We're looking at houses to rent, gotta move in a month. It's a rental so anything imperfect will only have to be lived with for 1-2 years. From what I'm seeing online, there are several possiblities that I'd have to deal with, with regard to accoustics. First off, I have a front projection set up, with 7.1 surround, Klipsch RF-7 mains, RS-7 surrounds(kind of a dipole design), RB-61 rears, and the RC-7 center.

1. Hardwood floors. This is found in several homes. I always heard hard floors are very bad for accoustics. Whats the solution? Rugs?

2. Vaulted ceilings. One house has vaulted ceilings which i heard were the worst for accoustics. Even slightly vaulted? We're not talking cathedral ceilings.

3. Square rooms. Are bass traps the solution here? And will it be enough? Never worked with those before.

I guess those are the main things. It really blows trying to find homes with suitably sized AND shaped rooms lol... plus we're trying to get one with a pool, not gonna be easy. :)

I Have the RF7 and matching, 5.1, (newer models for rear, center)
and I have hard wood floor.
I love the sound. Over carpet, I had carpet before.
Other things that are going to influence sound;
type and placement of furniture.
Actual construction (wood frame, block, crawlspace)
settings on subwoofer.
settings on receiver

I have a very thick futon and a rug that only fits under it, and one chair.
Large room (14 x 29 with 10') rectangle with a large opening on one side.
I have no need for bass traps or extra carpet.

There are so many variables that you won't know til you move in and set things up.
But if you can get something without carpet, I reccomend it. Carpet is a nasty dirt trap.

We're looking at houses to rent, gotta move in a month. It's a rental so anything imperfect will only have to be lived with for 1-2 years. From what I'm seeing online, there are several possiblities that I'd have to deal with, with regard to accoustics. First off, I have a front projection set up, with 7.1 surround, Klipsch RF-7 mains, RS-7 surrounds(kind of a dipole design), RB-61 rears, and the RC-7 center.

1. Hardwood floors. This is found in several homes. I always heard hard floors are very bad for accoustics. Whats the solution? Rugs?Yup. Rugs.

2. Vaulted ceilings. One house has vaulted ceilings which i heard were the worst for accoustics. Even slightly vaulted? We're not talking cathedral ceilings.Progressive. A little vaulting will make little impact as the fundamental rectangular dimensions remain effective.

3. Square rooms. Are bass traps the solution here? And will it be enough? Never worked with those before.Yes, they are but you many not be willing to accommodate enough of them to be a solution. Stack them in the corners. In addition, you will need panels at the first reflection points. Last resort: Room EQ.

I guess those are the main things. It really blows trying to find homes with suitably sized AND shaped rooms lol... plus we're trying to get one with a pool, not gonna be easy. :) Oh, just convert the pool.:D

I Have the RF7 and matching, 5.1, (newer models for rear, center)
and I have hard wood floor.
I love the sound. Over carpet, I had carpet before.
Other things that are going to influence sound;
type and placement of furniture.
Actual construction (wood frame, block, crawlspace)
settings on subwoofer.
settings on receiver

I have a very thick futon and a rug that only fits under it, and one chair.
Large room (14 x 29 with 10') rectangle with a large opening on one side.
I have no need for bass traps or extra carpet.

There are so many variables that you won't know til you move in and set things up.
But if you can get something without carpet, I reccomend it. Carpet is a nasty dirt trap.All I can say is YMMV. ;)

It really blows trying to find homes with suitably sized AND shaped rooms lol... plus we're trying to get one with a pool, not gonna be easy. :)

You can fix any acoustic problems with bass traps and other treatment. So buy the house with a good swimming pool. :D

--Ethan

Whats the solution? Rugs?

Start by mounting the center above the screen, instead of below. This may move most artifacts to a ceiling reflection, which is easier treated with an absorption panel or a ceiling diffuser.
Then add as much bass trapping as you can.

That will tighten up the sound no matter what, because it will fix the biggest problem: long-time reverberation in the room. In my experience, that problem is a lot worse subjectively than the first-reflection smear. However, when you've done all that, then you can add rugs and absorption panels at all the first reflection points to complete the treatment.

Rugs are good, but not the one's on your head.

Mounting the center channel above the screen would be extremely difficult. The Klipsch center is very heavy, and the screen is 147in, which means even if there is room, I probably wouldn't be able to aim it down. And the center channel stand I have angles the speaker up a bit anyway, which should help, I would think.

It's good to know most anything can be worked around, but here's a new one. :) We've found a house we can go see Monday. It has a nice shaded pool, and everything seems to work, but the HT room may be difficult. It would be the family room(which is 19x16), and with all the entrances being where they are, the screen would have to be on the 16ft wide wall. My Denon 3806 reciever has Room EQ, but is that shape room just totally wrong for accoustics?

19X16 isn't too bad, a square room is worse. Putting the screen on the 16 ft wall would seem to be ideal in your situation.

Agg, I must have been tired when I posted that. I meant the screen would be on the 19ft wall.

Also a new one I'm going to see also... is there such a thing is too large a room? The living room in this one is 35x40!

You can fix any acoustic problems with bass traps and other treatment. So buy the house with a good swimming pool. :D

--Ethan

Um... you can 'improve' any acoustic problem with treatments. But not necessarily 'fix' them. There are some rooms that are beyond help.

My suggestion is to start with the basics, and pay particular attention to room dimensions. Avoid the 'square' room, and any other room that has 'like' length multiples. Use Terry Montlick's room calculator on his website to test any rooms you're looking at. The better the room dimensions to begin with, the fewer treatments you need to spend time and money on.

Um... you can 'improve' any acoustic problem with treatments. But not necessarily 'fix' them. There are some rooms that are beyond help.

Actually, we're both wrong. :eek:

:D

I've never seen a room that couldn't be made acceptable with enough bass traps. But no room will ever be perfectly flat with no modal ringing. So in truth you can improve any room but never truly "fix" it.

--Ethan

Well it's over sooner than thought. See my wife is there looking at homes, and she found one today! I wanted to go to, but we need the paychecks. The room is 19x15, normal ceiling with hardwood floors, so thats all I'll have to contend with. Only real problem is that it's right next to the bedroom, so once again no more loud movies at night. :( At least it's old solid construction, so it shouldn't be too bad.