Drilled 10,530 Holes In My Ceiling

[LuckyDog]

Hi

Some of you may be aware that for the past 3 weeks I have been without my essential acoustic panels and bass traps, as they are being colored.

Whilst this has left my room sounding terrible for 2 ch listening, it is still OK for movie watching, but still, it is nearly as bad as being without a power amp. :(

During this 3 weeks, my wife and I went to beautiful Adelaide, as she was competing in a half ironman triathalon at Meninge. While in Adelaide, I was keen to visit some places of interest in the hifi world. Went to Vaf to say G'day, went to Challenge HiFi to hear the Ambience Ref 1800's, which were OK, but I thought they would be better. We also went to Sound & Vision in Dulwich, as I knew they had Halcro amps. I'd never even seen in the flesh a Halcro before, and the guys in the shop were great and gave us a fantastic demo of the Halcro pre, stereo power, driving a pair of mid sized JM-Lab's. The sound was supurb. Super expensive and I'm sure I will never own one, but it was supurb.

It was my wife who noticed in two of the listening rooms at Sound & Vision, that in the ceiling, there were heaps of small holes in the plaster. It was obvious that they were there for acoustic reasons. It turns out that CSR now supply their Soundcheck board with these holes in them if you want'em. Bloody hell, I thought! Why didn't any bastard tell me that when I bought a truck load of the stuff 6 months ago. :(

Anyway, the little mouse running in the wheel in my brain, got to work and I thought, well, I'm not gunna re skin my ceiling with this pre drilled stuff, I'm gunna do it myself! :wink: Can't be too hard, wont take long, wont make much dust :wacko:

I didn't tell my wife about my plan until she saw me making up six rectangular stencils, then I had to come clean. In summary, she basically thought I was/am a knob! :rolleyes:

It took a couple of nights to put the backing tape on the ceiling to prevent plaster board paper tearing, then stuck the stencils up. After 7 long nights of drilling, I have now finished. I've sanded and re painted and I think it looks ok. The finished photos don't really do the job justice IMHO.

Was it worth it - probably not.
Did it make a mess - more than you want to know about.
Am I a bit embaressed about telling this story - yep.

As to the acoustic benefit, well my room still sounds ordinary without the panels, but I think it is less ordinary now with the holes.

A/B testing is hard, as I will have to putty up the holes - listen..... then re-drill, listen.... Nah not doin that. Of course, I only need to cover the holes with paper, but as I can only just now scratch my ear again after stressing my arms out so much, I aint doin that either. :biggrin:

Have a good day.

[norpus]

OMG Luckydog
You are a nutter! :) A keen and committed one mind you. Well done for trying something new and having the courage of your convictions. I like that. Just 'did it' :)

[alebonau]

OMG Luckydog
You are a nutter! :) A keen and committed one mind you. Well done for trying something new and having the courage of your convictions. I like that. Just 'did it' :)
[/b]

hehe I like your drive LD. thats not enough holes man !

ps by the way theres 3 ghosts ! amongst a DD15 in one of those pics. hehe

[mondie]

Thats pretty funny, now thats dedication. Good to know you can buy the stuff pre-drilled :biggrin:

[LuckyDog]

hehe I like your drive LD. thats not enough holes man !

ps by the way theres 3 ghosts ! amongst a DD15 in one of those pics. hehe
[/b]


Took me a minute to get that one Al, then I laughed my head off :biggrin:

Some might say that is how the Vaf's should be displayed. Hahaha



OMG Luckydog
You are a nutter! :) A keen and committed one mind you. Well done for trying something new and having the courage of your convictions. I like that. Just 'did it' :)
[/b]


When I was about a panel and a half into it, I thought this is seriously stupid and really no fun at all. But I'm glad it is done now.

Promise I won't get kicked off PA for being too much of a nut bag??? :wacko:

[norpus]

Took me a minute to get that one Al, then I laughed my head off :biggrin:

Some might say that is how the Vaf's should be displayed. Hahaha
When I was about a panel and a half into it, I thought this is seriously stupid and really no fun at all. But I'm glad it is done now.

