Planning a Home Theater Room

[Malp]

Hello All,

I'm one of the many looking for some advice on a brand new home theater setup with a budget around 15k. I'm moving to a new house with an unfinished basement that I'm looking forward into converting into a man cave with a theater, in which I'm still relatively new when it comes to audio and video equipment. Please assist me in spending my money and making the neighbors complain of excellent audio at high decibels (just kidding, I don't really have close neighbors.)

Details of the workspace:

It's a basement that's not solely for a theater area, in which it's very open. The main area for the theater is 15' x 38', which on the picture below is the space between the poles and the wall (15') and the length of the room including the kitchen (38') where the person watching on the couch would be around 16'-18' away. Here's my bad drawing on a picture of the unfinished basement:

Link on Imgur (I don't have privileges yet to post links as this is my first post, so kinda have to just give the imgur ending? ^^)

/eZEeI2f

What I used to have at the old home: (Sold with the place)

7.2:
Epson PowerLite Pro Cinema 9500
Dragon Fly 120" 1.0 Gain Screen with Wrap
Integra DTR-30.2
Fronts: Klipsch R3800W (2)
Center: Klipsch R3800W
Surround: Klipsch CDT3650C (2)
Rears: Klipsch CDT3650C (2)
Subs: Klipsch RW-10D (2)
Power Conditioning: Furman F-1000

Still have and am planning on using an HTPC with a cablecard primarily. Had some trouble ever really getting the surround to be setup properly with a sound card, but that's neither here nor there.

Thanks in advance for reading and commenting! All advice is appreciated.

 

[JK Saabh]

All the very best with your construction.

 

[Malp]

thanks ha!!

 

[JK Saabh]

I'm building my first home theater too (planning to start construction next week). Can't remember the last time I did so much research. I even had to refresh my trigonometry

 

[Malp]

Hah oh man, math. Ugh!

 

[shadyJ]

I take it that $15k budget is for the entire system, both video and audio? If your seating is going to be a good distance away from the screen, and if you want to do 3D, or if you want to have a big screen, you will need to spend a lot on a projector. Other things you need to stipulate are, are you after five channels or seven channels of surround sound? Do you want to get into the new Atmos setups? Are you going to have an acoustically transparent screen? and so on..

 

[Malp]

Thank you for the reply shady! Lemme bulletpoint the answers you requested. ^^

The 15k budget is for both video and audio correct.

3D isn't something I'm necessarily against but I wasn't really considering it 'necessary.'

I was looking for 120" screen, yes sir. That's what I had previously and I feel like it would be hard to downscale now, hah.

I would say 5 channels, however, I'm open to suggestions.

Man I'll be honest, I don't know what Atmos is. I'm going to go take a look and try to educate myself^^

I was thinking of having the speakers around the screen rather then behind it, I think that's what you're asking.

Please feel free to ask anything else and I'll try to respond as best I can. Thanks again!

 

[Malp]

Atmos sounds very interesting. I would love to see if that could be worked in. ^^ I would likely need a real blueray player like the one always mentioned on the review guides here to take advantage of it though, wouldn't I? (OPPO’s BDP-103)

 

[lsiberian]

Soundproofing 101: How To Keep Your Home Theater Quiet | Sound & Vision. It's a good start.

 

[shadyJ]

OK, that will help a bit more. I take it the room will have good light control? How far do you anticipate the projector being from the screen? The answer to those will help you to determine which projector and screen is best for you. I would allocate maybe $5k to the video part of your theater. If you have good light control, don't care about 3D, and won't have the projector far from the screen, you won't need a light cannon, and that will save you some money on the display side. Not needing an acoustically transparent screen will save a little as well.

 

[Malp]

@ Isiberian : Wow that is really good stuff. I'm likely having a contractor do most of the actual construction down there, so I'm glad to know of the existence of the 5/8s drywall and the isolation brushings. I'll definitely have to talk to them! We're putting in a type of insulation that worked decently well in the previous home, it's based on recycled newspaper and it's blown into the ceiling and walls, does a surprisingly good job at absorbing sound, at least in my mind. I'm a novice with this stuff, which is why that article was pretty-damn near mindblowing for me hah.

@ shadyJ : The lights are currently up in the air, what we used in the previous home was a standard dim-able can lighting that went around the room; but it also went right over the screen, which i found to be a bad plan after the fact >.>. So we just removed the bulbs that went over the screen and it was pretty decent thereafter. It was controlled with control4.

The projector can go anywhere it needs to go to produce a good picture on a screen of 120". There isn't anything in the way on the ceiling, so it can be mounted where ever. Are the new laser projectors worth it?

Thanks guys/gals!

 

[shadyJ]

Lol, when talking about projectors, by light control, we much will the room be reflective. Rooms with bright walls, floors, and ceilings will hurt the black levels and contrast on a white screen, and you will need to get a gray screen and a more powerful projector to compensate. Try to get the room as dark as possible for the best picture. Also, the closer you can get the projector to the picture, the brighter you can get the picture. This can be especially beneficial with 3D.

With regard to audio equipment recommendations, learn about Dolby Home Atmos, and decide if you want to setup that kind of system. Now is the time to make that decision since Atmos wants in-ceiling speakers, the installation of which should be determined in the planning phase.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have the BenQ W6000. It is a light cannon.

