Has anyone used a summer house for a hifi/listening room?
I am looking for somewhere to put my system so that i can enjoy it properly.
Its not suited to our living room due to space/layout etc.
My options are:
1 - convert the garage (2.6x3.6m) and buy another shed to put all the garage stuff in.
2 - Use the summer house (3.6x4.2m). Need to add more insulation and upgrade doors and window to higher security items.
3 - extension. This seems excessive just to house my hifi!
Mark
Hi @M4rky
I have done both 1 & 2. We converted the garage in our previous house for my then Linn system with great success.
I currently have a garden cabin as my listening room for my main system.
The cabin has taken a little work on both the structure and the system to get the sound right, but itās a positively wonderful space now.
Sitting here at the moment with the doors wide open listening to Janisš
Your cabin looks great.
What did you need to do for insulation?
The summer house currently gets a bit too warm in summer and a bit too cold in winter.
Both the current window and doors are timber double glazed items but i am sure i could break through the framing so would need changing to more substantial multi-lock items, maybe timber again or upvc.
Depending on proximity of your neighbours, if youāre considering the use of a timber built summer house, Iād imagine some sort of sound insulation might be in order too?
Hi again, well here goes with the medium length description (you did askš«£)ā¦
Cabin was originally an unmodified āDunster Houseā 5.5mx3.5 Log Cabin (44mm timber thickness with insulated floor), built for me onsite by them. We then did a basic electrical installation & carpet.
The cabin sits on a 100mm reinforced concrete base.
Subsequently we have replaced the windows and doors with uPVC, with better security and better structural rigidity. The old windows and doors used to move around a bit.
We also had the walls lined with 18mm Plasterboard with a waterproof membrane on the inside, that was mounted to vertical battens that we fixed with the ability to move with the timbers (essential as the timbers do move). We Insulated between the battens with 44mmās of polystyrene insulation.
We then built the plinth that the system sits on. That is mounted on stainless steel dowels that are fixed 150mm into the concrete base so that it is not sitting on the timber floor at all, essential for the LP12ās isolation.
I have a WiFi controlled eco friendly radiator and a WiFi controlled mini Fan Heater for when it gets really cold.
I use it all year round and am very comfortable in here, my favourite happy placeā¦
@QuickSticks your cabin sounds just like mine. Its a tuin chloe log cabin made from 40mm timber, on a concrete paving slab base. The wooden t&g floor has been insulated and the two smaller end walls have been insulated and plaster boarded.
The timber doors and windows do move a bit a will definitely need changing.
Did you insulate the roof?
I too have an lp12 and hadnt thought about the isolating?!?
Is your floor carpeted or wooden?
Simmer house much better size. For thermal insulation the āKingspanā type rigid foil faced sheets are best, but unless you have no near neighbours I think for music use mineral wool would be far preferable as it has much better sound insulation properties. The slab type (ābattsā) not rolls, and the higher density the better the sound absorption.if windows single glazed youād benefit from adding secondary glazing for both acoustic and thermal insulation.
Hi Mark
The roof is not currently insulated, no. It is in discussion at the moment, as a fair amount of heat is lost through it in the winter.
Yes, the floor is carpeted and we did put down a particularly heavy duty underlay to help with insulation and vibration control.
I have used āInvuā Venetian blinds that sit in the windows enabling sun relief on a hot summers day post 2 to 3 pm, as the cabin faces west.
I do spend a huge amount of time down here as I retired a few years ago.
KR Simon
Simon, I hope you donāt mind me asking, but how do you manage not to disturb the neighbours, especially with the doors open in summer? Iāve always been really paranoid about it, especially when I had my big system. Maybe you are fortunate to be well away from other people.
No, I have a really great relationship with our only true neighbour Nigel. Iāve said to them that if they are ever disturbed by the music to say something, but they never have. We were round there for dinner a couple of weeks ago and Mandyās playlist for the evening could easily have been one of mineš
We live in the middle of a Fen in Cambridgeshire. We have them as an attached neighbour and one 100 meters up the road on the other side. John is 86 and the retired farm manger. He is also really rather deafš
Our next nearest neighbour is half a mile away.
The road is just over 2 miles long and only has 10 houses on it.
We are very luckyš
How wonderful. It must be lovely listening with the doors open in the summer. We are much too hemmed in for that. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Iāve used my 4x3m log cabin for the last 13yrs. Itās fully insulated walls, roof & floor plus carpet tiles. In winter an oil filled radiator is more than up to keeping it warm. In the summer, it can get a bit warm on the hottest days but not unbearable. It sits about 20m or more from my house. Further from the nearest neighbours. My next door neighbours say that sometimes they can hear a thump, thump, thump when they go out the back door at night but no one has ever complained about the noise and they all know I play music till the early hours (1am usually) although I donāt listen as loud as I used to as my system has evolved. Itās not necessary. Itās such a cozy place to listen and Iām sure that the wooden construction helps with the sound, that I doubt if I could go back to serious listening in the house. If you move into you summer house I doubt youāll regret it. 
@Paul52135 your music cave looks great. The more i think about it the more i think its the way to go.
Ive noticed you have an lo12 too. Have you isolated it or just relying on your hifi shelves??
You could tack another layer of 15mm acoustic plasterboard. Will sound better, be warmer and more rigid.
I use it for sound proofing. Acoustic rockwool is pretty good as well. It depends how far you want to go. Double stud wall will help with gap between existing wall. Lots of techniques you can use.
I donāt do any of this in my own home but have done so for customers!
Yes, reduces room effectsā¦
Also dims the Bass thoughš«¤
If you are going to move in the future, then perhaps consider the one that puts most value/cost ratio on the house
If you are going to stay, then which one suits you the most
Not what I found when I once played my system in the open air, effectively removing room effects, speakers (IMF RSPMs) unconstrained and free to sing deeply!
The Lp12 has an SRM Tech Silent base which made quite a difference when I installed it many years ago. It sits on an IKEA Aptitlig bamboo chopping board which again to my ears makes a big difference sitting on my Hifiracks support. Iāve done a few tests with and without and have kept the with. Maybe a Trampolin would be a good move but I feel no reason to try one.
