Optimum size for music room?

I am in the same situation as you as we have started looking into a major remodel for our house. Part of the remodel will be to build a dedicated listening room from scratch.

There are tons of information available online. I've done some research online and read "consulted" some books on acoustics, studio design, HT room design, etc.

There are many different theories. But most popular ones are:

Cardas Golden Mean - 0.618
so something like 21 ft x 13 ft x 8 ft

Louden Ratio
- 1.00 x 1.4 x 1.9
- 1.00 x 1.3 x 1.9
- 1.00 x 1.5 x 2.5

Sepmeyer Ratio
- 1.00 x 1.28 x 1.54
- 1.00 x 1.60 x 2.33

I ended up deciding to go with the last one, so the room will be 16 ft (W) x 23.3 ft (L) x 10 ft (H). I have also done some searches with materials and have everything pretty much covered. I would say if I were to construct the room with the information I have so far I would be 85% there.

I had originally talked to Rives, but didn't think that was the right approach for me. I've spoken to Alan Goodwin of Goodwin Audio in Massachussettes, and think that by using his service I would benefit more.

What I intend to do is to have Alan review/critique my design and provide me with additional information to refine the design and acoustics. I think I will come out with a room that is aesthetically pleasing and acoustically "correct".

Feel free to e-mail me and we can share some information.

FrankC

I did a room years ago, but it is long gone. However, one of the issues was always do you put your speakers, current or future on the long wall. Most put them on the short wall to give the room depth. I did a 23 foot wide, 30 feet deep arrangement and ceilings that started 9 feet at the speaker wall and 11 feet at the back wall. Yes I did all the calucations and why the actual room was not design perfect, it sounded perfect. Getting at least a 22 foot wide room is a must. It gives a wide stage and you can reinfoce that if you do a 'center fill'.

Hi Tiger,

Wow! Now that's a room! Unfortunately, I live in the Silicon Valley where an ounce of dirt costs more than an ounce of gold. I am just lucky that my house sits on a pretty good size lot (in Silicon Valley terms) that would allow me to build a dedicated room.

FrankC

Thanks for all your input guys! good stuff! I will check out all the site/s mentioned. S'funny but the room I am listening to my speakers at present is 27'L X 13'W X 7'T. Being in a basement the room needs a lot of Improving to equalize it but as I maybe moving to a new place with no room in the new house (1000 sq ft), hence the 'new room question'.There is an amble space of 7000 sq ft of rear yard. WAF may come into play somewhere along the way.
Another question should the foundation be a concrete slab or would a suspended floor do the trick?
Many thanks again for all your input!

I have imagined a suspended floor with individual concrete piers under the speaker areas and the equipment rack. You need to make them large enough to be able to move gear around on them especially for speaker placement. This arrangement would eliminate mechanical feedback completely, I think, but you still have the earthquake threat in your neighborhood.

I've also noticed that listening rooms often have low ceilings and concert halls never do. Tiger's room mentioned above seems to have been an inspired design.

The concert hall at my local college has the stage at the narrow end and the ceiling over the stage is at the lowest point in it's arc. In fact, the way the walls fan out and the floor and ceiling rise as they move away from the stage, seems to mimic a horn to a certain extent.

The question is: how much of this design was created to optimize acoustics and how much was put in place to maximize seating area? Anybody know?

The acoustics in there are very good and there are room treatments built in to the decor.