But whatever happened to LED projectors?

 

[lsiberian]

@ Isiberian : Wow that is really good stuff. I'm likely having a contractor do most of the actual construction down there, so I'm glad to know of the existence of the 5/8s drywall and the isolation brushings. I'll definitely have to talk to them! We're putting in a type of insulation that worked decently well in the previous home, it's based on recycled newspaper and it's blown into the ceiling and walls, does a surprisingly good job at absorbing sound, at least in my mind. I'm a novice with this stuff, which is why that article was pretty-damn near mindblowing for me hah.

@ shadyJ : The lights are currently up in the air, what we used in the previous home was a standard dim-able can lighting that went around the room; but it also went right over the screen, which i found to be a bad plan after the fact >.>. So we just removed the bulbs that went over the screen and it was pretty decent thereafter. It was controlled with control4.

The projector can go anywhere it needs to go to produce a good picture on a screen of 120". There isn't anything in the way on the ceiling, so it can be mounted where ever. Are the new laser projectors worth it?

Thanks guys/gals!

Just don't forget about the ductwork. A lot of noise can be transmitted from it. If you want to break out a wet saw you can actually turn the theater into a floating floor too. You can also use hockey pucks I've heard. Me I hope to have a home theater wrapped in hallway some day. We'll see what actually happens.

 

[Malp]

@shadyJ Ah I see what you mean now. Planning on a light grey wall / ceiling currently, and carpet just around the theater area; likely of a darker variety due to being a dog owner; although the possibility of a hardwood flooring has been discussed. This is greatly in planning stages. I'm assuming a carpet flooring would be preferred for acoustics? It's a 4" poured concrete floor right now that's above a drain tile under the house. Lighting wise there are no windows in the main viewing area so it's just a matter of turning the lights down. Projector wise, it can get as close as it needs to, preferring not to be in the main viewing line of sight of course hah! I've never had a 3D TV and I'm not sure they are worth it; seems to be a dying thing now-a-days, so I'm not all that concerned if it's not 3D capable.

Audio side, I would like to have the Atmos capability. I watched the audioholic's youtube video on it that expressed some concerns, I'm still interested because I'm hoping to have in-ceiling speakers as it is and just in-case it becomes the norm I may as well be ready.

@AcuDefTechGuy For a minute I was thinking a light cannon was some kind of spotlight or something hah. Now that I know it's a brighter projector, well, I feel dumb! Anyways, LED projectors sound interesting; idk what happened to them. Bulb replacement is expensive and a huge hassle... just trying to find genuine stuff is a chore. I wish they would develop a better method.

@Isiberian The ducts i think are on the otherside of a large metal support beam that runs through the middle of the house; I believe the plan is to either have some kind of drop ceiling on that side but where the theater is would be mostly drywall; soon to be the type described in that article you sent hah! The benefit of the floating floor would be to run wiring I'm guessing? Floating floor not meaning interlocking pieces of hardwood but meaning like a channel or trench under the floor for wiring? Most likely going to run speaker wiring through the ceiling and through the front (might run two wires, one for spare, not sure.)

 

[Malp]

Ok, let's say I'd like to do:

LS10000 Epson
the XTZ Cinema Series Speakers for a 5.1 system; 3x M6, 2x S5
Sub: XTZ 1x12

What am I looking for for a screen (I think the maximum this projector does is 100" correct?)
And what do I need for power management and receiver?
Am I missing anything else?

 

[shadyJ]

You will have a killer projector. Price is est to be around $8k. It can certainly handle larger than 100" screens. The XTC speakers look good, but you will be light on bass for a $15k theater. I would really think about getting a better subwoofer system, as your planned system will be none to impressive in that respect. Also, it isn't recommended that bipole speakers be used with Atmos, which is what you have selected. I would go with bookshelf speakers that have a matching ceiling speaker. For power management, I would get a UPS for the projector to protect it. For a receiver, if you are going for an Atmos system, you will need an Atmos compatible AVR. The full blown 7.1.4 Atmos AVRs run around $2k. You will want to look at the flagship AVRs from Pioneer, Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon, and Marantz. Many of these AVRs aren't out yet but will be soon.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Atmos

Atmos sounds very interesting. I would love to see if that could be worked in. ^^ I would likely need a real blueray player like the one always mentioned on the review guides here to take advantage of it though, wouldn't I? (OPPO’s BDP-103)

Welcome.

At least you could prewire for Atmos except for where to put the in ceiling speakers. Try to get a bit closer viewing distance though. I have a 115" dag and 13 ft distance.

 

[Malp]

Hi All, I finally got a quote from a local AV store just to see what they suggested, and they suggested the following:

Ls10000
Stewart Luxus Delux 130G3
Marantz AVR7009
Episode Speakers 700 Series LCR Speaker Es700iwlcr5 x1
Episode Speakers 700 Series ES700iw6 x2
Episode Speakers 700 Series ES700icsurr6 x2
Episode Speakers 700 Series ES700point6 x2
Episode Speakers 300 Watt Sub essubevo12-300blk x1

This is with Atmos.

I'm going to go to their store to have a listen to this system; are these speakers known as good/bad/ or have some quirks worth knowing?

Thanks in advance!

 

[AudioPhreak]

I too am looking into setting up a home theater system so this thread helps.

- Alex