Flooring

think about what the floor does (and calculate the wavelength of 20 Hz and 20 kHz sounds)

low freqs. will make the floor vibrate like a big bass drum (unless it is unable to vibrate)

high freqs. will hit the floor like a ray of light (sorta) and then reflect off of it

that's the simplest way to think about it - there may be resonant nodes & modes too

generally you will want a rug on a hardwood floor in between you and the speakers - big enough to cover the area from one speaker to the next

 

They don't call me the Magic Carpet Man for nothing. I've been in the flooring industry for over 25 years. I would never, ever put hard surface flooring in my listening room. And if I were still married and the (ex)wife insisted on hard surface, I'd have a bunch of area rugs scattered throughout. Then again, that's why I'm not married and don't have to worry about it.

 

Not sure exactly what you mean by that. Production of anything requires energy that gives off CO2, one way or another. With Bamboo, like any other wood, you are sequestering carbon.

 

I know that it has been mentioned but Lowes sells cork flooring. I would think that it would be less reflective than wood and might make a good surface for a listening room. I am seriously thinking about trying it out. I have a medium sized dedicated room on a slab. Currently there is a thin carpet in place.

Any other comments on cork?

 

The difference for all of us is a dedicated listening room vs a lifestyle room where we listen to Music. I prefer the later.

Love me a beautiful wood floor with some rugs around where I can live, listen, entertain and enjoy the musical sharing experience. I don’t want it dead silence like a recording studio.

I know that’s not everyone’s ideal though.

 

there is more to sustainability than sequestering carbon

also, some plants are more efficient than others in converting CO2 into plant tissues

anyway, the glue issue was a good point

 

I had a chat with Atacama yesterday and whilst they didn’t have any specific recommendations on the topic they did say that anecdotally they have found parquet flooring to work well, because each spike is on its own small tile of oak or other hardwood. They said using larger wood panels tends to give more colouration . They also suggested rugs and dampening on the walls as needed. As they do a lot of work with Nordost I asked what they do and again, the listening rooms seem to be hardwood and rugs

 

I’m not sure what I wrote that you misunderstood, but we’re in complete agreement. Of course you’re right. I was responding to a member who seemed to be implying that because bamboo as a crop is sustainable the entire bamboo flooring production chain is safe. That production chain, especially considering the amount of adhesive production needed to supply the bamboo flooring industry, is just as bad a CO2 producer as the production of most other kinds of natural fiber flooring. So the production of bamboo flooring is not carbon-neutral, despite the fact that bamboo grows so fast.

Or maybe I’m just cranky because I’ve never developed any liking for bamboo flooring or bamboo kitchen cutting boards or bamboo shelving or bamboo speaker cones, bamboo patio and balcony furniture, bamboo salad tongs, bamboo underwear (seriously), etc.

 

If the concrete is on or below grade, you must allow for water vapor coming through the slab. A flooring contractor or consultant SHOULD be able to help you here, or some Internet research. If it's above grade, that's not a consideration.

 

Having engineered hardwood flooring installed in our living room turned out to be the most significant system upgrade I've ever made. The combination of carpet, upholstered furniture and drapes made it pretty acoustically dead. The only negative was the need to find a solution for the spikes on my Vandersteen speakers-my dealer recommended discs that the spikes rest in, but one bump and you've got a gouge. I use Herbies foot gliders now and they work great.

 

I chose cork for its aesthetics, how it felt under foot and its ease of maintenance. As far as sound goes, I would add a wool carpet to the wall behind the speakers and on the floor if you want to alter the acoustics. Here’s a link I found doing a quick Google search that addresses different flooring:

Sound Tranmission and Flooring Types

 

Thanks for the link, that was interesting. For listening rooms a key factor is what the spectral absorption looks like, maybe I will try to find something on that.

I was also reminded that rubber might also be an interesting floor. In my gym they just put down a rubber floor and I grabbed scrap piece, its got some surface texture and porosity and might be fairly neutral.

