Help with room layout

[bigkrazy155]

Hello all. I'm starting to put together a plan to turn the kids' basement playroom into a home theater. I've attached a rough schematic showing some limitations. The room has a drop ceiling and the adjacent room (to the south) is unfinished utility room, so I should be able to run wiring anywhere. There are five of us in the family, but I may end up starting with the kids on bean bags (in the event I decided to elevate a second row). I'm planning for the room to be 7.2.4 (although it won't all happen at once).

Mostly I'm trying to figure out:

1. Where should I put the TV/screen?
2. What would you do with seating?

One last restriction: speakers on stands for surrounds is a no-go (kids are still pretty young). Let me know if I left out any pertinent info. Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Rob James]

If this was my room (without having seen it) I’d prob go with building a false wall on the right side 11.4” wall and put ur LCR and 2 subs behind the biggest transparent acoustic screen u can fit. Use the closet as ur avr storage. Use a pair side surrounds like the klipsch RP-402s (as reference of type of speaker) positioned between ur first and second row of seating and a pair of book shelves for rear surrounds mounted on the back wall With a drop ceiling it should be easy to get ur atmos speakers installed Use a guide online based on how big ur screen is for best distance for first row to get that immersive feel (tweak to ur liking) And if u feel ur bass is lacking or u have nulls consider 2 rear subs add on by splitting ur signal (7.4.4) or u can do a sub crawl for “best” placement

 

[bigkrazy155]

Awesome, thank you @Rob James. This lines up very closely with what I had in my head. I'm waffling back and forth on projector vs TV. Bringing the screen out might help solve my seating problem too

 

[Rob James]

You’re welcome. Since you have a dedicated room that can be light controlled a projector would be my choice. $ to inch ratio can’t be beat and with the right projector matched with a good screen the image is amazing

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Plz bear with my doodle...but this is what I would consider if it were my room. I would consider staying with 5.x.4. IMO the rear surrounds will be too far away, and while you could do it anyway, what most people would use as surround speakers would work very hard to keep up at that distance. On the front wall, the false wall sounds like a great option, although a huge OLED wouldn’t be bad either. For surrounds, I marked the locations I would use in blue, and while I believe kids are trainable, I understand that in/on wall might be better. Probably in wall since they should be around ear height and might make good targets for the kids. Those locations, and the LP would also be around 2/3 of the way toward the back of the room which would works well acoustically, and also looks like good places for surround speakers to fit. Bean bags on the floor in front, and done.

 

[Rob James]

I figured with the length of the room being 21’ ish minus 3’ for the false wall that leaves 18’ left. If he had 125’ screen and u want to be about 10-13’ feet away that leaves his back wall about 8-5’ away with level matched rears (spl meter to confirm) should hear them pretty good. And ur doodle was good William L. Perfect placement for the hight channels and yes a large OLED would be amazing but I took into consideration he’s a family man and with the sentence “not happening all at once” I felt budget was a consideration. But if money isn’t an issue OLED would be a very nice option. I’m saving up for one myself

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I figured with the length of the room being 21’ ish minus 3’ for the false wall that leaves 18’ left. If he had 125’ screen and u want to be about 10-13’ feet away that leaves his back wall about 8-5’ away with level matched rears (spl meter to confirm) should hear them pretty good. And ur doodle was good William L. Perfect placement for the hight channels and yes a large OLED would be amazing but I took into consideration he’s a family man and with the sentence “not happening all at once” I felt budget was a consideration. But if money isn’t an issue OLED would be a very nice option. I’m saving up for one myself

Well I guess once you do the math, rear surrounds can make sense! Lol(I shouldn’t multitask)
I would still make sure to use ones with higher sensitivity and dynamic output capability. I agree about the PJ too. They’re more affordable than ever, and a great way to bring the cinema home. I’m also saving for oled... Although I’ve been planting seeds for a motorized drop down!

 

[Rob James]

Motorized drop down would be niceee.

