Need advice on how to sound insulate my room


Need advice on how to insulate my stereo room. My rig is is in the finished basement of my home. Problem is that the house is old'ish and the sound reverberates throughout the house - probably through the basement drywall and ceiling.

The upstairs floors are hardwood, with throw rugs. The walls are plaster on lathe.

The basement ceiling is drywall. However, the ceiling height is only about 8 feet, so a drop ceiling is not an option.

Not sure there's much I can do, but any suggestions have to be aesthetically nice or my wife will object.

Thanks
bifwynne

Showing 1 response by elizabeth

Is it just LOUD? or as usual, the bass vibrations are the real problem?

Well solid mass, or structural stiffening is the best bet to stop bass travelling.
Finding a place to cut a resonance is also a way.
My first suggestion is to get one or two of those braces used to shore up structural defects, a steel tube, with a screw and plates on the ends.. Try them around the perimeter of the room, away from the side walls of the house, and more towards the middle of the whole house in relation to the room below. They might even work outside the room! Crank them up against the floor. see if it helps.. Having one or two of those in the corners would be way easier than a LOT of other bass stopping tricks.
Anyway, that is my suggestion. Stop the floor from resonating.. If you find the right spot, maybe you can create some estetically pleasing cover for the floor jacks.

Another more drastic and expensive solutions is the cover the first level flooring with stone.. At least part of it.
A thirdd is to use speakers with way less bass.. And just accept it is what you have to do.
If you have a pair of subs and are cranking them up, nothing will stop the problem.