Please I need ALL HELP I can get. I live in a townhouse and I will be hanging my two front speakers and center speakers on the wall. I know that I can use green glue to soundproof the wall. Does it make any sense to double up my wall with green glue, then cut several holes in the wall for TV wire bundles and speaker wires. Does these holes defeat the soundproof purpose? The TV wire is pretty much big because I will be using two of this and three speakers on the wall here: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.av-outlet.com/images/arlington/dvfr4W-O.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.av-outlet.com/en-us/dept_589.html&usg=__0sXYvrHkJMuuOJrQtUqWBLS_qhc=&h=645&w=856&sz=413&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=NLYS7VH8wYK3JM:&tbnh=162&tbnw=198&prev=/images%3Fq%3Darlington%2B4%2Bgang%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D844%26bih%3D459%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:10,145&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=311&vpy=112&dur=139&hovh=195&hovw=259&tx=179&ty=124&ei=ZTQdTeAQhIqXB7XswcAL&oei=VTQdTe-BMcH38AbeqYDKDQ&esq=4&page=1&ndsp=7&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0&biw=844&bih=459
Green glue insulation
- Thread starter gasbie
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apostolakisl
Senior Member
Don't mount the speakers to the wall unless the only soundproofing you want is to not hear your neighbors becuase they will definitely hear your speakers. When you run your screws through to the studs you will be short-circuiting your sound proofing. Even if you only attach your speakers to the drywall without hitting studs (not recommended) it still is going to conduct huge amounts of sound through the wall, especially the lower frequencies.
I suggest not using boxes for you speaker wire, just drill the smallest holes possible and bring the wires out the wall and surface mount a decorative plate to make it look good. Use sound caulk around the wires where the come out the wall such as quietseal.
If you really must have boxes, use soundproof putty to wrap the boxes. For low voltage wires, however, you really should just not use boxes at all. Those boxes you have pictured are gigantic and will massively defeat any benefit you get from putting up the greenglued drywall.
It doesn't matter how big the wire is, just that it gets sealed.
Also, use sound caulk in the seam between the sheats of drywall when you hang it.
And, keep in mind, that you are not soundproofing, you are just sound dampening, soundproofing requires vastly more elaborate schemes than green glue with a second layer of drywall.
I suggest not using boxes for you speaker wire, just drill the smallest holes possible and bring the wires out the wall and surface mount a decorative plate to make it look good. Use sound caulk around the wires where the come out the wall such as quietseal.
If you really must have boxes, use soundproof putty to wrap the boxes. For low voltage wires, however, you really should just not use boxes at all. Those boxes you have pictured are gigantic and will massively defeat any benefit you get from putting up the greenglued drywall.
It doesn't matter how big the wire is, just that it gets sealed.
Also, use sound caulk in the seam between the sheats of drywall when you hang it.
And, keep in mind, that you are not soundproofing, you are just sound dampening, soundproofing requires vastly more elaborate schemes than green glue with a second layer of drywall.
Lou Apo, Thanks for the quick response. I was actually thinking of not hanging the speakers on the wall. So, I will go with the the decorative plate idea. Now, installing that plate showed in the link that I posted, how would u recommend dealing with such plate without the sound escaping thru the holes of the plates?
apostolakisl
Senior Member
Seal the wire up where it passes through the drywall, then run the wire through the hole in the plate sliding it down to the wall then screw it in or glue it to the drywall. No need to seal the wire to the plate. With this scheme, however, you will not be able to do jacks, but rather must run a few feet of wire directly out to hook up to the speaker. I prefer this method because:
1) you spend less money not buying the fancy connectors (which I find to be oddly expensive. . .can you say "high markup"?)
2) you eliminate several places for poor connections (wire to jack, jack to plug, plug to wire).
Disadvantage is, of course, you must know exactly where your speakers are going to be to plan on how much wire to let hang out of the wall. Should you change your mind later and need greater length, it is not so elegant, but necessary to splice.
You can buy blank wall plates and custom drill holes in it to suit your exact wire sizes and numbers.
