A Guide to High-End Room Construction & Acoustic Treatment | Robert Harley's Listening Room

Robert Harley shares his story in constructing his listening room, giving us a glimpse of the details in building a high-end audio room, while sharing a few acoustic treatment tips in the second part of the video.
Shot & Edited by TAS Digital Managing Editor Charles Kinder
00:00-01:39 Albuquerque, New Mexico
01:39-04:39 The Importance of Dimensional Room Ratios
04:39-11:00 Building Dampened Walls
11:00-13:15 The Doors
13:15-16:18 Dampening the Studs
16:18-18:45 Room Results & Final Thoughts
18:45-21:26 Bass Traps
21:26-24:18 First Reflection Point & Curve Diffuser
24:18-26:21 Tube Trap & Side Diffusion
26:21- MORE Treatment =/= BETTER Sound
29:15- Final Thoughts
What Is The Absolute Sound?
The Absolute Sound magazine has been a leading publication in high-end audio since 1972. Since the early 2000s, The Absolute Sound has expanded to include web, newsletter, digital magazine, social media, KZbin and Substack platforms. The Absolute Sound platforms have a global audience of over 500,000 audiophiles.
About Robert Harley:
Robert Harley is the editor in chief of the Absolute Sound and the editor of the large-format book series the Absolute Sound’s Illustrated History of High-End Audio. Harley has taught college degree programs in audio engineering in addition to having worked as a recording engineer, a CD mastering engineer, and an audio journalist. He has published more than 1,200 product reviews and articles on high-quality music reproduction, while his books have sold more than a quarter of a million copies in five languages.
Shot and edited by TAS Digital Managing Editor Charles Kinder
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[@Technical_Audio]

Harley did a nice job explaining room considerations in plain English. Unless I missed it, he didn’t address ceiling and floor treatments. He showed a CAD drawing of his room that hinted at hanging acoustic clouds. Also, planar dipoles have different considerations than typical monopole speakers, although they are similar to the first order.

[@jeffj5039]

These are the videos we want to see. In my 30 years of being into hi end audio I’m ways curious to see what reviewers rooms look like. Thanks for sharing - looks like an amazing space to escape for your musical journeys

[@roofpizza1250]

This room looks great but I have to say that many reviewers seem to have far from optimal environments.

[@shawnkhan2901]

I agree. It really helps to see the reviewers rooms to see how their experience will translate to our rooms.

[@JohnLee-db9zt]

99.9% of the reviewers don’t have rooms like this. Most live in small untreated apartments 😂.

[@stillaliveandwell5291]

I started reading (and subscribing) to the 2 largest audio print publications in the early 90's. until just a couple years ago. I did have the chance to build a room when I built a house in ~96 but did not do anything special. I had a basement with 12 inch block walls every other cell filled with concrete and then regular 2x4 walls but the room was too large-- 32 long x17x9 and opened into other areas of the basement and the open stairwell. The sound was pretty good. It was about 60% underground. WWIII could have started in the neighborhood and you would have never known it until you came upstairs. I was hoping to try again but 2 ear operations (1 per) in the 90's guaranteed me tinnitus which even at 70 does not seriously detract from my musical enjoyment. I don't need a room like this now but still hoping to build one of similar size which would be basically half of the total size of the house. I have made comments all over yt about the room being the first element to consider when setting up a system and that all reviewers would help us out by describing their room in a permanent link so we have a reference.

[@Oneness100]

@@roofpizza1250 From what I know about wall construction and room treatment, his room really isn't that optimal. His room is probably better than most of the reviewers, but still not what I would consider optimal for critical listening. Here's a room that I would MUCH rather have. I would also probably add more absorption against the walls, but not much more than what is in the room. Look at the wall/ceiling construction. The room has a +/- 1dB room response curve and a 28dB ambient noise floor. kzbin.info/www/bejne/m36vcmieZdObbtU

[@martinwest2722]

This is so cool. As an electrical engineer I have new, next level, respect for Mr Harley and his design chops. The best part is that it is extremely well explained and design elements are justified. No snake oil here.

[@user-es3hq5zk4e]

really?... Shunyata? Thats the supreme snakeoil of snakeoils......pure junk.

[@gerasimger15]

Truly.

[@jeffreythurston1822]

Great video and thank you for the insights. On part two, in addition to reviewing your gear set up, could you discuss how you supply the room with electricity and how you ground everything?