Promise I won't get kicked off PA for being too much of a nut bag??? :wacko:
[/b]
We'll probably raise a statue in your honour :wacko:
What are you like at screens - mine needs a perf :biggrin:

[THOMO]

Luckydog,

Are you going to change your name to Michaelangelo?

The crazy thing is that if you have an audio related obsessive compulsive disorder[which does not invove self inflicted torture] it is implied you must be a nutter but your wife and the like who suffer from exercise obsessive compulsive disorders are seemingly actively encouraged by society.
Every year my town is invaded by these crazy exercise obsessives for an Ironman event-and the town encourages,hosts and cheers them on!If they spent even ten percent of the energy wasted on this self indulgent self harm on something of benefit to society or the environment then they would be worth encouraging.
Give me an audio obsessive any day.

[Grumpy]

Adelaide will do that to you if you mention your from Vic. It's all planned in secret meetings; now we're just waiting for the next tourist.
What did you think of Vafs ?

[Keith_W]

I really enjoy reading your posts LD ... your exploits bring a tear to my eye. You and norpus have to be the biggest house-destroying nutters on this forum.

[blackfox]

makes my hours at work somewhat enjoyable, wish i had that much balls to go and do that to my roof...but then i don't have a dedicated listening room :( crazy stuff how many you did and they are perfectly alligned.
Crazy crazy man

[Grumpy]

Did you actually count all the holes?

[LuckyDog]

Did you actually count all the holes?
[/b]

Well each stencil had 65 x 27 holes = 1755 holes x 6 panels = 10,530 mind numbing holes.

10,530 holes = a shit load of dust! :(



Adelaide will do that to you if you mention your from Vic. It's all planned in secret meetings; now we're just waiting for the next tourist.
What did you think of Vafs ?
[/b]


I've been to Vaf a few times now. I like the people and their showrooms. They were very guarded about what they are working on now, as I thought it was about time they brought out a high end speaker, as the signature series has been around for a while now. They are definitely working on it, but understandably, they gave me nothin. :(

[Spearmint]

WOW LD, you definitely are on the leading edge like Norpus with regards to house rearrangements. :biggrin:

IMO I think an A/B comparison is the only way to test the effectiveness, plus it must be a blind test! :wacko:

[Fuzzylogic]

:ohmy: LOL ... I admire your dedication!

[blackfox]

blind testing...hmm should be an interesting effort lol, Went to this gtg and were trying different speaker cables and rca cables, i thought the only way to correctly judge is blind testing....but ah well might as well keep your mouth shut sometimes haha

[dlite]

I have heard gold plated holes sound better giving deeper bass and sweeter highs. Further improvements can also be had by using expensive power cable attached to your drill.

One question do the holes have a run in time.

Anyone want to play join the dots....

A similar random pattern of holes ban be achieved using a shotgun from a suitable distance or using darts.

PS. I think I have to agree with your wife about you.... you must have holes in your head :biggrin:

Well i hope all the work was worth it.

[obiwan]

Blackfox,

Did you realise the "cable guy" was Keith Eichmann himself? Keith Eichmann of bullet plug fame etc etc. Good to meet you by the way. Never again do I want scales brought out at a hi fi meeting just to let you know how fat you are. Well at least I wasn't as heavy as some!!!!

Obiwan

[LuckyDog]

I have heard gold plated holes sound better giving deeper bass and sweeter highs. Further improvements can also be had by using expensive power cable attached to your drill.

One question do the holes have a run in time.

Anyone want to play join the dots....

A similar random pattern of holes ban be achieved using a shotgun from a suitable distance or using darts.

PS. I think I have to agree with your wife about you.... you must have holes in your head :biggrin:

Well i hope all the work was worth it.
[/b]

A shot gun. :ohmy: Why didn't I think of that :wacko: If I want more holes, I think I might try it. Could be fun pounding the crap out of the remaining ceiling.

