Home Theater Forum and Systems banner

16' x 23' Media Room converting into theater

45K views 134 replies 9 participants last post by  bpape 
#1 · (Edited)
15' x 22' Media Room converting into theater

I will start by saying thank God for forums. This is probally going to be my second most exciting project of my life. I started buy buying a home theater magazine and did as much research as possible. Next i did a search on yahoo for a forum, i browsed through a couple till i found this one. Once is saw the layout of the forum and the number of posts I knew my search was over.

I have a 15' wide x 22' long x 11' celing. I guess i will make a list of questions specificly for my HT. i will also post pictures every step of the way. I would like to build a HT, magazine worthy. i just need to step in the right direction. hopefully my build will help other like me in this HT community.
Home Theater

15'x22'x11'
1st Row View 13'8"
2nd Row View 18'-19"
Projector mounted 18'
1. 2 rows 4 chairs each row Bello(need to order)
2. 120" x 51.1"/130.4" diagonal screen(need to order)
3. Paradigm Studio 100 LR(need to order)
4. Paradigm Studio CC690(need to order)
5. Paradigm Studio ADP590 surrounds rears(need to order)
6. Paradigm Studio ADP590 surrounds sides(need to order)
7. SVS PB13-Ultra $1200(need to order)
8. Sony BDP-S550 blu-ray $400
9. Panasonic AE3000 projector $2500(need to order)
10. NAD T785 receiver $2900(need to order)
11. URC MX-6000 remote $1100(need to order)
12. URC/Lutron Dimmers$150ea.(need to order)


Game Room
Vizio 47" LCD 1080p
Sony receiver
Sony DVD
Sony DVD/VHS









 
See less See more
5
#2 ·
Welcome to the forums.

Looks like you have a very nice space to work with. The one thing I noticed is the chopped off corner on one side of the room. If that's on the 'side' instead of the front or back, you'll want to mirror it on the other side to maintain good symmetry left to right.

Bryan
 
#4 ·
1. Seating i was thinking about 2 rows 3 chairs each row
This calculator will help you with Riser height

2. 120" screen is this too big?
Calculator for Viewing distance

3b. Paradigm Seismic 12 Sub
I don't own this sub ... but I read a lot about SVS, HSU, Ed that you can also consider.

6. Onkyo's TX SR805 or Sony receiver $1000
If you have to decide between this two ... I say, Onkyo :yes:

Do you still have bare walls (just studs???) ... Don't forget to fill all cavities with insulation :yes:
 
#6 ·
what about integra? i think they are arround the same price....
That's another option ... my suggestion is to compare their features and see which one has what you need (don't forget the TrueHD and DTS HD decoder) :yes:

...the walls are up and painted. just need to add the matching slope. mabey lower the celing
Please tell me that you filled the wall cavities with insulation ... if not, you'll have a resonance problem :yes:

do you have a link for those other subs?...
Here you go SVS Sound ; they're one of the sponsor of this forum ... and here is HSU

You can even get a complete 5.1 or 7.1 package from SVS ... I never heard Paradigm or SVS, so I can't tell you which one is better; but I read a lot of good things from members who got SVS packages ... specially the subs :yes:
 
#7 ·
Trey could certainly work. If you're up for it, you could mirror the angle on the other side with standard construction and then add a trey all around with just framing, absorption, and cloth and get some good broadband bass control out of the deal.

Bryan
 
#9 · (Edited)
.... im think about moving all of the theater room equiptment to my game room. also think about adding a Yamaha ysp-4000 sound projector for game room LCD, in place of a surround system.
My opinion:

1. Game Room has many open spaces that might cause accoustic problems ...

2. YSP 4000 - I don't think it will have a good frequency response, and doesn't include a sub, Right???

But at the end, you'll decide what is best for you ...:yes:

P.S.: Do this mean that you won't have a dedicated room for HT??? ...or is this a different
project??? :dontknow:

EDIT: Just in case somebody want to take a look at YSP 4000 Specifications
 
#11 ·
just want to know what would be a good sound system for the game room. the HT will have a full sound system yes the game room is a diferent project.
In that case, the sound bar will be the easy way to go ... no wires to run, small and I'm sure you don't need the best FR to play games.

I've seen other sound bars from Polk, but I can't tell you which one is better ... :hide:
 
#12 · (Edited)
Back to busniess. maping out the seating location. in the pics below the back of the seats are at 12'. So the viewing will be between 11' and 12'. should be perfect for a 106" screen????





this is the proposed first row the double seat gives more room on the sides aprox 2'6"



Second row not sure yet but here is a thought or mabey two seats at both corners
 
#13 ·
Some of you probably get tired of me saying this but it's appropriate here.

PLEASE do not adjust seating position to fit a specific screen. That's backward. Put the seating where you'll have the best frequency response and surround effect and then select the appropriate screen size for that distance.

Bryan
 
#14 · (Edited)
PLEASE do not adjust seating position to fit a specific screen. That's backward. Put the seating where you'll have the best frequency response and surround effect and then select the appropriate screen size for that distance. Bryan
This translated in numbers according to your first post (I have a 16' wide x 23' long x 14' celing) will be:

14' from font wall or 9' from back wall :yes:

EDIT: In case that you're wondering how I got this numbers, there's a rule to calculate where to place the seats (is for a starting point) ...it says to place them 62% of the lenght of the room from front wall or 38% from back wall ... is called the 38% rule.
 
#20 ·
I took a visit to Stereo East nice friendly atmosphere. they were willing to answer alot of Questions i had. the first media room setup in large showroom had a 1080p Epson projector, 110" screen in a room a little smaller than mine(14' x 18'). First impression i loved it i thought the screen was a little big, overall it was a little hard on my eyes. then i went to a room that had a sony 60 projector, all i can say is wow. the picture was so much sharper clearer almost 3d like. right now im going to go with the sony. but the projector will be the last thing i purchase(just in case sony comes out with a new model).

after looking at their media room setups and a dozen of novice questions. I found a solution to my seating arrangement, the second row will go all the way to the back wall 4 seats, 2 on one side of the double door and 2 on the other. that will leave the First row with maxium ajustment for the surrounds.

tomorrow i will check out some more shops, but I will probally do my busniess with Stereo East.
 
#23 ·
Hey, Plano neighbor. I am out of Dallas.

A couple of fairly local places you might want to take a look at are for ideas, advise, or equipment:

Home Theater speciality store (Modia) www.modia.com They have several stores in the surrounding Dallas area. The store I visited was in Arlington (located by the mall off Cooper) they primarily install entire Big-buck systems like Classe, and I think crown and crestron, but their showrooms are awesome and full of ideas. People are friendly and helpful.

Best Buy--some have Magnolia theater centers, equipment is sometimes reasonably priced. Arlington has a Magnolia center. I am not so thrilled with their installations--kind of expensive and you could probably install cheaper and better yourself.

There are a few other theater only stores in Dallas. Basic internet search with home theater and Dallas will bring them up. audioguydfw.com is out of Dallas and has allot of nice complete theater packages. Their websites and display offices show several examples of their work from start to finish. I used these for numerous ideas in my theater and the how to do it.

Recently, I have been just shopping the brick and mortar stores to get a hands on feel for what equipment and features I like, and then purchase it on line (in some cases for half the price). Dallas is full of mid to high-end theater stores. I found a good deal on a Sony BDP-S350 at Best Buy--it was on sale and I had a coupon 249.00 total.

A couple of places on-line that seem to always have that niffty-doo-dad that I didn't know even existed--but made my life easier were Parts-express.com and Abacus cables. These have Flatscreen TV mounts, cables, cable pass-throughs, ir blasting equipment, sub amps etc. Mostly pro installer (stuff that works nice) related stuff.

Also, check the advertisers on this site. I saw some Onkyos here that were hard to beat the price of for what they offered.

I am not sure about your seating, is it coming from a local store? Did you check Dallas theater seating? theaterseatinggallery.com is out of Cross Roads TX. They are fairly local and deliver. There is an advertiser here on this site with $435.00 for berkline motorized seats seemed decent--not sure about how much the shipping would cost. Same seats out of Dallas are $500.00 plus tax.

Hope this helps
 
#30 ·
I am not sure about your seating, is it coming from a local store? Did you check Dallas theater seating? theaterseatinggallery.com is out of Cross Roads TX. They are fairly local and deliver. There is an advertiser here on this site with $435.00 for berkline motorized seats seemed decent--not sure about how much the shipping would cost. Same seats out of Dallas are $500.00 plus tax.

Hope this helps
Im going to take a look at this place today. hopefully the sell black fabric non power HT seats. also looking for a single-dual-single design.

thanks
 
#24 ·
Do the best you can to get the rear row as far from the wall as possible while still leaving the first row in an optimal position and leaving yourself a walkway.

Bryan
 
#51 ·
I have bought quite a few "bargains" on ebay--not just A/V equipment, but everything else as well. I purchase name-brand (lifetime warranty) tools mainly. I prefer to purchase high-end electronics ($1000.00 and up) in a "new in box" condition--and only from an authorized dealer (ebay or not). There are too many rip-off people trying to make a buck everywhere, to include the scammers hiding behind cyber-walls on ebay. With ebay, only deal with someone with hundreds of positive feedbacks--and even then, you never really know. , I have hundreds of feedbacks--but I have never sold anything!! To some people, "brand-new" means anything from just bought it at the store, to my uncle had it first for 5 years--now its brand new to me. There is quite a bit of "new" stuff on ebay that could be faulty/defective store returns. If a seller states "no returns"--then do not bid more than what you consider the item to be worth minus if you were have to pay to get it fixed (if it does arrive broke). Read the seller's advertisement and terms very carefully. On expensive items, you could use escrow. With high-high dollar items (diamonds and such), you can have them sent to another 3rd party broker for you to see and verify before any money changes hands.

There are reputable (JVC, Harmon Kardin, etc.) factory representatives selling refurbs with warranties on ebay, but I do not like 30 and 90 day warranties on electrical products which have already demonstrated they have a propensity to break (they are being sold because they did break). The higher priced the component is, the less I care about trying to save a few bucks--In my eyes, the risk of loss has to be completely minimized for what I have to gain (translation--I if I could get a "new" $1500.00 receiver for $300.00-400.00 from a reputable dealer---I would jump on it). If it was from a guy with zero sales (still with the little crown over his head)--I would never even bid.

I have, however, used ebay in another way--for what not to buy--when twenty thousand sellers (usually the mass market, store returns, lot sellers) are all trying to unload the same brand/model of a product, chances are high that model is a lemon and you should not buy it. I learned this the hard way--I got burned. I bid and bought a craftsman weedwacker that numerous sellers were offering on ebay. The model was an extremely new 4 stroke one that had not been out for long. I remembered seeing it in the stores and liking the "no mixing gas" thing. Seemed like a great tool. As it turned out, the first batch of them had a design defect--a Sears customer could return it for a replacement and the broken ones were wholesaled in auction. An ebay seller bought lots of them, and listed them for sale as "like new"--and just forgot to mention in his add that they were all recalled. Hey, you want to buy a weedwacker--I have used it very little........yup.I got taken--no returns, as-is the model has been discontinued, non-economical to repair, and I lost $75.00...I get smarter everyday. If the deal is too good to be true, it probably is; and you're going to get screwed.

With that said, my wife just bought a Monster ALV 300 for $35.00 (w/ship $50.00). It was supposed to be "as new". It did arrive and it was as it was advertised (owner said he could not figure out how to program it). For us, this was a good buy--these things are close to $500.00 retail. I already had 4 of these and figured if it was trashed--at least I could use the omni link (over $100.00 by itself) and not loose any money. This one did turn out good.

I guess, best advice is buyer beware. I have purchased items from 1 cent ebooks to $20K diamond rings. To me, ebay is just another place to shop--there are some people (companies) I deal with all of the time. For them, ebay is the cheapest form of national advertising; for me, I get a good product from a reputable company that I did not know existed before.
 
#29 ·
Splitting it is fine as long as you can keep the seats away from the walls. If you have to, then it is what it is. Being next to the side walls is just as bad as being close to the rear wall - bass buildup and bad surround presentation.

Bryan
 
#44 ·
110.5" x 47" vs. 96" x 54"
2.35:1 vs 16:9
My opinion would be go with a slightly larger screen 16:9 than you have, say a 120" or 134" if you can fit it. Then you can always "mask" the screen to fit the 2.35:1 if you find a movie that is wide screen, 16:9 enhanced, then you might regret doing the 2.35:1 IMO.

Are you planning on getting an anamorphic lens? If not then 2.35:1 you are going to get light spillage from the projector on the walls. Unless you cover the walls with some sort of light absorbing material.
 
#49 · (Edited)
Some new pictures, I need tips on building a riser.



my new sony 550 Blue ray







monoprice has some good deals.



power and hdmi outlets for projector. wires run over to game room. that will be the home of the sony5400 or oykno 876 receiver. I used 24 gague 1.3a hdmi cables from monoprice. will i need to run any other wires from the projector to the receiver?
 
#52 ·
Some new pictures, I need tips on building a riser.

Is your subfloor concrete or wood?

I am going to assume it is a concrete slab, as in TX that is most common for the ground floor. In that case, you are going to have to use Treated lumber touching the slab and install a contact barrier (like tar paper or 6mil plastic) only where the wood touches the concrete. I saw the drawings of the sample plan listed above, and I think I would do it differently. Concrete is almost guaranteed to not be straight. Building an entire straight wall like in that plan will be difficult to adjust to match the uneven floor/current stair blend-in. I would turn the 2x4s on their side (widest area horizontal) and build several small (wall like) joists running vertically (towards and away from your screen and door location) and connect them fore and aft with a stringer consisting of your new stair in the front and a nailed down plate on the old stair. Put several supports in the middle of each beam. Running joists horizontally allows you a wider surface area for contact and to power nail it to the concrete (each joist being just like the way the walls in your house were built). If you do construct this way, I would first screw all the short riser supporting studs to the long horizontal treated 2x4 that will be contacting the floor. Once they are all screwed in (only on the bottom), put the contact barrier under it an attach it to the concrete with an explosive power nailer using the appropriate charge and concrete nail (you can rent them at HD and see the selection of nails/charges). I use a Ramset with .22 caliber charges and the Green color code for treated lumber concrete attachment. The reason to only screw the risers on to the one side is so that the explosive nailer is held perfectly straight up and down (if the top 2x4 plate was installed, and as short as the risers are, the angle of the power nailer would be extremely difficult to not have a ricochet). After the bottom is nailed down, either screw or nail the top plate on to all of the previously installed riser studs. The top plate would be longer than the bottom. Each one would have to be individually fit on top of the existing stair. I would use construction adhesive, like PL200 on everything just to make sure it all stays together without rattles and movement, and especially on the top plate before you attach the plywood. For the top, you could just use regular wood glue between the two layers of non-overlapping joint plywood/OSB.

Now, if your theater it is upstairs, or on a wood floor, either way is possible--just do not pound nails!! Screw the entire assembly together. All of the heavy pounding on the floor will loosen or crack the sheetrock joints on the ceiling and walls below your theater. Screwing is much easier with small pieces anyway. I would not tear up the existing floor, but rather build this riser right on top of it. Also, for the new top floor, either two sheets of 1/2 plywood or a mix OSB/MDF would be fine (just make it about 1" thick). I would insulate the inside of the entire riser as it would be a big hollow resonnace chamber without it. Depending on how your house was originally built, installing this riser might be as simple as pulling off the original small stair and toe-kick, inserting a new floor joist about a foot and a half under the existing floor and screwing the new joist both to the existing floor joists from the side, and the old floor from the top, running these out to a common end joist (2 ea doubled 2x) instead of a single 2x as displayed in the above mentioned plans.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top