 

Cork rolls used for acoustic treatment on walls? Sorry, for a possible hijack; but the advice being given here re: cork & bamboo flooring is spot on.

A few years back, I was Googling for the latest in applications for cork in reducing sound transmission thru walls. I came across a new cork product unlike what Google is now finding (underlayment, 1/4 -> 1/2" thicknesses, i.e.: QuietCork.

This new product came in a 100' roll, but there was a pattern of voids in the layers of the cork underlayment. The voids did not go entirely through the cork. Not exactly like an Eggo waffle, as the voids were less repetitive-looking. Met some state's bldg. codes for condo shared walls, as an alternative to double-layers of sheetrock.

Any ideas. THANX! Joe

Well, maybe I did find it AcoustiCork PR60 => that brochure shows the "wave side," intended to go towards sub flooring. Search for Google image = that's the only image showing the "wave side." Guessing the "waves" provide variation in the thickness of glue bonding the cork to subfloor.

Methinks the "wave side" has some visual appeal. WAF, maybe, maybe not.

 

That rug I had, really tied the room together.

 

What would you use or do if you had a basement as your dedicated listening area?

 

I went with cork for the music/movie room in the new house we moved into 3 years ago already.
Also put a medium pile rug in front of the seating.
It's worked out very nicely.

 

You must have a cool rug. I have experience of placing the rug and I am also running my business named rugler. Rugler is providing best handmade rugs.

 

I am not getting you . can you please explain again.

 

You better do some research and see what will work best in your environment meaning dampness, especially if you have the house built on a concrete slab and that is where you are going to put the floor down.

Ask the flooring guys in your area for their recommendations and NOT us. What might work well in one area and type of foundation may not work where you live.

 

+1 to what the other Mike said. If you are in an area where it never rains and you have excellent drainage around the house, OK, don't worry too much. But here in Portland, we had an unusually wet winter. I had to rip out $5k of engineered cork that the contractor, manufacturer, and distributor had recommended as perfect for below-grade installation, because the vapor barrier/underlayment trapped water vapor coming through the slab. That allowed some of the antifungal impregnated into the underlayment to seep into the concrete and cause a toxic condition. This took thousands to repair and made us sick for months. Other than that, the engineered cork was a good choice, and really beautiful to look at.

After installing French drains and having the concrete floor ground down, we installed a thick felted (needle-punched) underlayment and synthetic rug, as recommended by a national floor consultant (Lew Migliore). No problems since.

So if you are in an area where the ground ever will be damp, save yourself a lot of trouble and look at this guy's Website: Flooring Expert LGM and Associates Floor Covering Consulting and do some other research about water vapor transmission through concrete slabs, and their effects on flooring, before you install anything.

(OOPS! After posting, I saw the original post is a year old. I'm leaving my comments, which may not be of use to the OP, in case anyone does a search on flooring.)

 

Speaks the truth. Recently replaced the 13 year old "Pergo" laminate flooring in our home with engineered hickory and could not be happier.
Threw a nice area run down as well and now have a delightful peaceful environment to listen, sip bourbon and pet the hounds.

 

You aren't alone. It looks like Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note is also a carpet man.



Those readers who have visited Audio Note’s premises in Hove will now be picturing the venue in their mind, but for those that haven’t, a word or two of scene-setting is in order. The room is approximately 20ft square, lined floor to ceiling on three walls with part of Peter Qvortrup’s huge record collection. Curtains cover a bay window that forms the fourth wall. Fitted floor carpet, soft furnishings and the record sleeves all contribute to making the space extremely well acoustically damped

 

My impression in moving from cork (pretty hard surface) to carpet was a net improvement. The main thing was that, because floor bounce at HF was reduced, the speakers are much tougher to localize (they never were easy). The only negative is an excess of damping, remedied by removing some treatments.

 

I don't see how all rugs could be equally effective as acoustic treatment. I use 100% wool. No glue, rubber, or plastic.

 

Wall to wall low pile on slab. No issues?