BTW, got all my colored panels back and the room is sounding as it should again :biggrin:

[blackfox]

obiwan haha funny stuff, well next time believe a brother when he says hes almost as heavy as you (and a foot shorter) haha big boned i say, as for the one and only cable guy...oh well i'v got no bridges to burn seeing i'm new so meh...thats life, hey as i say, i'm young and tactless, and know we come to the conclusion i'm thick as a brick coz of my weight aswel ;) quite literally

[Hippy]

WOW! talk about keen. If I started drilling holes in the ceiling here my missus would ring the nice men in the white coats so I could have a relaxing stay in the Dunlop Suite :)

I've been eyeing off the sound proofing gyprock stuff though. Does it really make a difference?

[terry j]

cmon Blackfox and Obiwan

hows about a little report on your brisbane meeting. Lot's of little hints here and there ( unless I missed a standalone post ).

How was it and what was your impressions? New post?

[jayy]

didn't tell my wife about my plan until she saw me making up six rectangular stencils, then I had to come clean. In summary, she basically thought I was/am a knob! :rolleyes:
[/b]
LD – I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall. You got “THE LOOK” didn’t you! It starts out as a look of disbelief. Where the eyes narrow and the head tilts slightly to the right in what can only be described as a forcing of the brain to understand the stupidity taking place. At that point you find yourself feebly attempting to explain your well rehearsed futile rational.

I for one know that look very well and I would imagine Norpus’s lovely wife no longer even bothers with it.

LD - you rock man!

[Wilco]

wow
i cant believe you did that all my yourself...what acoustical benefit did the guys @ sound n hifi (or wotever the store is called) said it would do?

[norpus]

LD – I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall. You got “THE LOOK” didn’t you! It starts out as a look of disbelief. Where the eyes narrow and the head tilts slightly to the right in what can only be described as a forcing of the brain to understand the stupidity taking place. At that point you find yourself feebly attempting to explain your well rehearsed futile rational.

I for one know that look very well and I would imagine Norpus’s lovely wife no longer even bothers with it.

LD - you rock man!
[/b]
:biggrin:
it's all in the training...

At least my speakers are still intact Jayy - you allowed someone to play with your babies. You are braver than me :wink:

[LuckyDog]

wow
i cant believe you did that all my yourself...what acoustical benefit did the guys @ sound n hifi (or wotever the store is called) said it would do?
[/b]

According to the guys at Sound & Vision, they did not want to have too much acoustic treatment in their room, as they believe it would put punters off, because most consumers would be unable to do the same in their homes. Understandable!

The acoustic benefit is simply to stop echo coming from the ceiling. I believe it has had an impact in my room, albeit pretty small, as I was putting up my foam panels again yesterday, I found I don't need as many to tame the slap echo within the room,

Again, was it worth the effort? Probably not, but I'm growing quite attached to my holes! :biggrin:

But seriously, I would absolutely get the pre drilled stuff if I had my time over - no question about it.

Cheers

[Wilco]

But seriously, I would absolutely get the pre drilled stuff if I had my time over - no question about it.
[/b]

LOL. id imagine. man. all that drilling. i wonder wot would happen if you do happen to sell your house. hahaha
might add value to the house actually. but yes, lol, i cant get over the fact that you did so mani holes! :)

[obiwan]

"cmon Blackfox and Obiwan

hows about a little report on your brisbane meeting. Lot's of little hints here and there ( unless I missed a standalone post ).

How was it and what was your impressions? New post?"

Soon Terry, well tonight perhaps, just woofing down my Cajun Chicken pie for lunch (why am I 90kg's??), then an afternoon of appointments, home, maybe some jogging in preparation for Italy ski trip (which Blackfox feels I have no hope of getting fit in time for!!!!!), dinner, then computer time. Just hope I remember to do it and not get distracted by porn.(oops was that out loud)

[JohnA]

Damn, thats alot of drilling.
I would have drilled the first 5 holes and though, bugger this.

You are definately dedicated aren't you.

