Clean slate

[NewBJay]

I have a 15' x 28' unfinished basement room that I am finishing to a theater and bar room. The sitting/viewing will be 12 - 17 feet from the screen. No drywall yet, however moisture barrier and headers may get in the way. Will be putting Roxul safe and sound. Of course want high performance at lowest cost. Looking at 7.1 setup. Thinking ceilings speakers for side and back speakers. Your thoughts? I have KLH AV55 towers I have had for ages. Am thinking I can use these for fronts... maybe for the time being. A/V receiver - was recommended Denon AVR-X2300W, have usually liked Pioneer, so looking at Pioneer VSX-1131. Any suggestions less then $800? As far as projector, looking at less then $1K, like Epson Home Cinema 2045, BenQ HT1070, or BenQ HT3050? Screen will be theater painted wall, 10'x6' 16:9.

 

[shadyJ]

For AVRs, I would be looking at Denon, Marantz, or Yamaha. You should end up with a decent one for 700 to 800 from those brands. About the KLH speakers.. time, and speaker science, has moved on since those speakers were a contemporary design. I wouldn't use those for front stage speakers. They might work for rear surrounds maybe. KLH was not a bad brand back in the day, but these days I would look into getting some beefy bookshelf speakers to be used as front stage speakers. You might look at Hsu CCB-8s, Ascend CMT-340s, or maybe SVS Ultras. If you get a AVR with pre-outs, consider some JBL LSR308 speakers.

For side surrounds and back surrounds, you might think about in-wall speakers rather than in-ceiling speakers. If you want a Dolby Atmos or DTS:X system, use in-ceiling speakers for the height channels. For subwoofers, consider any of these as a starting point- I would get two, at least.

 

[KenM10759]

Would it be possible to move those seats a bit closer to the screen? That seems a long distance and you may not need it. Closer with the seats with a smaller screen could get you better placement of the surround and back speakers in relation to the seats for better effect. The relation of seats to screen size can be a constant.

Your budget is on the thin side, so perhaps find newer used speakers that are better.

 

[TheWarrior]

I have the Epson 2045.. great picture out of the box! I got mine on sale for $700 with mount and 20' hdmi. Minor halo issues with objects in motion, occasional lag (scene seems to not move at correct pace) but when you put it on a 100" screen, who cares! You can't get a decent 65" TV for $700!

Was considering Optoma until I realized the lamp replacement was more than double the Epson... grabbed a second bulb with my purchase as well!

Also, I do not recommend exceeding 100" screen for the 2045 or sacrifice a lot in black level and brightness.

Edit: I just looked at your diagram. With the built in zoom, I hit 100" from 8-10 feet. You will need to rethink your the location to accommodate the projectors needs.

Say NO to ceiling surrounds unless there is absolutely no other choice. The sound comes from above, and then is not the intended experience. But interior decorators may disagree....

You may want to piecemeal your speaker complement. Thats a big room which will require several subwoofers to get you the same impact as a big projected image.

 

[2channel lover]

I have a 15' x 28' unfinished basement room that I am finishing to a theater and bar room. The sitting/viewing will be 12 - 17 feet from the screen. No drywall yet, however moisture barrier and headers may get in the way. Will be putting Roxul safe and sound. Of course want high performance at lowest cost. Looking at 7.1 setup. Thinking ceilings speakers for side and back speakers. Your thoughts? I have KLH AV55 towers I have had for ages. Am thinking I can use these for fronts... maybe for the time being. A/V receiver - was recommended Denon AVR-X2300W, have usually liked Pioneer, so looking at Pioneer VSX-1131. Any suggestions less then $800? As far as projector, looking at less then $1K, like Epson Home Cinema 2045, BenQ HT1070, or BenQ HT3050? Screen will be theater painted wall, 10'x6' 16:9.

Given the budget constraints...I would consider going with a 5.1 system and when funds allow maybe double down on the subs for a 5.2 for a room that size.

I'm in a build mode myself and have spent a fair amount of time here researching and learning...there is a thread out there 5.1 vs 7.1 or something like that. You might gain something from it if you haven't already read thru it.

Finally...on the side rears...unless you just want inwalls...at least look at the RBH R5Bi book shelf speaker. Light enough to wall/ceiling mount and decent range....mine are currently in the spot of my mains until l I run the surround wiring. After a week of listening to them in 2.0...they wouldn't be bad across the front either.

 

[NewBJay]

For AVRs, I would be looking at Denon, Marantz, or Yamaha. You should end up with a decent one for 700 to 800 from those brands. About the KLH speakers.. time, and speaker science, has moved on since those speakers were a contemporary design. I wouldn't use those for front stage speakers. They might work for rear surrounds maybe. KLH was not a bad brand back in the day, but these days I would look into getting some beefy bookshelf speakers to be used as front stage speakers. You might look at Hsu CCB-8s, Ascend CMT-340s, or maybe SVS Ultras. If you get a AVR with pre-outs, consider some JBL LSR308 speakers.

For side surrounds and back surrounds, you might think about in-wall speakers rather than in-ceiling speakers. If you want a Dolby Atmos or DTS:X system, use in-ceiling speakers for the height channels. For subwoofers, consider any of these as a starting point- I would get two, at least.

I like the Denon, am researching further. As for the ceiling speakers, I have a sliding door the whole length of the wall, so can't put in wall speakers. Using directional tweeters hoping that will help. For running speaker and HDMI cables, can they go in the same stud holes? If using a wall plate, will I loose performance?

 

[shadyJ]

HDMI and speaker cable will not bother each other if run nearby each other, so don't worry about that. Wall-plates will not affect performance either, as long as they are installed correctly. In-ceiling speakers are not great, but they can be used for surrounds without damaging the overall sound too much. You just do not want to use them as front stage speakers at all.

 

[NewBJay]

Back again, unfortunately I have not progressed in the basement finishing. Still at framing and electrical stage. Am asking for advice for front and center speakers. I will be building a shelving system (entertainment center) see attached. For front and center speakers, the sizes I have researched seem a bit small. Looking at Klipsch bookshelf (smaller) and even the floorstanding speakers seem small. Other manufacturers sizes are similar. Are they appropriate for a 14' by 28' room? Would floorstanding on a shelf 2.5 ft off the ground seem odd?

 

[shadyJ]

You can do tower speakers on shelves in theory, so long as you have the tweeters at ear level. If that can not be arranged, just stick with bookshelf speakers. Your intended speaker placement is not awful, but it isn't quite optimal either.