive amount of power isn't needed. But what I'm asking is what do I do to make it the perfect room? The room size is 10' x 10' x 10'. I plan on building the MKIII's (Fostex FE166En) from brinesacoustics.com as my front stage. I'll be using a low wattage tube amp and an original playstation 1 as my cd player (See 6moons.com review). How do I treat this room and what would be a good low wattage subwoofer that will blend well with my front stage? I'm hoping to get suggestions on a possible subwoofer that fairs well in a sealed enclosure as I'd like to use some 3/4" hardwood bamboo for the enclosure. Please help.


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## CulinaryGod (Jun 5, 2008)

Anyone?


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## onebadmonte (Sep 4, 2008)

Try an open baffle subwoofer like the Hawthorne Audio Augie or and Eminence Alpha 15 on a 150watt plate amp. I think those would be your best bets on something that would blend well.


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## CulinaryGod (Jun 5, 2008)

What if I went all open baffle? Is there a site where I can read up on baffle sizes, etc? I've been lurking on diyaudio.com and am COMPLETELY overwhelmed at the knowledge over there. It's as if everyone has a masters in engineering and physics and cannot be bothered with 3rd grader questions like mine. I'd like to find a friendly place where new to diy buys like me can learn the basics and advance from there.


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## onebadmonte (Sep 4, 2008)

Try audio circle dot com. They have a forum dedicated to open baffle. Although, to be honest, all it is, is a speaker on a baffle. At some point the baffle will get so big it turns into an IB application. Try it out. Here is a link.

Open Baffle Speakers


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## Shelbrain (Mar 1, 2008)

I found that avsforum dot com had a great form on room construction. Is the room finished or are you going to be ripping down drywall to make acoustical changes?


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## CulinaryGod (Jun 5, 2008)

Thanks guys! The room is finished and it's a rent house so I'd like to avoid making permanent changes to the interior of the room. Though if it were my own house, I'd get some acoustic damping drywall and all the other fixin's to go along with it. You guys are great help. Now, can you guys point me in the direction of cheap Tube amps. Not cheap in quality, cheap in price. Thanks.


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## onebadmonte (Sep 4, 2008)

Try s-5 electronics. I've been meaning to try them out myself but I always get side tracked with other meaningless projects.

S-5 Electronics, Hearsay Corp.

Let us know how it goes. Good luck.


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## 2500hd (Aug 22, 2009)

You need to apply some wall treatments

Acoustic Wall Treatments


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

2500hd said:


> You need to apply some wall treatments
> 
> Acoustic Wall Treatments



X2 if you don't that room will echo and reflect sounds like a yodeler in the alps, that is if you don't have much in there. even more if its a non carpeted floor. 10x10 is very small, smaller than my bedroom I'm in now which is 12x12 and i think that is tiny!


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## CulinaryGod (Jun 5, 2008)

Yeah it IS very small. I'm wondering how well my idea of turning it into a listening room will turn out to be. It's carpeted floors and I plan on doing acoustic wall panneling. I'm doubting large drivers and their space occupancy. Obviously this room will only need low to moderate power. So driver and cabinet selection is still up in the air, if anyone has any ideas that'd be helpful. I have a leather love seat in there and that's about it. I've made very little progress in getting equipment as my for sale thread hasn't been very fruitful, yet I managed to pick up a first gen. Sony Playstation SCPH-1001 as my dedicated cd player. I'll also need a line driver and a small amp. 

I ordered a pair of 3" Tang band full range drivers and cut out MDF rings to do a .25ft sealed enclosure. I heard they sound great and are spacious and open enough to fill a small room like this to decend listening levels. I'm not looking for anything to blow my windows out but only to give me the full essence of a recording the way it's supposed to be. Maybe I can mate this with a small 8" subwoofer? Again speaker choice is up in the air. I've seen acoustic wall panneling at Parts Express (Cascade Audio I believe). How does this fair against other brands? All help is welcome. Thanks.