1) you spend less money not buying the fancy connectors (which I find to be oddly expensive. . .can you say "high markup"?)
2) you eliminate several places for poor connections (wire to jack, jack to plug, plug to wire).
Disadvantage is, of course, you must know exactly where your speakers are going to be to plan on how much wire to let hang out of the wall. Should you change your mind later and need greater length, it is not so elegant, but necessary to splice.
You can buy blank wall plates and custom drill holes in it to suit your exact wire sizes and numbers.
Lou Apo, thanks again. I thought about it and I'm start to think its waste of money and effort. I forgot to mention that the 50" TV will be hung on this same wall. So this will eventually put more holes on the wall for the screw to hold the tv mount. So if you were in my shoes, would you do the green glue dd or just say forget it?!
apostolakisl
Senior Member
Are you trying to not hear them, vice-versa, or both?
Hanging the TV on the wall would mostly put the tv sound from your tv's on board speakers into the neighbors place, but not significantly compromise sound attenuation the other way or from other airborn sounds in your place.
If you use the speakers on the tv at relatively low volume and use your big speakers (not mounted on the wall) for your higher volume listening this may not be such a big deal.
So, in short, if you hear your neighbor plain as day and it bugs you, and they aren't complaining about your sound, then go ahead with the plan. If you want good sound blockage both ways, don't mount anything that generates sound to the wall and seal up your holes with sound putty/caulk. Also, don't forget about sound caulk between the individual sheets and between the floor/sheetrock, sidewall/sheetrock.
The cost won't be the killer, it is the labor and mess of putting up the sheetrock, taping, floating, moulding replacement, and painting that is the killer. Sheatrock is dirt cheap, but the green glue is a bit pricey based on the large quantity required. It will be a solid weekend of work depending on how good you are with sheetrock and the size of the wall, probably 2 weekends.
If you do it right the difference should be obvious, but if someone is yelling it will still be audible through the wall.
Hanging the TV on the wall would mostly put the tv sound from your tv's on board speakers into the neighbors place, but not significantly compromise sound attenuation the other way or from other airborn sounds in your place.
If you use the speakers on the tv at relatively low volume and use your big speakers (not mounted on the wall) for your higher volume listening this may not be such a big deal.
So, in short, if you hear your neighbor plain as day and it bugs you, and they aren't complaining about your sound, then go ahead with the plan. If you want good sound blockage both ways, don't mount anything that generates sound to the wall and seal up your holes with sound putty/caulk. Also, don't forget about sound caulk between the individual sheets and between the floor/sheetrock, sidewall/sheetrock.
The cost won't be the killer, it is the labor and mess of putting up the sheetrock, taping, floating, moulding replacement, and painting that is the killer. Sheatrock is dirt cheap, but the green glue is a bit pricey based on the large quantity required. It will be a solid weekend of work depending on how good you are with sheetrock and the size of the wall, probably 2 weekends.
If you do it right the difference should be obvious, but if someone is yelling it will still be audible through the wall.
Ok, guys, I have included the picture of my shared wall with full description of my intention. Please advice if using a green glue on this wall with all this stuff going on the wall is a good idea or not. Any advice on how you would have done it will be appreciated too. Thanks
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quick question, when soundproofing a room, is it necessary to use resilient channel and RSIC on the wall? My room is only 8ft tall and the area is not that big. I'm thinking that adding a resilient channel with 2 half inch drywall with green glue will swallow my space. So, is it ok to forget about the resilient channel and just greenglue 2 drywall to the stud. will this be effective?
Neurorad
Senior Member
From your pic, looks like you're almost done.
If you want to DD+GG, you'll have to construct DD+GG backboxes for each penetration.
I'm not sure how much treating that single wall would affect isolation - flanking will be a problem; sound will travel around the wall, above, below, and to the sides, through untreated areas. I suggest you discuss with Ted White.
If you want to DD+GG, you'll have to construct DD+GG backboxes for each penetration.
I'm not sure how much treating that single wall would affect isolation - flanking will be a problem; sound will travel around the wall, above, below, and to the sides, through untreated areas. I suggest you discuss with Ted White.