[blackfox]

haha obiwan don't feel so bad, i just had half a chicken at nandos, full plate of chips and a chicolate mousse :D
i beat you to it, i just did a brisbane gtg thread about sunday
click here to go to thread (http://www.planetaudio.com.au/forum/index.php?showtopic=1651)

i'm sure you will be fine, good to see your exercising, should go for a game of squash sometime, im going this afternoon anyways, a weekly event it is :D

[joz]

Again, was it worth the effort? Probably not, but I'm growing quite attached to my holes! :biggrin:

But seriously, I would absolutely get the pre drilled stuff if I had my time over - no question about it.

Cheers
[/b]

I can't believe you did all that drilling :ohmy:
I thought you bought them that way and just attached them :wacko: Nice effect though.

[terry j]

tho I don't think we've met ( yet ), I must be wrong about that cause according to you we are married!?!

Drilled 10,530 Holes In My Ceiling, My wife thinks I'm crazy

lots of love!

terry

[LuckyDog]

tho I don't think we've met ( yet ), I must be wrong about that cause according to you we are married!?!

Drilled 10,530 Holes In My Ceiling, My wife thinks I'm crazy

lots of love!

terry
[/b]

Must admit Terry, it took me a while to understand exactly what you meant there.

But now I understand, you, along with plenty of others are in the sizeable group, led by my wife who belive I am crazy. I get it, I get it. :wacko:

lots of love back at ya :biggrin:

[blackfox]

lmfao i'v read your post terry over and over and you know what....i just got what it meant *blush* great to see you have a sense of humour

[mgrobins]

Nice to see your sense of commitment LD.

Sound & Vision studios is a nice shop. The guys there are friendly and more than willing to help out/ loan gear for home demo. I think they were getting sick of me for a while :p.

Some of the rooms they have are really nice - not overdone but comfortable and about the size I'd want at home. A good way to see how a system can look and sound :).

[Hippy]

Nice to see your sense of commitment LD.

Sound & Vision studios is a nice shop. The guys there are friendly and more than willing to help out/ loan gear for home demo. I think they were getting sick of me for a while :p.

Some of the rooms they have are really nice - not overdone but comfortable and about the size I'd want at home. A good way to see how a system can look and sound :).
[/b]

Actually I had issue with them. When I was buy all my Rotel gear they were all "We'll call you when it gets in" and when I rang to speak to the sales guy about ordering it " They were "Everyone's with a customer but I'll have someone call you back". To forget to call someone back several times of the period of a couple of days when they're going to spend 10-15k is not very good customer service (and it's not like I turned up there on the bike looking like a time waster either).

So I went to Challenge HiFi (http://www.challengehifi.com.au/). They were nothing but helpful, gave me better prices without my even asking for a better price, got me a 1098 for little more than retail on a 1068 ($2900). I would wholeheartedly tell anyone living in Adelaide to go see Challenge. :)

(rant mode off) :)

[Grumpy]

Actually I had issue with them. When I was buy all my Rotel gear they were all "We'll call you when it gets in" and when I rang to speak to the sales guy about ordering it " They were "Everyone's with a customer but I'll have someone call you back". To forget to call someone back several times of the period of a couple of days when they're going to spend 10-15k is not very good customer service (and it's not like I turned up there on the bike looking like a time waster either).

So I went to Challenge HiFi (http://www.challengehifi.com.au/). They were nothing but helpful, gave me better prices without my even asking for a better price, got me a 1098 for little more than retail on a 1068 ($2900). I would wholeheartedly tell anyone living in Adelaide to go see Challenge. :)

(rant mode off) :)
[/b]
G'day Hippy, A couple of things for you. 1. I'm not sure but I think Vaf's sell Rotel, did you try them. Second; I never felt comfortable at Challenge Hi-Fi. 3. How does does a bike rider equate to a time waster?

PS. Any update on the Gtg?

[Hippy]

G'day Hippy, A couple of things for you. 1. I'm not sure but I think Vaf's sell Rotel, did you try them. Second; I never felt comfortable at Challenge Hi-Fi. 3. How does does a bike rider equate to a time waster?

