Decouple Your Ceiling

GenieClip
The heavy bass is one of the best parts of having a home theater. To enjoy your movie at all times of day and night you will need to use products that can isolate those low frequencies. If your theater room is in a basement then the majority of the sound will try to pass directly through the ceiling above. Ceilings are much heavier and less resilient than walls which makes sound isolation in ceilings more complicated. Expect around 2 to 3 times the isolation with clips over using damping compound and pre-damped drywall in your ceiling. Our recommendation is the GenieClip for its high performance, easy installation, and well documented testing for sound isolation and fire rating.

Dampen Your Exterior Walls, Decouple Your Common Walls

Green Glue Compound for exterior walls
If your home theater is located in a basement then you can control flanking by damping your walls using Green Glue Compound. The GenieClips on your ceiling will give you a rating in the mid 50's for STC and Green Glue Compound on your walls will provide a similar rating. So your overall rating will be around 52 STC to 55 STC for both ceiling and walls, which is definitely a high level of isolation as well as a cost efficient way to get what we would call the 'best bang for the buck'.

GenieClips for common walls
If your home theater has adjacent rooms then we recommend using GenieClips on the common walls to properly isolate the low frequencies. Green Glue Compound is beyond sufficient for controlling flanking for basement exterior walls, but GenieClips are recommended for isolating sound from passing directly from one room to another.

Decouple/Dampen Your Ceiling, Decouple/Dampen Your Walls

GenieClips and Green Glue Compound
Decoupling and damping your ceiling with GenieClips, double 5/8" drywall, and Green Glue Compound is the best way to isolate any home theater. This will give you the best rating in low, mid, and high frequencies. Within reasonable cost, only so much sound can be isolated. This method of using both decoupling and damping will get you to that maximum isolation without having to bother with giving up several square feet of floor space or losing several inches of head space.

Control Flanking

Flanking is even more of an issue than usual with home theaters because of the high energy output from the high performing audio systems. For this we strongly recommend using our various products to help isolate sound from passing through an alternate path. We have products for recessed lighting, water and drain pipes, HVAC duct work, electrical outlets, and any wall or ceiling gaps you may have.

Dealing With Room Acoustics

Once you have your sound system setup you will probably notice the reflections within the room. Sound bouncing from wall to wall and surface to surface. Your room requires some soft absorptive products to minimize or even eliminate these reflections so you can fully enjoy the quality of your sound system. We now have acoustic products available to our customers for quick shipping and very low pricing.

Acoustic Panel Features

• Inherently flame-retardant fabric (passes NFPA 701), 100% polyester velvet
• Available in 10 velvet fabric colors
• Provides a very luxurious, elegant look
• Built with a solid, durable wooden frame
• Quarter inch wood back to provide support for the panel and make it easy to hang
• Made with Roxul AFB (Acoustical Fire Batts) mineral wool, which has the most cost-effective density for absorbing sound at 2.8 pounds per cubic foot
• Includes free hanging kit that contains clips, screws, and anchors to install the panels on your walls

These panels are available in 2' x 2' and 2' x 4' sizes both 2" and 4" thick with a price range from $35 to $73. Give us a call at 877-86-NOISE to place an order for acoustic panels today. Quantity discounts do apply to our panels so purchasing with the rest of your project will equal further savings. Here is a list of our available fabric colors:

Black	Desert Tan	Navy	Cream
Forest	Adobe	Cobalt	Espresso