 

[bigkrazy155]

Thank you both for the great insight. It sounds like I have some research to do on AT projection screens and projectors. I had been leaning heavily towards just going with a large panel (80" - 86") and pinching my seats in a bit closer with the screen on the east wall. I was planning on going with the RP-600m for rears in this configuration to (hopefully) account for the forever away rear surrounds. I wasn't considering OLED just yet since they don't make them that big and even if they did, they'd probably be $10k, which is a budget buster for me.

A motorized drop down AT screen a couple feet away from the west wall would solve a lot of problems (including potential WAF issues). The problem I have here is that I don't have much experience with projection (outside of the cinema). I've seen mostly projection screens at work and have never had the experience of seeing one and thinking it looked anywhere near as good as a panel. On the other hand, I'm in a windowless basement with canned lights already on a dimmer. Time to get to researching.

Also, I like how you sneaked in those 4 subs @William Lemmerhirt

 

[bigkrazy155]

Would @BMXTRIX be willing to weigh in on this rooms projection compatibility? I wouldn't say it's treated for it, but I have good control over lighting. I can upload pics if needed.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I will say that I'm a huge front projection fan, and this room really works well for front projection, especially with the ability to do a false wall pretty nicely with an AT screen.

I think my biggest concerns are that I don't know how the kids treat the room as a play area. This was a concern of mine, and I ended up using a motorized retractable projection screen and then built a lift for my projector to get it up into the ceiling with a smaller projector (BenQ W1070) which fit between the ceiling joists. Then I paired it with inexpensive speakers instead of nice speakers. Sound took a hit, but balls + bows & arrows fired in the basement hasn't hurt anything in the past 7 years, and now they've moved on to almost pure video gaming and I am getting close to really finishing the space.

It's a real question as you need to consider the kids and potential damage to equipment.

If the space is really coming away from being a heavy kids play area, or more of a play area behind the couch only, then a projector may work very well and you still could consider putting a lift together if you wanted to, but the fixed frame AT screen could stay in place.

At a solid 120" or so, with a 12'-13' eyes to screen distance you would get good use of the size and then could pair it with a solid Epson 5050 or JVC 790 projector (or nicer) as budget permits.

Even starting off, you can go cheap, then build up as you would like to.

 

[bigkrazy155]

Thanks @BMXTRIX! I like the idea of the retractable screen and have been researching a bit. I'm trying to do a little sizing math. I assume it's okay to have it as snug as I can get it to the ceiling in a 7'3" room. Is there a minimum recommended distance from the bottom to the floor? If I go too close, will that rule out a second row of seats? Also, should the projector be more or less mounted over the first row of seats?

I really like the idea of a projector on a lift. That's extremely badass and I'll be looking into that!

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Also, I like how you sneaked in those 4 subs @William Lemmerhirt

mwahahahahaha!!!!

I’ll be paying attention to see what you do. My plan is to build a valance on the front wall to hide the screen assy.

 

[bigkrazy155]

mwahahahahaha!!!!

I’ll be paying attention to see what you do. My plan is to build a valance on the front wall to hide the screen assy.

LOL. I will certainly share my results. But I'm the type to obsessively research for months and months before doing anything. Speaking of that research...isn't quad subs usually a nominal gain over well placed duals? I was looking at dual HSU VTF-15H Mk2.

 

[Rob James]

It is nominal in terms of dB but ur seat to seat consistency is improved. Start with 2 and add on iif you feel it’s lacking a lil or if u just turn into a bass head like I did. I started with 1 now I have 4 and a bass shaker for that low end tactile feel.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Thanks @BMXTRIX! I like the idea of the retractable screen and have been researching a bit. I'm trying to do a little sizing math. I assume it's okay to have it as snug as I can get it to the ceiling in a 7'3" room. Is there a minimum recommended distance from the bottom to the floor? If I go too close, will that rule out a second row of seats? Also, should the projector be more or less mounted over the first row of seats?

I really like the idea of a projector on a lift. That's extremely badass and I'll be looking into that!

