Plz Review HT Floorplan, *Floorplan Attached* Need Ideas!

Hi everyone,

First post here.

We are constructing a new home with a dedicated home theater. I have attached the floorplan.

I have been out of technology for a few years now but would REALLY appreciate some advice with regards to home theater design.

Framing is almost complete of the home, so if the dimensions need to be changed (the only thing that CAN be changed is the wall with entrance - it may be able to be pushed back more into the 'billiard room' if required), please let me know asap.

Also, what is the largest screen size I should do? We plan 2 tiers of seating, with a lower deck (refer to plan). I was hoping to do 133" screen. The floorplan shows a set of double swinging doors, I was thinking of using a 4 door partition to be able to open up the room more so if we are playing in the billiard room, we would still get a nice view of the screen.

What do you suggest for good, not too expensive wall insulation?

What about wiring? Wire for 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, or what?

As far as budget, budget is very good, but not extreme.

I want a theater that will blow my mind (and my buddies) in terms of video and sound.

THANK YOU!!

[tonyvdb]

The room dimensions of 20' x 16' are very good, However with that size room you (in my opinion) must go with 7.1 in order to fill the room properly with sound.
How high is the ceiling? are you planning on having one or two rows of seats?

hi, 2 rows of seating, 10 ft high ceiling. on the diagaram, the point after 7'6" it drops down to the 1st tier. We designed it with double doors so that if we are playing billiards we can watch from there.

thanks

[bpape]

Welcome to the forum.

For proper seating placement and considering the room width, IMO, 133" is too large. I'd likely go 110". You're only going to be sitting back about 12' in that room for the first row. This will give you good immersive viewing angles and also allow proper speaker placement without forcing them too far toward the side walls which can cause lots of bass problems.

Bryan

[salvasol]

Welcome to the forum

... What do you suggest for good, not too expensive wall insulation? ...

Fill all cavities with fiberglass. For accoustic treatment; Bryan (bpape) is the expert

... What about wiring? Wire for 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, or what? ...

I agree with the suggestion of going 7.1 ... my room is 18 x 9 x 8 and I'm using 7.1

Are you hiding your wire inside the wall??? ... if you do, it will be a good idea to have wire in different positions to hook up your sub; unless you know where it will be

... As far as budget, budget is very good, but not extreme...

Are you buying all equipment??? ... What do you have now???

... I want a theater that will blow my mind (and my buddies) in terms of video and sound...

Do you have any idea of what you'll be using???

Good Luck ...

Salvasol: All equipment will be new. New home, want everything to be the latest and greatest.

bpape: I don't care about the people in the front row then, I need a bigger screen. What is the suggsted distance in order to achieve 133"??

[hddummy]

The THX recommended seating distance for a 133" 16x9(I assume) screen is 13.2 feet. I would not hesitate to cheat that a foot or so shorter. Just know that you will need a fairly bright projector to have a screen that big.

Based on the layout you show, I would guess this room is above a garage. Is that right? How much of the work are you doing yourself? Are you doing anything DIY (subwoofers, screen, etc.) or are you buying absolutely everything?

[bpape]

violator_1977 wrote:

bpape: I don't care about the people in the front row then, I need a bigger screen. What is the suggsted distance in order to achieve 133"??

Don't take this wrong but that's backward thinking. The front row is the place for the best viewing and listening. Also, we put the seats where they need to be for best sound and then size the screen accordingly. A 92" screen from 8' looks the same as a 110" screen from 12' - see what I mean? If you do something that big, you're going to have speaker placement issues being too close to the side walls.

Not only that, but you're also going to really have to get a top quality PJ as the larger screen will not be as bright (same light output over larger area = less light/unit area) and the pic will not be as sharp. Same deal. You have a fixed pixel structure so when you use a larger screen each pixel and gap between pixels is bigger.

Another potential issue is viewing angles. With the larger screens, the bottom of the screen is lower so the riser in the back needs to get higher and higher for the rear row to be able to see over the front.

Moving seating and speakers to accomodate an oversize screen is just asking for poorer audio performance. Absolute max I'd consider would be 120". If you really want 'blow you away' performance from audio and video and not just 'bragging rights' to having the biggest screen, carefully consider this.

Bryan

[tonyvdb]

Bryan is bang one with what he says. The audio is going to be your first priority as if you dont get that right then it wont matter how big the screen is your theater would work well at all.
I have a room that is 15'x 35' and my row of seating is 13' back from the screen but still only use a 96" size and it is perfect. I focussed on the audio first and dont regret it at all.

Edit: I should also add that by wanting to have a 133" screen you wold be forced to place your main speakers in the far left and right front corners of the room, this is very poor placement for speakers they should never be placed in a corner of a room as this will adversely affect the sound.

Hi Tony, Bryan, thanks guys definitely some good info i will heed to.

Okay.... so lets say we do 120" - can i fit that in the attached floor plan without compromising audio too much? I have been told that movies are far less demanding than music is. I don't really listen to music, so i don't care for that, but when Im watching a good flick, action movie, etc. i want thundering bass! i have been told several, small-mid size subs around the room is better than one or two bigger ones. Is this true? and if so, where do people hide these things? i've seen a lot of great home theater photos on the web, bt have never seen the subs...

Hddummy: Yes, this is above a garage. I am not really doing anything myself. I don't mind doing hookups and sourcing components myself, but we have an allowance for low voltage as part of the construction contract (but that includes everything from phone lines to cable tv) that I intend to wire for the home. I have not hired a home theater firm yet, but went to the Cedia website and plan on doing so soon, when i get time (work has been crazy lately)

[bpape]

120" is pushing and the audio issues are the same for HT as they are for 2 channel music in terms of speaker placement, smooth response, proper decay times, etc.

Multiple subs can work very well as opposed to a single sub IF you're willing to put them where they need to be. Unfortunately, one of the best setups is ded center on the front and rear walls and you have a door in the middle of the rear so that won't work. You can also do centered on each side wall. Room is 16' wide so this will impact walkways if you try to put too many seats in there. Would 2 rows of 3 seats work?

As for small subs, well, to get into budget and get multiples, that's fine. But, if you want real DEEEEEEEP powerful bass, that just takes displacement and power. If we had an idea of budget, that'd help a lot to determine what a good course for you might be. Subs vary wildly in price and performance. If you really want a killer sub, look at Seaton Audio - but you'll definitely pay for them.

Smaller subs in middle price range toward the upper - ACI is killer. Less expensive subs, check out HSU Research. Great value for the money and their larger ones will definitely rock but they're not small by any stretch. 2 VTF3's in that room would seriously rock the room.

Bryan

[tonyvdb]

violator_1977 wrote:

Okay.... so lets say we do 120" - can i fit that in the attached floor plan without compromising audio too much? I have been told that movies are far less demanding than music is.

This was the case about 10 years ago but movies today have far more dynamic soundtracks than most music. There are many movies that have audio that goes down into the subsonic range (20Hz and well below) A good system with headroom is a must.

I don't really listen to music, so i don't care for that, but when Im watching a good flick, action movie, etc. i want thundering bass! i have been told several, small-mid size subs around the room is better than one or two bigger ones. Is this true? and if so, where do people hide these things? i've seen a lot of great home theater photos on the web, bt have never seen the subs...

This can be true but companies like SVS have large subs that can easaly fill a space your size including the sub that I have, the PB13 Ultra. It is a sub that is almost impossible to beat for the price.

Have you given any thought to what receiver you want to go with or for that matter speakers?

2 rows of 3 seats = 6 seats is great. budget isn't much of a problem. I want a 9 or 10 out of 10 system.

no idea on speakers or receiver. went to a high end h/t showroom over the weekend. saw a stewart cinecurve screen, 12 feet diagnoal, auto masking, paired with a runco projector. pretty nice, but was quoted the screen was about 21k.

then showed me a flat screen and said it could be have for about $2.8k w/o auto masking an $11k with auto masking. they had calibrated it so the edges were 80% as good as the edges were on the curved screen, at half the price. that seemed like a better option.

[bpape]

Flat screen will definitely give you 99% of the performance for < 1/2 the price. Stewart is a very nice screen - but a 120" Stewart with the nice frame won't be had for $2.8k - more like $3.5k IIRC. You really need to ID the PJ you'll be using. That'll determine the potential of the system and also what we need to do to get the screen to do in terms of gain(brightness) and pixel structure.

If you do something like the Sony Black Pearl or the JVC HD-2, those are about as good as it gets under $10k for a PJ and basically zero pixel structure (DILA as opposed to DLP or LCD)

If you're looking for an AT screen, then SMX is IMO the only way to go.

Bryan

[MatrixDweller]

You might want to consider a high end AVR or separates and pre amp. Take a look at the Denon AVP-A1HDCI with POA-A1HDCI if you have money to blow. A Denon 5308ci would also make your audiophile friends drool. You could also hook up a second sound system in your pool room with a LCD or Plasma using the multi-zone capabilities of most modern AVRs (definite cools points when throwing a super bowl party). As for speakers, they are fairly user subjective, but you could take a look at the Klipsch THX Ultra2 setup.

Everyone else is right about the screen size. If you go too big it will look bad for normal viewing, just like sitting in the front row (of 40) at a movie theater. You'll only have two rows so you can get a good size that looks great at both positions. You may want to consider an anamorphic wide screen projector and masking screen if you're going all out.

For wall insulation I'd recommend Roxul Safe n Sound batts as they're a little denser and do double 5/8" drywall. That will also add a lot of fire resistance to your home as an added benefit. You may have other sound issues with the floor. You could use a sheet of MLV on top of it (expensive) or insulate the ceiling below it and double drywall it too. I guess that depends what's there to begin with.