[@patook6000]

I have watched tons of videos on this topic, this is simply one of the best explanations of acoustic treatment I ever watched, uncomplicated language with easy to understand tips and solutions

[@TheTASmagazine]

Thanks for watching! Happy to help.

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

Thanks so much to everyone who has posted positive comments. I'm happy to share with you what I've learned.

[@Kmeeeeeeeeeee]

​@@RobertHarley-dk1thGreetings Robert!!!Your rewiews audio devices are accurate and genuine.Mainly from Berkeley audio design DAC,what You wrote sounded like that!!! I am owner Luxman D-08 sacd,Luxman 590 AX,Audio Pyshic avantera,wires are silver Diy cryogenic treatment.👍👏

[@cengel23]

This is the highest quality video you guys have done to date. Very useful and detailed information. Well done!

[@DanielHog13]

👍 LOL, was thinking the same thing as well as i watched & was/am complimenting their efforts as well. May I suggest continuing with a series of a few more vids without any brand hyperbole (not that you had herein) going forward if we're blessed to see a few more from you. I suppose I'm suggesting you spend your next several years producing new, chapter by chapter, video documentaries😉 of your excellent book(s)! of which I have your first or second edition from late 90s and your latest revised ed. from 2020-21? Have to share, I've designed/built over 20 DEDICATED two & multi-CH rooms over 2+ decades, not including 100+ media & multipurpose A/V rooms, sans the elite gear, and when you came to the room-within-a-room construction components plus the freaking doors(!!), your story brings to mind both great memories & a few angst filled, of projects where I could/did D&B from the ground up but also with times too a few home building contractors were challenging with our "special needs". Whether decorative or functional or both, I sometimes cringe at similar doors. 😉 GREAT opening vid. 👏

[@sean_heisler]

Outstanding video. What a great listening room. I bought Harley's book over 20 years ago. I have worked on treating my room over the last two years with all DIY absorbers and poly diffusers that's jut enough but not over done as well. I have access to the studs on one wall in my room and am going to do that stud layered damping technique on it for sure, thanks!

[@klauth_Yksyn]

This was awesome! Thank you for your generosity, Robert 👍

[@mikemmikem2758]

Hello Robert. Thank you for showing off your listening room. Looks marvelous. We go back a 'long way' as I'm looking at your Stereophile Test CDfrom 1990. I recently took my Sony GX10ES receiver(1987) out of mothballs just for the heck of it and paired it with some Martin Logan Motion15i speakers - my wife fell in 'love' with the design and Red Walnut finish- so who am I to argue with her. So happy listening and thanks again for the tour.

[@kenroseman5299]

Best TAS article yet!

[@stijnvanderlooy5311]

I do believe you have found the absolute sound in your room. Wow!

[@davidjones7544]

Very enjoyable presentation with great information. Look forward to hearing more.

[@mattkozink7488]

Bravo, beautiful location, beautiful room, beautiful music. Thanks for sharing this part of the journey, looking forward to more episodes.👍

[@adsph]

Very informative. Thank you.

[@realleescoggins]

Excellent video and superb room acoustics tutorial.

[@3dimensionsofmusic3D]

Just hearing his voice in the video confirmed how well the room is damped. Great video. Thanks for sharing your experience 🙏. Greg

[@kloss213]

I designed my home to house audio. My main room is all ICF doubled rock with green glue between, carpets theater grade doors are all full mag sealed. Rooms large sloped ceilings, corners angled. Have my own dedicated 200A Service. Its so quite that you feel nervous if no sound is on. I use bass horns so bass is even and uncolored. If I open audio room door sound floods home if its shut I can scream or lite fireworks in der without bothering anyone.

[@robvandendolder3157]

Really gr. Thank you. Comprehensive and well explained. 😎👍

[@chrisfrank9288]

Fantastic video. I would love to see other videos focusing on people’s listening rooms themselves. It’s at least half the equation to the sound and it represents who the listeners are… how they choose to enjoy music, which is what it’s all about.

[@danielzzz7232]

Great video indeed, thank you once again Robert and TAS! My room, being in Italy, Europe, required a very different wall construction technique, and I often ask myself how much we miss (or change) here, without leveraging the walls themselves that way. I'd love to learn more from you if/how speaker/listener positioning got any less critical in your room, or if still it remains another very tricky aspect. Thank you, and keep rocking!

[@AnthonyCandaele]

I'm currently reading your book The Complete Guide To High End Audio. The best book I read on the subject so far!

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

I'm so glad that you are finding my book helpful. The book turns 30 years old next year (but has been updated six times in that period).

