Dedicated HT PLanning-Need Input!

[RyanJNielson]

Hello!

How nice to be on a new forum!

SO- I posted this on my other forum, but wanted to get some input here as well.

I'm in the initial planning stages of a dedicated Home Theater. It will be built in an area of our new home in the basement- we have 1435 sq ft to choose from, so I have all the options in the world! The basement is surrounded on all sides by 8" concrete with 2x4s and insulation already in place (per state/city building code). Ceiling is standard 8' unfinished, floor is cement. WAF is 100%!

So the trick is to keep costs down yet make the room look as nice as the rest of the house (upstairs, that is). The Home Theater is very important to us. We are total movie buffs and this is our place to relax!

Some of the equipment we'll be using/purchasing:

Projector- will purchase Samsung 710.
Receiver- Yamaha HTR-5860 (7.1 setup)
Speakers- JBL Northridge II Series Center/Surrounds; JBL E80 Fronts; JBL Subwoofers PB10 and E250P

(I am contemplating replacing the surrounds with bi-pole speakers.)

My major concern is not sound isolation, but rather sound absorption and room acoustics.

I am definitely going to use my laptop and the Room EQ Wizard (awesome tool!) to get things right as I go. Ryan Allen's Case Study was brilliant- so glad I found it!

So I want to install absorption on the lower 4' of drywall around the room and perhaps install something to help diffusion on some of the upper walls. Also I will do the entire front wall with absorption.

-OR-

I could do the entire front wall with absorption and then install absoption panels in strategic early reflection areas. The problem with panels is that- well, they are panels. Not as aesthetically pleasing. The wife is not too keen on them.

So I'm leaning toward the first option above.

For the ceiling I will install some sort of absorption for early reflection as well.

Floor will have thick plush carpet and pad with or without raised flooring.

Whaddaya think, new friends?

[Sonnie]

Welcome to the Shack, Ryan!

WAF is most important!

I would probably try it with bare drywall with simply the floor carpet and seating installed first and see if you have any echo or reflection problems. But if you don't want to take a chance and need to install the 4' high absorbtion before you get the equipment all installed then that's another story. I'd just be careful not to get it overly dead in the room. I have carpet and 6 cloth recliners... later added 6 pretty large panels and couldn't tell a difference, but I didn't have any reflection problems to begin with that I know of. I feel like I may have wasted my money. Then again, I'm not nearly as critical as many other folks.

Having said that, I'll now defer to the brilliant minds we have here at the Shack! They should be along soon.

[RyanJNielson]

Thanks, Sonnie! I appreciate the welcome.

I just explored your web site. Very cool. We have two of the black Lazy-Boys in our current home theater! Ours are falling apart after 4 years, though.

I am very interested in your audio experience when setting up the room. After all is said and done, you feel the audio is too dead, huh? Those cloth recliners would certainly absorb a lot of sound- especially in such a small space. Did you use the Room EQ Wizard to calibrate the whole room or just the subwoofer?

From my research it seems that any room will have early reflections- your panels would certainly absorb them where they're located! But you didn't notice a difference? Fascinating!

[Fincave]

Hello,

Noticed the speakers that you are considering and just to give you some more options. I had the JBL northridge series till recently, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THEM. I however went for their older Xti 80's for fronts as they did sound better to me though they do not match the tonal quality of the Northridge series, this may or may not be important to you. (Have not heard the II series so do not know how much different they sound). I had the smaller sub 150P and well, I was not impressed with it. Okay with music but not enough extension for movies, the sound just got really muddy and basically a continous rumble, especially at higher volumes.

Good luck with your project!

[Sonnie]

Thanks on the HT room Ryan.

RyanJNielson wrote:

After all is said and done, you feel the audio is too dead, huh?

Did you use the Room EQ Wizard to calibrate the whole room or just the subwoofer?

I woudn't say it is too dead, just doesn't seem like it's any deader... or any different really. But it wasn't really that live to begin with, probably because of the carpet and recliners.

I use REW to calibrate the subs and then I use the Audyssey MultQ in my Denon 3806 to EQ the other speakers.

I suspect there is some benefit to the panels that absorb the first and second reflections off my mains. I'm just probably not that critical enough to notice it. My ears are not that great. Example: I think I sound pretty okay when I sing (not Nashvile Star or American Idol good), but my wife says I sound terrible. lol... actually I can't even whistle a tune.

Kinda like cables... I've had the high dollar ones and now have the very inexpensive ones from Apature. If there is a difference, I sure as heck can't hear it. I mainly buy for quality build on cables now, instead of trying to buy for sound differences. Obviously there are others who swear by their high dollar cables. If you can tell a difference and like it then that's what you are after... no problem by me. But if I can't hear a difference, don't bother trying to sell me on it. Simply my thoughts... others will vary.

[RyanJNielson]

I hear you. I agree about the cables- I have tried more than I can remember and I cannot honestly say I notice any differences (as far as audio goes, that is).

The biggest change to my current HT setup that made a dramatic difference was adding the Monster Powerbar. It really did improve the picture and sound. Even the wife noticed the difference.

Also having my display ISF calibrated. HUGE difference with both my direct view and my projector.

My Yamaha has an equalizer as well. It definitely makes a difference in the sound quality of the room.

I have gegun some plans for the new HT. I have some really cool ideas and have taken bits and pieces from other HT's that I have seen on forums and in person. I'll see if I can have some renderings done and post them.

[Sonnie]

Tell us more about the Monster Powerbar.

Look forward to seeing your posts on the new HT room... that is always so much fun!

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Hi Ryan,

Whaddaya think, new friends?

Since you have “all the options in the world,” and 100% WAF, you might consider avoiding shoe-box parallel walls. If you can, do the wall in a zig-zag pattern, and/or perhaps something similar with the side walls. It will greatly help diffusion and eliminate “slap-back” echo (although the room will probably be too small for that).

Regards,
Wayne