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## CulinaryGod (Jun 5, 2008)

Austin, I saw the thread of your TB 6.5" Subwoofer in tapped box. I'd like to do something similar to that. Where did you get the plans at?


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

CulinaryGod said:


> Austin, I saw the thread of your TB 6.5" Subwoofer in tapped box. I'd like to do something similar to that. Where did you get the plans at?



The link is in the first post. I can send you the link later on tonight if it isn't in there. You would probably wanted to do the double folded on since it is half the height, it may fit better in your room. 

If you do it you will be very pleased with the bass. It can be heard outside the house easily and be a little nauseous to be honest. So keeping it down a bit would be perfect for that little room since it is currently in a very open room right now.

Edit: the double folded version is the 38 hz tuning, not the 30 hz one i built. So maybe just sticking to the single folded tapped horn would be enough for you. It really isn't that big. 

a quick google search for tangband 6.5" tapped horn gave me the link:

http://www.volvotreter.de/th.htm

Its about 2/3rds way down . "The Tangband 30Hz Tapped Horn"


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## CulinaryGod (Jun 5, 2008)

Arg, the dimensions are in centimeters. Hahaha man oh man.


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

CulinaryGod said:


> Arg, the dimensions are in centimeters. Hahaha man oh man.


Yeah i know. Its a *****. the inside material is 1/2 and the outer is 5/8 but i couldnt find that so i used 3/4 and adjusted the outer dimensions appropriately. 

Just multiply the number by .3937 and it will get it very close. It is what i did and there was a little overhang on the outside pieces but it worked out fine.

I printed out single parts of the plans and then converted all the numbers. I even though of trying to find a metric tape measure lol.

If you haven't found it yet, which im sure you have, the download page:

Download Section


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## CulinaryGod (Jun 5, 2008)

Yeah, converting it to metric won't be that hard as I can program my CNC to just cut them to exact size. Though I wish I didn't have to order material that I don't already have in stock. Do you know of any other plans for small subwoofer tapped horns that may be in standard sizes?


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## 2500hd (Aug 22, 2009)

You may want to look at this simple TL for the Tang Bands Cyburgs-Needle for Tangband W3-871S - diyAudio
It should work with yours, most of the 3" TBs have a similar Fs

You may or may not need a sub still


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## 60ndown (Feb 8, 2007)

you might want to consider some great headphones instead of messing with the room.

great headphones ($250+) are amazing to listen too, and have zero acoustic problems.

and they are portable.

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/list/4


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## CulinaryGod (Jun 5, 2008)

Yeah 60, I know. I goto my cusins house and listen to his hi-fi headphones, it's just not the same though, you can't share the moment with someone when you turn around thinking that you just heard something, and it's really the recording that sounded lifelike. That kind of thing brings a smile to my face.


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

CulinaryGod said:


> Yeah, converting it to metric won't be that hard as I can program my CNC to just cut them to exact size. Though I wish I didn't have to order material that I don't already have in stock. Do you know of any other plans for small subwoofer tapped horns that may be in standard sizes?


No i don't. sorry. He does have a program that you can calculate it but I'm not sure how to use it.


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## CulinaryGod (Jun 5, 2008)

Yeah, I've actually attempted to dabble with Hornresp and Mathcad but got lost within the first minute or two. I'd love to make horns, I have the materal and tools, I just hav eno idea where to start or how to work those programs.


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## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

Hang up some blankets to absorb higher frequencies and call it good since it is a rental home.

Knock down some reflections and you'll be fine.


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## 60ndown (Feb 8, 2007)

CulinaryGod said:


> Yeah 60, I know. I goto my cusins house and listen to his hi-fi headphones, it's just not the same though, you can't share the moment with someone when you turn around thinking that you just heard something, and it's really the recording that sounded lifelike. That kind of thing brings a smile to my face.



pfffffft,

Mini Jack Headphone Splitter Lead Y Cable MP3/iPod/CD - eBay (item 370421831229 end time Aug-28-10 17:30:52 PDT)


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