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A question for the room gurus...

seagull

seagull

Seabird flavour member
We have just returned home from viewing a house in our preferred location. The main attraction was the cellar which is currently being used as a "cinema".

Room maximum dimensions are 22'6" x 16'4". When we looked I discovered that the room height is c. 6'5".

The room is far from a rectangular box, it has a staircase down one wall, a bay window on another and a fire place with a wood burner on a third. It has a solid floor and 2' thick solid walls. It is a very pleasant space.

Does this have potential as a dedicated listening room?
 
I have a cellar listening space. Arched ceiling and quite a bit narrower than yours at about 11’. Similar length but ceiling may be a bit more than 7’. Painted brick walls. When we arrived it had vinyl hard floor, but a properly underlayed (not the cheap stuff) carpet has transformed the listening with a couple of sofas too. The far end is equipped as a home office but otherwise it is a listening space. 43” TV is also fitted, but sound is strictly 2 channel stereo. And volume does not matter!
 
I’d be of the opinion that if the house makes you happy then you’ll be happy with that as a music room and be able to overlook any acoustic shortcomings, or just fix them with room treatments or in the digital domain, if you wish. It could be acoustically perfect but if the house doesn’t feel like home then you’ll never relax into the music anyway.

Happy house hunting!
 
Sounds promising. The room dimensions are not simple multiples of each other and two of them are decent sizes. Structures to break up reflections are already built-in. As pocketkitchen suggests, I'd budget for some dsp because I expect the primary node related to room height could well be annoying.
 
If its a cellar, the basics for me would be....
Is it tanked out/ dry
Enough mains sockets in the right place ( & in decent condition) possibly even on a separate spur.
Internet connection/wifi signal strength.
After that, within reason any reasonable sized room can have potential as a dedicated listening room. Yes, you may want to look at rooms treatment, from non-specific stuff such as carpeting & curtains & then more targeted stuff such as bass traps, absorption/ diffusion panels etc &/or DSP. If you haven’t already, take a look at the GIK Acoustics site. There’s loads of products there as well as plenty of good advice about room set up.
Can’t see why it wouldn’t work though with a bit of planning.
 
What would make me cautious is the staircase which I guess will act as a double height void into another room. I've got a vague memory of people saying that this isn't good for bass.

Maybe you can swerve this problem by setting up the front speakers at the end of the room where the staircase is highest.

The ceiling is a bit low and might need some treatment.

That's a big old room though, I'd have thought that you could carve it up into smaller blocks that would work OK acoustically by arranging the seating and maybe bookcases for diffusion behind you. The bookcases wouldn't have to go full width or full height, it's the bit behind your head in the listening position that is important.

It's also more than wide enough that you could have the system firing across the room, which is what I've ended up with. It works fine for me but then I'm not an extreme bass head :)

Have you got enough stuff to fill it with? Rooms tend to sound better with more books, records, furniture, clocks, moose heads, plaster ancestral coats of arms etc. to break up the echoes.

Did you give the room a round of applause? Classic acoustic test for nasty reverb :)
 
Sounds great, I'd be all over it like a rash. It may not be a drop-in but a big space like that can be divided up into rooms that work or laid out sympathetically. You may find that the most obvious layout doesn't work. I have a similarly sized/proportioned lounge, I initially tried a lengthways layout and moved to sideways for 5 years. Last year, lockdown 1, went back to lengthways. Nope. Now back to sideways.
 
This looks like a great opportunity. I think any space (assuming not a broom cupboard), which can be fully set up to your liking, meaning positioning of the system, furniture, absorbent materials of your choice etc and does not cause domestic friction - has to be jumped on! Very jealous. Good luck with the house search.
 
Thanks for the replies. Plenty of food for thought

The intention is for it to double up as our entertaining space. Furniture will be my listening chair (stressless) in prime spot plus two two-seater setters. Plenty of record/cd storage racks and some bookshelves tao help with diffusion. It is already carpeted.

We are contemplating blocking in the staircase once the furniture is in place.

I may not get it though as Mrs Seagull isn't totally convinced about the garden and storage space. So we'll see.
 
Sounds like a good excuse to build a man cave (other genders are available), either fit your existing hifi system into the room and live happily with the sound or go all out and tailor your room out using suitable speakers with dsp and room treatment to take into account the low ceiling. - either way its a win-win situation as you have a room you can fill with toys however you wish.
 
While the ceiling height is perhaps a bit low, the overall room volume is quite generous, and it's mainly room volume that gives you a better starting point for room acoustics optimisation (usually achieved simply with normal soft furnishings and diffusive objects). Aside from room volume, the next most important criterion for a critical listening space is whether the room is a nice place to be in, with generous natural light and ventilation; and that appears to be the case here. If you're in a pleasant frame of mind when you sit down, then you are much more likely to enjoy the music.
 
Nice room, I love a vaulted ceiling as it reminds me of many a lost weekend in the Arches (Glasgow club)
 
@JensenHealey nice room.

@david ellwood I'm only 6'1" and I don't dance so I should be ok.

We've been discussing it, Mrs seagull likes the house but has serious concerns about some of the compromises that we would have to make (we are downsizing). So she isn't sure. It looks like the house is going on to the possible pile.

I like the house, I don't love it , though I felt the same about our current house which has served its purpose.

Thanks for the replies though :) the search goes on.
 
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