For those of you that haven't seen it, this is my 7.2.2 media room:
I "finished" it about 3 months ago. I've really been enjoying it, but have been tolerating some annoying rattles during movie scenes with heavy bass. I had some free time today and decided to fix a few of the worst ones.
The worst offender was coming from the grill on the return air A/C vent. It's one of those basic hinged metal ones on the ceiling that's designed to hold a filter. It's also right above the MLP! I was 99% sure that it was coming from there, so I pulled out the ladder, played the opening scene from Edge of Tomorrow, and as soon as I put my hand on the grill, the rattle that I was targeting stopped. Bingo! The solution ended up being relatively simple. I first opened up the grill and made sure the screws that held it to the ceiling were tight. They were. I then closed the grill back up, and realized that even when it was closed and locked, the "door" part of it was still loose in the frame. Using some inexpensive foam tape that I got from Home Depot (
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frost-K...ubber-Foam-Weatherstrip-Tape-R338WH/100139483), I lined the inner frame where the door closes to meet it. The screw heads were also sticking out from the frame and I could tell that the door probably made some contact with those as well, so I covered the tops of the screw heads with a small bit of foam. Closed it back up and now it's nice and tight. Restarted the scene, and no more rattle!
On to the next biggest offender... the entrance to the room has a beautiful french door with fluted glass panes. I love it, even though I know it's not the most sound proof type of door. The rattle I was hearing was mostly from where the 2 doors meet. There was absolutely no cushion between them... just wood on wood. A strip of foam tape on one of the doors solved that issue. I also added some foam tape around the inside of the frame, and checked the screws for the hinges and door knobs. Not sure that really did anything, but I figured it couldn't hurt. I was still getting a small rattle from one of the panes of glass, so I ran a thin bead of clear silicone around the edge on both sides. There were a few small gaps between the glass and the wood molding that holds the glass in place, so I made sure to really work the silicone into those gaps. This didn't completely get rid of the rattle, but it minimized it as much as I think is possible. I used to be able to hear it from several feet away, and now I have to be right up next to the door to hear it. I'm open to suggestions from anyone whose dealt with this type of rattle before.
I've got a few more to deal with around the room, but they are all very minor compared to the ones I fixed today, and I think fixing them will be even easier.
If you haven't taken time to deal with some annoying rattles in your room, it's well worth the time spent. Everything I did today took less than 2 hours, and that included a trip to Home Depot.
Anyone have any tips or tricks for controlling rattles and vibrations caused by killer bass?
