For projects in Madrid
Home theatre soundproofing and acoustics in Madrid
Serious equipment in a room with no isolation plan. The complaint is almost never the speakers. It is bass leaving the room and an untreated box making the system sound worse than it is. The Ensanche and equivalent city blocks stack flats around a patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem.
- Containment
- Bass through the wall, floor and door. Mass and decoupling, with the door usually the weakest point.
- Low frequency inside
- Corner absorption with depth, before any surface treatment.
- Reflections
- Side wall and ceiling first reflection points at the seating position.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / What it is
The product, described honestly, for a Madrid brief
Serious equipment in a room with no isolation plan. The complaint is almost never the speakers. It is bass leaving the room and an untreated box making the system sound worse than it is.
The Ensanche and equivalent city blocks stack flats around a patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem.
Work reaching us from Madrid is mostly ensanche apartments, Castellana office floors, restaurants, hotels, clinics, studios, schools.
- Ensanche blocks share everything The classic Madrid block stacks flats around a central patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem, not a panel problem.
- Castellana floors have nothing soft Tower and corporate floors run glass to glass with raised floors and exposed slabs. Speech carries because there is nowhere for it to land, so the ceiling has to do the work.
- A city that eats and drinks late Bars and restaurants run long hours directly under apartments. The complaint is almost always low frequency and footfall, and it arrives fast.
- Containment Bass through the wall, floor and door. Mass and decoupling, with the door usually the weakest point.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for home theatre soundproofing are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in Madrid.
02 / The build-up
What goes where, from the structure in
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Layer 1
SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl
A limp, high density sheet that adds mass to a partition, floor or duct without adding depth. In Madrid, split and multi-split systems dominate, with condensers in patios and light wells that act as reverberant shafts.
Floor, floating. Membrane under a resilient layer and a floating deck, so impact energy is broken before it reaches the slab.
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Layer 2
Soundproof curtains
A layered curtain with a mass loaded vinyl core, used where an opening has to stay an opening. In Madrid, churches, civic auditoriums and hotel function rooms are stone and plaster volumes with very long decay times.
Full height with return. Curtain taken floor to soffit with a side return and an overlap, because the gap is what leaks, not the fabric.
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Layer 3
Acoustic carpet and rugs
A tile carpet with a dense polyester face on a felt backing. In Madrid, school buildings are concrete and tile with high ceilings and hard floors, and dining halls are the loudest rooms in the building.
Over a resilient underlay. Where impact noise to the floor below is the actual complaint, the underlay does that work, not the carpet.
We would rather argue about the build-up at design stage than on site. See how we support architects.
03 / In this market
What decides the build-up in Madrid
- Ensanche blocks share everything
The classic Madrid block stacks flats around a central patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem, not a panel problem.
- Castellana floors have nothing soft
Tower and corporate floors run glass to glass with raised floors and exposed slabs. Speech carries because there is nowhere for it to land, so the ceiling has to do the work.
- A city that eats and drinks late
Bars and restaurants run long hours directly under apartments. The complaint is almost always low frequency and footfall, and it arrives fast.
- Closed up against the heat
Once a room is sealed and air conditioned it stops leaking sound outward and starts building it up inside. Absorption has to be balanced, not maximised.
- The housing stock
The Ensanche and equivalent city blocks stack flats around a patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem.
04 / Room by room
Room by room, on a typical Madrid job
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Containment
Bass through the wall, floor and door. Mass and decoupling, with the door usually the weakest point. The classic Madrid block stacks flats around a central patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem, not a panel problem.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, 2100 kg per cubic metre
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 20 mm
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, High density polyester
-
Low frequency inside
Corner absorption with depth, before any surface treatment. Tower and corporate floors run glass to glass with raised floors and exposed slabs. Speech carries because there is nowhere for it to land, so the ceiling has to do the work.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 30, 5.25 kg per sq m
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 100 kg per cubic metre
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, Felt
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Reflections
Side wall and ceiling first reflection points at the seating position. Bars and restaurants run long hours directly under apartments. The complaint is almost always low frequency and footfall, and it arrives fast.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 34, 8.4 kg per sq m
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 100 to 500 Hz
- Acoustic carpet and rugs, 64 sq ft per pack
Interior designers tend to arrive with the look already decided. We will tell you which finish gets there without losing the acoustics. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Conditions
Durability in Madrid, before acoustics is discussed
Madrid is hot dry summers and mild wet winters, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
The swing between a dry summer and a wet winter moves timber. PET felt is dimensionally stable across that swing; slat panels want a stable substrate and a ventilated fixing.
The failure we design against here is seasonal movement in timber and winter damp in unheated stock.
If a consultant has set the target, we will quote against their figures rather than ours, and stay out of the scope they own. More on working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Worth knowing
Six mistakes that turn into a second fit-out
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Foam on the walls as a soundproofing measure
It sounds like a small detail until the room is finished and the complaint arrives.
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A standard door on a room built to hold bass
A gap undoes the partition it sits in. Sealing is the cheapest line on the quote and the first one to get cut.
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Treating before the room is sealed
A gap undoes the partition it sits in. Sealing is the cheapest line on the quote and the first one to get cut.
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Treating it as a generic Madrid job
The classic Madrid block stacks flats around a central patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem, not a panel problem.
05 / Getting it there
Supply into Madrid, start to site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Valencia or Barcelona, then road inland to Madrid |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea, then road inland |
| Support | Drawings, build-ups, BOQ and material that arrives complete |
Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. Grooved panels and custom colours take longer, and we say so before you order, not after.
Sea freight into Valencia or Barcelona, then road inland to Madrid. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Madrid projects
What makes home theatre soundproofing and acoustics different in Madrid?
The Ensanche and equivalent city blocks stack flats around a patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem. The classic Madrid block stacks flats around a central patio with shared walls and slabs. Footfall and speech move between homes, which is a mass and isolation problem, not a panel problem.
Where should the budget go first on a Madrid project?
Containment. Bass through the wall, floor and door. Mass and decoupling, with the door usually the weakest point. Low frequency inside. Corner absorption with depth, before any surface treatment.
Do you have an office or installation team in Madrid?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Madrid. We give you drawings, build-ups, a BOQ and material that arrives complete, and we will tell you plainly when a job needs a local contractor we cannot be.
How does material get to a Madrid site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Valencia or Barcelona, then road inland to Madrid, dispatch: 4 to 7 working days. Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. Grooved panels and custom colours take longer, and we say so before you order, not after.
What goes wrong most often on this kind of project?
Foam on the walls as a soundproofing measure. A standard door on a room built to hold bass.
What do you need from us to quote?
A plan, a section through the critical partition or ceiling, and what the room is for. From that we can give a build-up and a BOQ rather than a price per square foot.
Next step
Tell us the room, we will tell you the build-up
A plan and a section is enough. We will come back with a build-up, a BOQ and a delivered date, and we will say so if what you are asking for will not work.