[@jerrybdlben231]

Hi Michael This video and your descriptions of who whet when and where was extremely well done. Please keep theses coming. Jerry Belben

[@labalo5]

Fantastic video on acoustics for the audiophile

[@arturomty9969]

Vey good video, thanks!

[@jo-annewilkinson5663]

Great video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@clivewilliams9460]

Awesome. 🙏🏽👍🏽👏

[@stevewestwood4832]

Really interesting and thanks for suggesting some of those interesting products too. It underlines the need to have a home dem before buying due to the uniqueness of our listening rooms.

[@SuperMcgenius]

The idea of stud damping is very smart. 👍

[@danbode]

Thanks to your magazine articles sharing your use of the ASC materials, I ended up using those techniques and materials in my room. I calculated room dimensions with a speaker building program for minimal resonances. The build is a success. I use it for listening and as a recording space with my stereo system as monitors.

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

I'm glad that it worked out for you. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@FOH3663]

Fantastic video. Any efforting toward leveraging the basics, ... the room, and it's influence, is to be commended. Nice room, I appreciate the effort. Those desirable characteristics are quantifiable; Low freq decay times will determine bass trapping performance. The ETC measurement illustrates incident reflected energy. Before all that, ... sorting out any adjacent boundary interference nulling, SBIR, via FR measurement ... all while balancing modal excitation at the LP. As RH mentioned ... the room's dimensions dictate the resonant frequencies. - Which resonances are excited is determined by loudspeaker placement. - Which resonances are experienced by the listener is determined by listener position. All the work's been done. There's tangible, step by step iteration to optimizing the loudspeaker/room interface. That's why it's great seeing this from TAS and RH specifically. It's by far the single greatest arbiter of performance, ie., the speaker/room interface. I've been reading RH a long time ... I remember the engineering of the first test CD ... his simple VTL driven CLS, his chosen reference at the time. btw, Art Noxon is so wise. Solid content. Much appreciated.

[@savagefrieze4675]

Wow! Really interesting. Not with in my means, but I can take your knowledge and experience and use it to improve my space.

[@Eugene737]

Excellent video. I was hoping you were going to talk about heating/cooling ductwork maybe in your 3rd upcoming video?

[@christofferekman8497]

Great video, thank you! My only small request is that it would be super interesting to see what you did with your electrical infrastructure. Everything from subpanel to number of circuits to in-wall cabling and receptacles.

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

That's in the next video that we shot the same day as this one. It is being edited now and should be posted soon.

[@TheNoseman1]

Excellent. I work in the building industry and much of the building end is familiar to me.....I hope to put it to use with the info Mr. Harley provides. My real fear is the company installing the audio treatments/room understands the importance of detail...if I could do it I would be there every day for the room to ensure the job was done right. Moreover, as I know lumber......DO NOT GO CHEAP. Get hi-line, Japan grade or #1 grade material......no OSB. Plywood ONLY. Quality in the materials for the room matters. It does for the speakers and gear......spend the extra to do it right. Good glue, screws, insulation.......you have only one shot at it. You can change cables/gear but not the room once it is built.

[@carminedesanto6746]

Omg 😱 this was an absolute educational experience! Thank you. 👍🍕☕️ Btw, I’ve still got my ASC Tube Traps 🤣

[@davewin1792]

Robert. I took a leap of faith and purchased a pair of the Acoustic Geometry curved diffusers for my first reflections, shortly after this video dropped. It has had one of the biggest, most positive impacts on my system short of buying a major piece of gear. The sidewalls disappear, leaving only the soundstage and detail like I have never heard. Before, the image was a high resolution mess. Solid, stable performers, tonally sounds right?. An honest look at what my system actually sounds like (JC5) I feel like I've been chasing my tail, trying in vain to get this to sound proper. Now I'm in absolute shock at how good it sounds. Thank you so very much, for such valuable information.

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

Hi Dave, I had exactly the same experience when I used a pair of Curve Diffusers on the sidewalls of my completely untreated listening room in the rental house while this house was being built. That's the single most important treatment you can add to a room. Thanks for sharing.

[@davewin1792]

@@RobertHarley-dk1th Thank you again.

[@epi2045]

He’s definitely an engineer. Socks with sandals/Tevas. Awesome video!

[@scottspencer4018]

Great video with some great insights to build or treat a room. My walls and ceiling aren't currently treatable, as it's our family living room, but would love to learn what I can do for the suspended floor from the crawl space below.

[@vicmaese]

I’d love to hear this room! I’m in the same city!

[@brikaf6001]

Hoping for a Robert Harley MasterClass series

[@dennishill290]

Good to see you in action....! Need Absolute shirt for the poker room.... lol... ! Stay n phase.... ! 🍺👍🫡

[@robertyoung1777]

Another great talk! I would like to hear about your room air conditioning and dust mitigation strategies. Airborne particulate can’t be good for equipment. Dust is a hassle to remove from components. Humidity and temperature control are important factor to prevent static and oxidation. Thanks!

[@dennismiller5725]

I can tell from his home before I listen to this guy that having a great listening room when money is no problem.

[@howardskeivys4184]

That was fascinating and thought provoking. I note that no mention was made of floor or ceiling reflections, which constitute the 2 largest surface areas in most rooms. I also note that there was no reference to any hard or soft furnishings in the room. Carpet, curtains, sofas. Cabibets, tables. These will impact the room acoustics. If he is using that as a listening room, then the minimum he will have is an upholstered chair. Did he make these a consideration before or after treating the room, for that would have made a difference. I live on the ground floor of a new build apartment block. My hifi has to fight for it’s right to be, in our family lounge. A P shaped open plan living space with the body of the P measuring 19 feet long, 17 feet wide and 8 feet high. With the leg of the P, AKA the kitchen being 12 feet long by 9 feet wide stretching off to the left of my listening position. The flooring is wood clad, set on solid concrete built upon block and beam work. The ceiling represents 3 feet of solid concrete separating us from the apartment above. The long wall is all window from above 3 feet and the walls are plasterboard. I have one large, plush rug set between and in front of my substantial floorstanders, mainly for aesthetic reasons, but it may have some acoustic properties. When I moved into this property, part of the lounge furniture was 2 large leather 2 and 3 seater reclining sofas. I genuinely felt that the soft furnishings in the lounge were sufficient to ensure the room was not overly lively and the Rt60 level was acceptable. A couple of years ago I upgraded those leather sofas to lighter, static fabric sofas. I was shocked. They killed the room, dampened the ambience. I loved the room the way it used to sound. I was not best pleased with this new sound signature, but those sofas were here for the long term. I invested in a 3rd sub, placed behind the listening position. After extensive listening and dialling in all 3 subs, I’ve returned the room to an extremely enjoyable listening environment. After 18 months of becoming accustomed to this new set up, I would now class it as the best I’ve ever experienced in my own home. Most importantly, enjoy the music.

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

The floor is carpeted, and the ceiling is treated with four flat-panel mid/treble absorbers hanging over the listening position, two flat-panel mid/treble absorbers hanging over the amplifiers, and two Acoustic Geometry Curve DIffusors hanging from the ceiling at the first reflection points.

[@howardskeivys4184]

@@RobertHarley-dk1th 👍

[@ashvarma2486]

Excellent video. Could you please include detailed info on your mains system in your next video. Many thanks

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

The next video is an in-depth tour of all the equipment in the room including AC power considerations. We shot it at the same time as this acoustics video.

[@ashvarma2486]

@@RobertHarley-dk1th wonderful. Really looking forward to it. Many thanks.

[@HenryColeOnDrums]

Abrazo!

[@seanb3303]

FWIW Floyd Toole had listening tests done with a control group and a reflected (untreated) sidewall was preferred about as much as a diffused sidewall. Hardly anyone preferred an absorbed sidewall…around…only around 12% of listeners. The listeners included audio reviewers and sound engineers.

[@Tacet137]

Well it's obvious to me as a sound engineer why that was the result, we are very sensitive to reflections, you ge reflections when recording so spatial information is already on the recording now playing that in a room with no absorption doubles the reflections

[@seanb3303]

@@Tacet137 true. When we hear a fake room or abstract room (studio) inside our playback room, the combination becomes a more believable experience.

[@danm1995]

Excellent video Robert Harley! Did you use measurement feedback at all for choosing and setting up the room treatment? I've always set up my rooms by ear and I'm just getting into the measurement side of room setup now.

[@flynow5614]

Great video. My Hi Fi journey started by buying speakers from a white van, I think they were Wilson audio.

[@djcordes4352]

My zebra does an amazing job on my side wall. Amazing diffuser!

[@johnwilliamson467]

ASC refined Owen Coring noise reduction brochure from 40 years . When I worked in a store in the late 80's had a long talk with Art about the wall build two layers of 5/8 x fire board on steel stud that are in fact are better than wood studs. Showed him the damping material used . A fine refinement of the info of the time into a whole unit. The point that small detail become very important as the isolation increases can not be over stressed . Very informative video as to the level of work need to reach that goal. Bravo.

