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Who has solved the HVAC air noise problem?

I am in the redesign stage of a totally dedicated listening room which will inlcude tube amp, pre-amp and cd player. The reconstruction will include a flat ceiling and tons of sound isolation and insulation. The central air system for the house with constant air flow produces way too much background noise and hum through the vents. I want to add a separate dedicated a/c system for just this room (25Lx15W x 9.5H). I am looking for the advice of those who have managed to baffle internally in the ducts sufficiently to eliminate the air flow noise and machine hum, while still having an effective a/c system. I want an invisable a/c system with five overhead vents. Duct size should not be a problem as the walls will be at least 12" thick at one end. I presume that fiberglass or lined/insulated sheet metal with all surfaces covered are the way to go. BUT, I really don't know. What I know is that I want to be able to never hear the environment, only the music.

All thoughts welcome including my obvious need for more therapy.

Bill E.
lakefrontroad

Showing 1 response by karls

karls
332 posts
 
Several things:
1. not all blowers are created equal; shop around.
2. keep the blower as far from the room as possible.
3. make the ducts as big as possible; the drop in noise from doubling the size of the duct will astonish you and is probably more effective than anything else you can do. I cannot emphasize this enough.
4. Mechanically decouple the ducting from the pump/blower unit with a flexible coupling to eliminate vibration transmission.

There is tons of good info in F. Alton Everest's Master Handbook of Acoustics, around $40 in paperback. It is well worth getting a copy before you really start planning.
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