Working on fixing up my man cave in a room in the basement, planning to have a computer corner and a light home theater room. I would need tips on a stylish solution for the ceiling and walls, would preferably want spotlights in the ceiling. The ceiling height is only 209cm. Another issue is achieving a reasonably good sound profile with acoustic panels on the ceiling and/or walls. Can acoustic panels and spotlights be combined in the ceiling without building too much? Grateful for any input on a good solution.
Cool project!
Regarding the acoustics, the big question is what level you plan to aim for?
Damping treble is relatively simple, but damping bass is more difficult—or rather, it takes up more space.
Ceiling panels are meant for "conversation frequencies" and do not dampen any bass at all.
Forget about installing recessed spotlights in the ceiling. It's very unnecessary for the use you describe. Install a spot track on the ceiling and lighting in the corners, and have many outlets on the walls so you can place light sources everywhere.
Thanks for the input. Not an audiophile, but the level is supposed to be a notch higher than a "regular" room. Since it's a basement with concrete in 360 degrees, the sound is very hollow right now. Carpet is probably the only thing I can't consider as I'm a bit paranoid about moisture, absolutely understand the effect of it but there have been a number of cracks in the walls (as you can see), some of them are certainly due to the drainage being crappy. It's re-drained now but I want to keep as much organic material away as possible. A friend gave the idea to have a curtain on each side of the TV, a bit like a cinema where the curtains have been pulled aside, the idea being that they would absorb sound, but I don't know if it will be too cheesy. Track lighting with spotlights could be an alternative. I was thinking of skipping acoustic panels on the ceiling if not doing spotlights and instead seeing if acoustic panels with designs, like from GTA, on the walls could work. Maybe more cheesy than curtains but appeals to me more. I'm fairly immature
My man cave in the basement was finished this spring.
I installed LED strips in the ceiling instead of spotlights. I chose 230V LED that can be dimmed with a regular dimmer. Additionally, I have spot lighting in the corners of the room and over the pool table.
The acoustics were terrible during the construction, but once I threw in a sofa and some bookshelves, it's not a problem. I can recommend pleated blinds, for example IKEA's, which both insulate the windows from heat, dampen sound, and block the sun if you want to watch a movie during the day.
You can glue acoustic panels to the ceiling, available in 20 and 40mm. They reduce echo significantly and you can recess LED spotlights in them if you find spotlights that are a maximum of 20mm deep; then you cut out for the low-voltage cable in the panel from above.
If you want "a notch higher" as you write, unfortunately, you can skip most of the tips you've received so far.
If you just want slightly better sound, do the following:
1. Arrange the room the way you want. If you can and want to - choose thick fabrics. Thin curtains can be completely skipped unless you want them just for visual purposes. Thick or multiple layers are the key.
2. Place the speakers and recruit a friend who has a medium-sized mirror (about A4-sized??).
3. Sit in the listening position and ask your friend to walk around with the mirror. In the positions where you see the speaker, you have a reflection that should be dampened. Start with the reflections you find in front of the speakers (floor) and next to the speakers (wall).
4. Test-play some music you are used to listening to.
- Does it sound good? Great! Then just relax.
- Doesn't sound good? Then let's move on.
5. Sit in the listening position and clap your hands. You probably have an echo with a long reverberation.
- This likely comes from an undamped wall and/or ceiling. Now you have to consider whether you want to proceed with an acoustic ceiling or experiment with more fabric on the wall.
Another option is to bring the friend back with his mirror and check for reflections on the ceiling and start damping there.
When you've come this far, it should resemble something. More efforts often become difficult to achieve and space-consuming. If you have a subwoofer or front speakers that go very deep in frequency, you will likely have problems with standing waves (rumble-bass), which is not easy to fix as it requires measurements and a lot of space. - However, I think most can live with a bit of rumble bass...
When you are completely satisfied, you can try one more thing, which is to place a bookshelf behind the listening position (if you are not sitting directly against a wall). Place some items irregularly on the bookshelf. You have now built a diffuser that might potentially improve the sound further.
Thank you very much, I'll have to test it. Now I've painted the walls and ceiling, as well as the old basement windows. The windows have received a couple of iron bars to potentially offer a bit more protection against break-ins. For now, it looks like a Fritzl-basement but in the long term, I hope to make it a bit more homely. The next step is to vacuum, prime, and start with the tiles.
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