[@phpn99]

Isolation is air tightness, dampers and barrier mass. Acoustic space is another story ; it's geometry, first reflection and bass control and overall sound diffusion. Then it's speaker placement.

[@CheekyRapide1]

This one of the best videos on intentional room design that I have seen. But - where did the CD and Record storage units come from? Were they a custom design and install? Being able to add acoustic treatments on the top of the record units is a great idea. If these units can be ordered online, I’d love to know!

[@bbfoto7248]

They look like custom "built-ins" to me. Not too many cabinetry makers or suppliers (if any) are designing "off-the-shelf" solutions for CD storage these days. 😉

[@user-od9iz9cv1w]

In addition to great sound, the room isolation from spouse is great. I have no door and have to be mindful of volume so I don't fill the whole house.

[@amb3cog]

That is one bad arse room my friend. I absolutely love it. My father always told me. If you're going to do something. You better do it right. And you sir, you did it right. 👍 Can't wait to see the video on the actual gear! ✌️

[@dtracy03ss]

Could you do a Video of the room with a 100+ as high as you feel comfortable DBs or more of Sound and go around the Outside of the Room and take Measurements of Sound that gets out? Would like to build a Listening Room inside a Manufactured home that will be in a Park and know that I won't get Kicked out for disturbing the Neighbors!!! Great video and explanation in Normal Language!

[@vinylrules4838]

I would love for Robert Harley to visit the Acoustic Fields two channel listening room and get his thoughts as well as Dennis Foley going to Robert's room and hear his thoughts. Too bad we can't go to both rooms and listen for ourselves.

[@danielsaldivar5622]

After watching this video and being aware everything it takes to have a nice acoustic designed room I have decided to just find another hobby and listen to music with headphones.

[@backrack01]

Meh. This guy is going beyond "nice". He's obsessed... he obviously knows how to blueprint a home and has the money to mess around with design. You can still be in this hobby...and enjoy it. If you're able to have a dedicated room.. acoustic treatment is a nice upgrade but you don't have to go crazy. If not.. no big deal. A lot of us have our rigs in the living room. Can you have acoustic treatment in your living room? Sure. As long as your single :p.

[@superdougie10]

It's for sure beyond what most people would do with their rooms. It's far more then I would do. But, on the other hand, just having this knowledge could really save people alot of frustration and hard core money when making their own rooms.

[@RichTeer]

Thanks for a VERY interesting video, Robert! It's nice to see the thought (and work!) that has to go into to a state of the art listening room, especially when one has the benefit of blank sheet of paper. Just curious: why did you opt to not use GreenGlue between the drywall sheets, rather than the 4" x 4" squares of acoustic damping material? Your demonstration of the stud damping was very illuminating! How useful do you think it would be to do something similar in a room that's essentially open behind the listener?

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

Art Noxon's Iso-Wall design calls for the visco-elastic damping material rather than green glue, and I didn't want to second-guess him.

[@RichTeer]

@@RobertHarley-dk1th Very wise! Thanks for replying. BTW, I know that you've written an article on this, but it'd be nice to see a video detailing your music room's electrical power arrangements.

[@richardgrant418]

You’ve created the best, but how much did each of these features cost?

[@done.9253]

Thank you, Mr. Harley, for this informative video. I’ve been a big fan of yours since 1997. I have a couple of questions concerning your new room. What did you do for electricity, grounding, etc? Also, did you do anything special for the floor? When all is said and done, what was the final cost of your build

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

In the follow-up video where I go through all the components in the reference system, I talk about the AC power to the room. Nothing special on the floor, just carpet. I don't have a precise figure because the additional materials (second sheetrock layer) and labor were built into the contractor's bid, but the acoustic package (Iso-Wall built into the structure) and the surface acoustics (Acoustic Geometry ProPack 10 and three ASC 16" Full Round Tube Traps) were in the neighborhood of $30k. That's without labor---I did the installation myself.

[@done.9253]

@@RobertHarley-dk1th Thank you for getting back to me. When I build my room I’m going to follow a lot of what you did here. Thanks again for your sharing your wisdom and insights!

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

I should have mentioned in the video that I consulted on a friend's ground-up room. He built his the same way as my room, but the acoustics are hidden behind fabric and it's scaled up considerably in size. He has Magnepan MG30.7 with a pair of JL f113 subs. It sounds spectacular and he's very happy with the way it turned out.

[@iampuzzleman282]

OK 19 minutes in we begin to talk about surface acoustic stuff, this makes sense and it's gonna be worthwhile I hope

[@davefox8948]

I have a pair of very rare Vortex Screens that I bought cheap many years ago thanks to Robert Harley. They still sound amazing. Thanks Mr Harley.

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

That's amazing! I remember the first time I heard them. Albert Von Schweikert and I worked in the same stereo store, and had had sold a pair to another salesman there. I heard them at the other salesman's house and decided on the spot to buy a pair. I'm glad that you are still enjoying them.

[@jeffkalina7727]

I wonder why he did not use the 2x6 aluminum offset studs made for the purpose? Used by Ron Fauri at NWAA in Elma, WA. I see Robert employs several of what look like 1/2 bass traps. Ron told me he found the 1/2 Round curved diffusers are the most useful product in treating a room.

[@wally6193]

Robert, I was wondering if you find that the leather couch you have causes any refractive problems. Would a cloth covered couch not be better, I prefer leather but I have often wondered that.

[@oneemotiva4975]

Hi, I must say you do have beautiful equipment. I always wonder about the M10? can you let me know why you choose them and their performance? I believe they are about 100K each with the power supply? Your turntable is beautiful and what a cartridge. I never was attracted tot the Wilson speakers, again what do you think about them? I use the Aida, from Sonus Faber. Thank you for an incredible video.

[@milk-the-bunny8791]

Great video and room Robert. A listening room with an odd number of walls (eg pentagon, heptagon) would do away with the acoustic problems introduced by parallel walls. How well do you think this approach would work?

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

Those kinds of rooms don't eliminate resonance modes, but they make them much harder to calculate. The air in the room will still resonate at certain frequencies.

[@declanfarber]

In a somewhat smaller room you could treat it floor to ceiling with books and records. It would be hard to know where to put the treatments, or how it mattered. But anyways, in this case, bravo! This was neat. RIP HP, you were a really cool guy.

[@RAREFORMDESIGNS]

RIP ?

[@declanfarber]

@@RAREFORMDESIGNS Harry Pearson signed off as HP, everybody knew who it was. Forever remembered.

[@pukindog4413]

Great stuff. Should have designed the room with no corners. Or with rounded corners similar to a concert hall. Rounded ceiling to wall, wall to floor, wall to wall with no corners or perpendicular points in the room for sound to gather

[@ryansmith8782]

I’m an amature, I live in the region and live in a room with 3/4 adobe walls. Would adobe be considered over treatment? Or no treatment? I’m just curious about adobe. Cheers.

[@jean-christophenogues8520]

Très intéressant, beaucoup d’informations utiles pour moi , pouvez vous nous parler aussi du sol de la pièce et surtout le sol sous les enceintes , merci

[@twostepped999]

Really cool video. If I had the funds, space and time, would be cool to have. But, have you considered headphones?

[@stratenboek]

If i had a audio device, i would have it reviewed by Robert in this beautiful room. I don't get jealous easily, but now just a little XD

[@Oneness100]

Let's see some room response curve measurements. before and after you place the room treatment in the room.

[@jeffkalina7727]

Hope you can get Michael Borresen in of the "Big Speaker" programs.

[@steveericson2321]

any chance of a sketch of your listening room/garage/house arrangement?

[@johnm1619]

How did you apply the 5.5" stud dampeners?

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

I cut the strips of 1/2" plywood, applied two strips of ASC's visco-elastic damping material to the plywood lengthwise, and then screwed the plywood to the side of the stud with the damping material between the plywood and the stud. The strips of damping material are about an inch wide and 4' long. The damping strips ran the entire length of the plywood.

[@rega1039]

❤👍🏼

[@reason2463]

I noticed that the room is essentially rectangular. I thought rooms needed to avoid this by varying the angles of walls. Was that a concern or is it just not necessary?

[@houseson]

I am a big fan of TAS and Mr Harley. GIK Acoustics on a modest budget for a smallish room ($1600.00 for treatment. I think it is a component just like speakers, amps...imo. Modest system with modest room treatment is better than modest system w/o. And 67 year old ears.

[@davewin1792]

Yes we should think of it as budgeting for cables. It's really the only way we'll get the best for your system.

[@wally6193]

Nice setup, I was wondering how far the speaker fronts are from your couch(head position)

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

177" with the Wilson Alexia V that are under review at the moment.

[@wally6193]

@@RobertHarley-dk1th thanks, so that would be the typical placement in your room.

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

@@wally6193 Yes, every speaker I've reviewed ends up very close to the same location.

[@wally6193]

@@RobertHarley-dk1th My room is 17Wx22LX13H, I have mine at 120", which seems to be the sweet spot for the nulls/peaks in the bass response. I'll have to check that program you mentioned at one time and see what it says. What was the name of that program? I did check it with REW and it seemed to look good. Thanks.

[@wally6193]

What is the distance between the speaker front and the back wall.

[@robertnystrom289]

Sigh. About 2008 I tried the iso wall: hangers, elastomeric, sheet rock, elastomeric, more sheet rock. (didn't know about the stud dampers, though). The contractors were there. I showed them how to do it. I told them the walls may 'wiggle'. Then I had to leave on a several day business trip. I called on day 1, how is it going, etc. He said they made progress, and the wall did in fact flex a bit. I was thrilled! Then I came home and the contractor met me right from the airport. We went to the room. He was grinning from ear to ear. He said that he just couldn't stand it, he was too anal, and the wiggling drove him crazy. The crew spent a day running 2" screws into every stud at 6" intervals- somewhere around 70 screws per 4 x 8 panel. It was like a concrete wall. He was beaming. I was speechless. He left. Later, I tried backing out the screws on one piece of wall, but the elastomerics and hangers were hosed. The room sucked. Moral: if you do this, don't EVER leave the project! I was soooo close. Just out of curiosity- let's say there is a lower floor room. The ceiling is joists from the floor above, maybe 10~12" or so high. The bays are stuffed with fiberglass. How is ceiling height measured? Is it from the floor to the bottom of the joists, or to the upper floor underlayment? I've found that extra foot or so over a large area makes a reasonable difference to the calculators. I would suppose it's a mixture of surface area of the joists for one surface, and then the underlayment for another surface. Beats me. Any idea? How did you do the floor of your room? Is it a solid concrete slab, or some other magical construction? It does have to support a LOT of weight!

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

That's exactly why I did the installation myself. The builder kept trying to get me to use thicker sheetrock for "better acoustics" not realizing that the thinner sheetrock is necessary for the constrained-layer damping effect. Incidentally, you want the inside wall of the listening room to flex, but on the other side of the wall you want stiffness.

[@bbfoto7248]

@robertnystrom289 BUMMER! 😖 Been there/done that (unfortunately). General (Building) Contractors, and especially the Framing and Drywall subcontractors/tradesmen who actually do this work, are very much "set in their ways" and have very specific installation techniques and a strict regimen they follow, because over time, those techniques have proven to be foolproof and "just work" in 99% of their projects, with no callbacks or issues. Most simply CAN NOT fathom or understand wanting to do it any other way. :( Most are also not too keen on "someone else" who is not in their trade simply Telling Them "how to do their job", and that you need to "do it this (other) way". In 99% of cases, "their way" IS, in fact, the correct way, UNLESS they are made fully aware and fully understand the Specific Reasons for the deviations from the "norm". So unfortunately, IMO, it was You who failed to fully communicate to the builders/installers the full importance and Specific Details of HOW this very UNIQUE "system" is designed to work, and WHY you went to so much trouble and expense to design it this way. I think that this outcome could have been easily avoided IF you had at least told EVERYONE involved in the construction and installation (or, More Importantly, included the Design Specifications IN WRITING Directly on the PLAN), that "This room and its Wall Panels are PURPOSELY DESIGNED TO FLEX and WIGGLE in order to Work As Intended and to accomplish its design goal!" ... "The Wall Panels NEED To FLEX, Otherwise, they WILL NOT work as intended and will NOT fulfill their Unique and Specific Purpose! This is NOT a TYPICAL Room, and it has SPECIFIC Design Goals that REQUIRE unorthodox construction and installation methods." IME, ANY "non-standard" and/or "Custom" details of the Design and Construction MUST absolutely BE CLEARLY INDICATED and Fully Explained directly on the PLAN, as well as on any respective reference notes or addendums to the plan. You also have much more financial and legal leverage if an issue such as this arises, as you have it "in writing" and indicated directly on the working plan set. Unfortunately, I see and experience these types of issues quite a bit in very unique or "custom" architectural home building projects. It's not as common of an issue in commercial construction projects where more importance is given to construction and design details (much more money and legal ramifications at stake).

[@metroboom25289]

Yes youre right on overdampening the room with acoustic materials ( plus rugs and curtains). In hifi shows that i attended in my country, some of the converted into listening/demo rooms are overdamped and the sound is so lifeless and boring!

