I'm very new to the construction of a home theater, and I want to make sure this is done right.

My room is framed and we're finishing up the electrical wiring. Now comes my biggest concern: sound dampening.

My budget is strained thanks to rising gas prices, so I'm looking for good DIY methods for sound control. I've seen online where people have constructed sound dampening panels out of MDF and insulation panels, but I'm wondering if this will be enough? I'm also putting R13 in the ceiling to help absorb the bass transmission upstairs. I can't afford dbl drywall, as we didn't leave enough room for that to happen.

Any suggestions?:confused:

I was in a similar situation as you with my last theater. Add to that the fact that the shell of the room was already finished as a standard bedroom, so my options were limited. I stuffed my riser and stage with insulation, filled my DIY speaker stands with sand, and used isolation mats under my sub to help minimize the sound transmission. About the only time I really had an issue was when deep bass hit the sub. This caused the windows to rattle some upstairs.

This time around, I did manage to double drywall. However, filling all of the wall cavities with insulation really helped deaded the sound from the room, as well as any transmission from the room above when the kids would run across the floor.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your build.

I'm also putting R13 in the ceiling to help absorb the bass transmission upstairs. I can't afford dbl drywall, as we didn't leave enough room for that to happen.


R13 will have limited impact on the bass upstairs, sorry.

On the double drywall it's one of the cheapest sound containment strategies and only takes 5/8 of an inch.

Since $ is of importance you might want to look into integrity gasket.

To add to BigMouth's comment - if you can't afford to double drywall the entire room, at least consider doing it to the ceiling. You're paying the same price for taping, mudding and sanding no matter if it's 1 or 2 layers of drywall, so the extra expense is only in labor to hang it, as the material cost is fairly negligible.

I was under the impression that the first layer of drywall should be taped and mudded with one coat, and then the second drywall layer?

If you overlap the seams, there's no need.