The Green Monster

[mike from nyc]

I always wanted a proper room for my audio equipment. Last year I decided to move all of my audio and visual equipment into one room and the only room that would fit it all would be my basement.

After getting quotes from several contractors to finish my unfinished basement which previously served as a 'clean' room for my auto restorations, I decided to do all the work myself. I dismantled the work benches and all the part shelving I built over the years and recycled the wood to level my very un-level ceiling using a Craftsmen self leveling laser level attached to the lowest joist. I also used the 2x4s to support a joist that was almost cut through by a plumber!

I did all the framing, sheetrocking, sound attenuation and all the wood work including designing the moldings after I couldn't find anything I liked - I used iron-on oak edging of varying widths on top of 1/2" plywood. The only things I didn't do was all the electrical work (a man needs to know his limits) and laying the carpeting.

Those big things in the corners and in the center are bass traps I built with the advice of Barry Diamant. I used the Ikea shelving as diffusers to block first reflections. I was going to put sound traps on the ceiling but I decided against it.

The room sounds great and the bass traps not only reduced the bass nodes they also helped in imaging and sound staging by reducing sound reflections

The screen is 8' wide. Because of the size of the screen I decided to use 2 center speakers to 'lift' the dialogue so it seems as if it is coming from the center of the screen and not from a speaker on the floor.

A lot of thought went into the design, especially the sliding door to hide steam pipes I couldn't box and to reduce the noises given off by them. The wall on the left side is a sort of false wall to insulate my neighbor from my music - under the wall and accessible are more steam and water pipes. I used 2x8 and 2x6s to support the wall off the floor and used very long powder driven cement nails and glue to support the wall and all the insulation.

It's not a fancy place as I don't like fancy but it does do its job well.

I'm very green - those small spots are LEDs - just kidding.