[@siriosstar4789]

Treat the listener first and then the externals as in speakers gear and room .

[@costelloandsilke7321]

Well done Robert. Attention to the critical engineering aspects of room design with judicious use of treatment. Regarding acoustic treatment - like mains conditioning - overdoing it is never a good thing.

[@hamidrezahabibi8111]

How about the ceiling?

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

I replied to an earlier post to describe the ceiling treatment.

[@michaela.5363]

The beginning of this video is like a scene from Breaking Bad. Is Hank Schrader one of your neighbors?

[@donaldscheer5206]

Michael Fremer Said This Statement Years Ago! & It Has Really Stuck With Me! "Everthing Matters" When It Comes To Audio Playback Peformance! My Friends Who Don't Understand Why I Do The Things I Do In/To My Dedicated Audio Room, Say That I'm Anal! .....LOL! ....."EVERTHING MATTERS" Yes! It Does!

[@MaxiMe-et4zs]

I am from a country that uses bricks or blocks for walls. The moment I had to use scheet rock for the ceiling the sound / music went bad.

[@user-wr4vp4mt7e]

Omg .sooooo lovely info ..makes me day...thanks a lot .greets from the Netherlands

[@Rhapsody-Out-West]

What I don’t understand fully is why such a “well engineered” room needs further sound attenuation absorbers / diffusors. In my opinion the Noxon approach is difficient. Sure, the room is isolated and the walls don’t ring, but after such expense and consideration of details adding ugly panels to the room seems wrong to me. You mean I have to move the absorber/diffusor out of the way to find my LP or CD, are you kidding me? One of the primary goals of my own room design was never having to look at recording studio sound attenuation add-ons. The Harley room in no way reflects the aesthetic of his beautiful southwestern adobe style home. I personally would want to bring that design aesthetic into my room, and I’d for sure want to look out on nature while listening. A missed opportunity IMHO. Building a room from scratch means I have the ability to include those details in the planning phase.

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

You absolutely must have surface treatments in a room no matter what the wall construction. The surface treatments prevent flutter echo (that pinging sound when you clap your hands in a bathroom), diffuse sound, kill detrimental reflections at the listening position, break up standing waves, and absorb excess bass. As for the "ugly panels," you can opt to hide them behind fabric, but I chose to leave them in the open so that I have the option of moving them to change the acoustic treatment for different loudspeakers.

[@Rhapsody-Out-West]

@@RobertHarley-dk1th I do agree actually, and in my room the addition of custom BAD panels throughout the room are hidden behind acoustic fabric. I am not a fan of seeing wall panels of various shapes and sizes. By all accounts your room is considered to sound amazing. Congratulations.

[@sanantoniotonight5569]

Well said….

[@RummySingh]

Who is the picture/painting on the wall off

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

The portrait of Stanley Clarke is by Merryl Jaye. I also have in my listening room portraits of Chick Corea, Miles, Dexter, and Buddy Rich by her.

[@audiohertz2341]

Very well explained and informative , but from Robert’s perspective , not a fan of a totally dead control type room thou , many ways to slay this dragon .. Great video thou ..!

[@iampuzzleman282]

Why are you equating hitting a surface with a hammer versus pressure amplitudes reflecting off a surface? Hardly seems comparable

[@undergroundlk]

Is this there they shot breaking bad?

[@markkemp7608]

Looks like the Santa Fe area but I see it's Albuquerque.

[@lippertgabor]

So much talk about how good this room sounds, but not one measurement shown, how did you choose you treatment without measuring, and how do you know if you succeeded tackling the problems? One shown measurement would have brake down the whole rooms sound and your achievements. I hope it's measures well.

[@MegaM563]

Don't mind me asking but is Hank Schrader your neighbor?😎

[@RobertHarley-dk1th]

Not my immediate neighbor, but very close.

[@jeffkalina7727]

Someone at TAS needs to correct the word Dampening to Damping in chapter notes and written commentary above.

[@bayo1778]

Hello yall, I have a studio shed that I want to build in my backyard, and currently I'm fixated on the idea of building a pentagonal shaped room, with equal sides. Essentially an equilateral pentagon, with the placement of my desk in the corner -yes the infamous corner. The purpose of this shed is going to be mostly for recording and producing. I don't really consider myself nor care as much for engineering(mixing and mastering) but I understand that an appropriately treated room is important. Is it possible for me to send yall snapshots of my design so that I can get a little feedback from some of you? I would really like to get different opinions, thanks. -Braulio