PS. Any update on the Gtg?
[/b]

I'd already had the Rotels by the time I'd bought the VAF's. The bloke I dealt with at Challenge (young fella forget his name) was very helpful, a pleasure all in all for me. I know being on a bike shouldn't matter but people do judge by apperances sadly. I know this from turning up to various places both on the bike and another time in the beemer. One invariably gets looked after better when they look like they can afford it.

Hoping the GTG can be done before XMAS. All I need is a weekend off :)

[Grumpy]

I haven't rode for 30years, but I know what you mean. Shit has it been 30 years? Noooooo!
I haven't been to Challenge for about 6 years, but once you get a sour taste in your mouth it tends to stick around for awhile.

[Grumpy]

Hoping the GTG can be done before XMAS. All I need is a weekend off :)
[/b]
Sorry Hippy I'm not pushing. after Xmas if it suits, I'm easy.

[joz]

Actually I had issue with them. When I was buy all my Rotel gear they were all "We'll call you when it gets in" and when I rang to speak to the sales guy about ordering it " They were "Everyone's with a customer but I'll have someone call you back". To forget to call someone back several times of the period of a couple of days when they're going to spend 10-15k is not very good customer service (and it's not like I turned up there on the bike looking like a time waster either).

So I went to Challenge HiFi (http://www.challengehifi.com.au/). They were nothing but helpful, gave me better prices without my even asking for a better price, got me a 1098 for little more than retail on a 1068 ($2900). I would wholeheartedly tell anyone living in Adelaide to go see Challenge. :)

(rant mode off) :)
[/b]

This type of thing happened to me once,so I wrote a letter to the proprietor explaing to him why I spent a heap of money elsewhere.With my letter of complaint I posted a photocopy of my receipts.This was just to show him what his incompetant staff lost him,especially as all the retailers are crying for business.Anyhow I now have a new place to spend my bucks now.

[Grumpy]

This type of thing happened to me once,so I wrote a letter to the proprietor explaing to him why I spent a heap of money elsewhere.With my letter of complaint I posted a photocopy of my receipts.This was just to show him what his incompetant staff lost him,especially as all the retailers are crying for business.Anyhow I now have a new place to spend my bucks now.
[/b]
Well done Joz. did you get a reply from them?
I should have done the same to Challenge Hi-Fi and Truscotts. I bought most of my gear from Vaf's after being snubed at Challenge and Truscotts Hi-Fi ($6,200 ) Going along with what hippy said though, I don't look like I could afford to spend much, but that didn't bother Vaf's.

[Hippy]

Well done Joz. did you get a reply from them?
I should have done the same to Challenge Hi-Fi and Truscotts. I bought most of my gear from Vaf's after being snubed at Challenge and Truscotts Hi-Fi ($6,200 ) Going along with what hippy said though, I don't look like I could afford to spend much, but that didn't bother Vaf's.
[/b]

Yeah that would have been good to do :)

Likewise with me, VAF's were great, not a bad word to say.

[Aslan]

Lucky, I've only just had the chance to read this after being away for so long (too many threads to catch up on I'm afraid).

I think PA needs to create some kind of awards for extremism, or at least a sub-cult.

You, Norpus and Gino being the only logicaly qualified/certifiable candidates.

WELL DONE

[LuckyDog]

Lucky, I've only just had the chance to read this after being away for so long (too many threads to catch up on I'm afraid).

I think PA needs to create some kind of awards for extremism, or at least a sub-cult.

You, Norpus and Gino being the only logicaly qualified/certifiable candidates.

WELL DONE
[/b]


Thanks Andrew, I'm blushing :blush:

I did say when I first discovered & joined this forum that I had a problem/issues! :wacko:

[norpus]

I think PA needs to create some kind of awards for extremism, or at least a sub-cult.

You, Norpus and Gino being the only logicaly qualified/certifiable candidates.

WELL DONE
[/b]
He he, thanks AJ. But don't discount yourself - I would NOT drive a system 5000km or even 2000km round trip to a customer. And you've done it twice in 6 mths. You are starkers too :wacko:

PS and we all think those other two are crazy, right lads?

[Grumpy]

PS and we all think those other two are crazy, right lads?
[/b]
Well they are all Eastern Staters :biggrin: