Building new home, need HT Room advice.

[Fowl]

Hi Guys,

I will be building a new home very shortly as my current home is up for sale with all furnishing included. This includes everything in my HT, speakers, subs, TV, everything.

I have narrowed down my speakers to. Aperion VGT, VGC, VG book shelves, and VG Dipole Speakers.

The Subs will be two SVS PB12 Plus. Receiver will be a Marantz SR6006.

Have not decided on TV or DVD/BR players yet. I will also be treating my room with GIK Acoustic Panels. Their panels are excellent.

My wife has given me a U$15K budget for all equipments.

I would however need some advice on room construction.

I am considering a 12x15x10 room. That would be about 1800sqf.

Would these dimensions be good for a good HT?. Should I go with a sloped ceiling? Should it be done in drywall? where should I put the door, side, back?

I need to ensure that I get it right this time, for good HT. I would also like the room to have excellent stereo play back?.


Please offer your suggestions

 

[BMXTRIX]

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

You are building a house and are worried about components?

I would worry about the house wiring first and foremost. If you haven't done that already, and this house is new construction, then I would be sinking $5,000+ to ensure that the ENTIRE house is wired exactly the way I wanted it.

If it is a dedicated theater, with a 12-15' viewing distance, then front projection would be my recommendation.

For the room itself, a bit bigger doesn't hurt at all, but it depends on the real estate that you are able to give up. Likewise, a bit more height in the ceiling is always more visually inviting and provides more opportunities.

All of this just comes down to money of course.

A good surround setup will deliver solid stereo playback. A good front projector will deliver great image quality, but that requires proper lighting and a properly designed room using the right colors and a focus on details.

But, with a whole house going in, I would find a spot to put my electronics for the home and I would wire to that location with everything - phone, internet, cable, audio, video. Dedicate a couple of racks worth of space to the equipment and do it really well. Add some good RF universal remote controls which everyone in the house can use easily and you can have a killer system.

 

[Fowl]

BMXTRIX,

Thanks for the feedback. My wife works for a construction company and they will be taking care of the wiring. My Job is to tell them what I want.

While they may be good at construction work, they are not audioholics

That is why I came here for advice. I am to tell them what I want and they will do it.

The standard here is Cayman for a flat, is 10ft ceiling and I am not sure I will get more than that, but will try.

I wanted to know if you guys would recommend different dimensions considering that I can go as large as 1800sqf.

 

[Norman Varney]

The room dimensions mentioned are not great for room mode distribution, nor functionality. I would suggest going larger. A flat ceiling is recommended for room mode control, costs and probably some noise control issues. Placing the door at the rear is ideal. Two layers of drywall with a damping compound in between will help with noise control, and help considerably with sound quality.

 

[TheWarrior]

Read and re-read the articles on this site, they are excellent and very informative. You will get alot of different, subjective, opinions here in the forums, but the one thing you NEED to take is: Educate yourself so that your ROOM is constructed properly. BMXTRIX already pointed you that way for a reason.

You've got a nice chunk of change to spend. Study the review articles on your current equipment to see what the reviewer found worked best as far as placement etc and take that in to account in your layout (ie most floor standing speakers perform best several feet from the wall)

Gene's article on his home construction is a prime example of the work (some) construction companies do in the electrical department. You probably will not go to the extreme he did, but educate yourself so that not just the theater room, but the house is built to your exact specs. You see its not right, tell them to do it again!

Enjoy and post pics!

 

[Fowl]

The room dimensions mentioned are not great for room mode distribution, nor functionality. I would suggest going larger. A flat ceiling is recommended for room mode control, costs and probably some noise control issues. Placing the door at the rear is ideal. Two layers of drywall with a damping compound in between will help with noise control, and help considerably with sound quality.

Thanks for the input. What size or dimension would you suggest?

 

[Fowl]

Read and re-read the articles on this site, they are excellent and very informative. You will get alot of different, subjective, opinions here in the forums, but the one thing you NEED to take is: Educate yourself so that your ROOM is constructed properly. BMXTRIX already pointed you that way for a reason.

You've got a nice chunk of change to spend. Study the review articles on your current equipment to see what the reviewer found worked best as far as placement etc and take that in to account in your layout (ie most floor standing speakers perform best several feet from the wall)

Gene's article on his home construction is a prime example of the work (some) construction companies do in the electrical department. You probably will not go to the extreme he did, but educate yourself so that not just the theater room, but the house is built to your exact specs. You see its not right, tell them to do it again!

Enjoy and post pics!

Warrior,

Do you have a link to that article? Would love to read it.

 

[Norman Varney]

We offer Room Dimension optimization as a service at A/V RoomService Ltd., but in general, avoid dimensions which are divisible by each other. You want the room modes to be evenly dispersed, not too close and not too far from the next. Try to have at least a 15' width for a good soundstage without boundary interference, etc. Be sure the room is big enough that seating is comfortable, and within decent listening and proper viewing distances.

The average person first perceives bass anomalies as a characteristic flaw in a playback system. This is typically due to poor room dimensions first, poor speaker/listener positions second, and poor equipment third. Room dimensions is just one reason why acoustics is so important to the final performance.

 

[TheWarrior]

Warrior,

Do you have a link to that article? Would love to read it.

Its not simply one article. Go to Audioholics main page and search through both the AV University and Tips n' Tricks tabs. They are chock full of good information that will help you make the right decisions.

There are many tips in there that help you construct the room correctly so that you do not have to spend an arm and leg on room correction by simply having your wall dimensions optimized and ensuring those pesky 2x4's don't add their own chorus.

Understand that you are living what most people here (including myself) dream of in having a blank slate with which to build what is essentially a musical instrument to enjoy with as many people as you wish. The quality of the room you build directly effects how good even the cheapest of speakers will sound. Do your home work and be rewarded with an audio experience that does not fatigue your ears and helps extract those subtle details that are otherwise lost!

 

[jinjuku]

AVSForum.com has a room construction sub forum BTW...