There are different screens available including those which can be hung from the ceiling, and ones which can be ceiling recessed. I tend to lean towards more higher end brands for this as they tend to do a better job with tab-tensioned screens. DaLite and Draper both make solid tab-tensioned screens which will last for 15+ years if treated properly. About $2,000... they ain't cheap. Still, a cheap tab-tensioned screen, which may not even be that good, is in the $1,000 range.

Anyway, the projector is typically mounted right over one of the rows of seats. This depends HEAVILY on the projector purchased. Some projectors have very limited zoom range. Some must be closer, some must be further away. It's never as easy as 'just put it where you want to'. You have to put any projector where the lens allows it to be placed.

For my lift, I actually built it myself using a motorized car jack, some aluminum rods/tubes, plywood, and a power supply. Cost under $200 to put together.

 

[bigkrazy155]

Alright, after some thought, I think I've decided to start with something like this. I plan to mount the TV with a telescoping mount that will allow it to come out to the maximum IMAX viewing angle recommendation (as is relative to the primary seating position). If I decide I want more immersion after that, I will later add an AT drop down screen to lower in front of the TV.

My one side surround is cheated into the stairwell opening. I don't think I can get away from speakers on stands for my rear surround speakers (given the 12 foot distance from the LP). So, I'm thinking I will move them to and away from the wall as needed with a cheat mark or two on the floor.

What do you guys think? Any mistakes lurking in here?

 

[2channel lover]

Thank you both for the great insight. It sounds like I have some research to do on AT projection screens and projectors. I had been leaning heavily towards just going with a large panel (80" - 86") and pinching my seats in a bit closer with the screen on the east wall. I was planning on going with the RP-600m for rears in this configuration to (hopefully) account for the forever away rear surrounds. I wasn't considering OLED just yet since they don't make them that big and even if they did, they'd probably be $10k, which is a budget buster for me.

A motorized drop down AT screen a couple feet away from the west wall would solve a lot of problems (including potential WAF issues). The problem I have here is that I don't have much experience with projection (outside of the cinema). I've seen mostly projection screens at work and have never had the experience of seeing one and thinking it looked anywhere near as good as a panel. On the other hand, I'm in a windowless basement with canned lights already on a dimmer. Time to get to researching.

Also, I like how you sneaked in those 4 subs @William Lemmerhirt

You've got the makings of a nice HT room.

A 100+" projection is nice, especially if you think you guys will really use it on a regular basis. I'm coming from a different place (like movies, love music)...if budget is a factor (when is it NOT a factor?) I would consider a 75-80" LEDTV....at 12-13' away, that's near theater-like.

If you build a false wall and lose 3' of depth in the room, you still have enough room for rear surrounds if you want a 2 prs of surrounds (7.1), but you're right on the threshold of having enough space.

With less than 2000 cu ft, the two subs should kick butt, but a 3rd one nearfield behind the main seating is awesome (especially for movies) if you were even considering 4 subs.

 

[bigkrazy155]

We are certainly a TV/movie household. Putting up a true false wall on either end of the room will be a sell on the WAF front. She loves the sliding barn door on the one end and the built in shelves on the other end. That's what led me to the idea of being able to slide the TV out.

I certainly want a minimum 75" TV. I haven't decided on something like an 85" LED or 77" OLED. Here are a couple of pics (please excuse the toy mess):

 

[2channel lover]

We are certainly a TV/movie household. Putting up a true false wall on either end of the room will be a sell on the WAF front. She loves the sliding barn door on the one end and the built in shelves on the other end. That's what led me to the idea of being able to slide the TV out.

I certainly want a minimum 75" TV. I haven't decided on something like an 85" LED or 77" OLED. Here are a couple of pics (please excuse the toy mess):


View attachment 29808

View attachment 29809

The visuals help... seeing this, you almost have to put the screen on the end of the room near the opening to the stair well area....looks like it would be challenging to build a false wall on the other end with the barn closet door.

On the screens...projection means more to others than it does me. I've had one when I had a basement HT space. Not sure where they are with 4k projectors, but I think in general they're better picture quality now than they were back then. It seems like you guys will using it so the additional cost may be worth it.