Soundproofing basement ceiling..


I bought a new house and I am installing my home theater system in a 20x14x7 foot basement rec room. I have a soft tiled drop ceiling and wanted to get some cheap soundproofing ideas. My floor is thick carpet about 1inch thick. Anybody??Please & thanx!!

Regards Paul(Bacardi)
128x128bacardi
I used a product called Z brackets. As the name implies it is shaped like a Z. It is made of 18ga? metal. It basically de-couples the ceiling from the rafters. I had foam insulation sprayed in between the rafters and also sprayed the air ducts. Seemed to work very good for me, did not make it totally sound proof, but reduced a lot. My wife can now sit and watch TV which is above listening room and only has to turn the TV up a few DB.
There are a lot of new products out there that you need to do research on. It all depends on how much money you have for the project. The Handbook of Acoutical Engineering has some great information in it.
Joe Nies
If your using the basic wire to hang the ceilings frame, add some type of mass like rubber to each wire. These carry a lot of sound vibration, sort of like the "string and can" phone. Experiment by just tapping on the wire, and clamp something on them that stops as much vibration noise as possible. I don't know if there is any commercial product for this. A friend even used lead fishing weights to help.
If you cannot seperate or modify your heating systems duct work for the basement then you will never know if any of your sound proofing is working. The sound will carry through your entire house via the duct work.