Help with room layout

[bigkrazy155]

Do you think it's a mistake orientating things the way I've proposed?

If I go down the path of projection, I was going to build a slotted piece of plywood for the ceiling so that I could recess the entire screen into the ceiling and drop it down on demand. The joists run in a friendly direction for this.

The wall you suggested would definitely be better for a full false wall. I just don't want to end up flipping the couch around every time I switch between TV and projection

Also, I may as well run some cables for 4 subs, even if they'd be late additions.

 

[2channel lover]

Do you think it's a mistake orientating things the way I've proposed?

If I go down the path of projection, I was going to build a slotted piece of plywood for the ceiling so that I could recess the entire screen into the ceiling and drop it down on demand. The joists run in a friendly direction for this.

The wall you suggested would definitely be better for a full false wall. I just don't want to end up flipping the couch around every time I switch between TV and projection

Also, I may as well run some cables for 4 subs, even if they'd be late additions.

No...it sounds like you have a plan a or b in terms of the screen, but I would not want to me moving furniture around constantly so whatever you need to do to avoid that I would be on board with it.

Wiring...no doubt, it's fairly cheap...my space is wired for 4 subs and I'll probably never have that many....a near field sub does intrigue me though.

 

[bigkrazy155]

Thank you sir! On to contemplating speakers then I suppose. Any suggestions here would be welcome, but I may spin up another thread for it. I'd like to buy once and be done, even if that means buying something along the lines of SVS ultras over a longer length of time.

 

[2channel lover]

Thank you sir! On to contemplating speakers then I suppose. Any suggestions here would be welcome, but I may spin up another thread for it. I'd like to buy once and be done, even if that means buying something along the lines of SVS ultras over a longer length of time.

No problem...it's what we do here.

Speakers...the near life sized images you can get on a projection screen will make for a great HT, but the speakers/subs will make or break it so I would take my time figuring that out....SVS Ultra is pretty much a can't miss for the money.

 

[bigkrazy155]

No problem...it's what we do here.

Speakers...the near life sized images you can get on a projection screen will make for a great HT, but the speakers/subs will make or break it so I would take my time figuring that out....SVS Ultra is pretty much a can't miss for the money.

I started a quick list...JBL Studio 5, Klipsch RP, Polk LSiM, SVS Ultra. I'm wondering if I can audition bookshelves only to avoid buying tons of towers. Will a bookshelf in a given line adequately represent the sound quality of a speaker series for the purposes of comparison?

 

[2channel lover]

I started a quick list...JBL Studio 5, Klipsch RP, Polk LSiM, SVS Ultra. I'm wondering if I can audition bookshelves only to avoid buying tons of towers. Will a bookshelf in a given line adequately represent the sound quality of a speaker series for the purposes of comparison?

I'm a tower person, but I've heard and owned some really good book shelf systems. Personal preference I guess. With your primary usage being movies, you don't really need truly flat speakers.

To answer your question...Most OEM manufacturers try to use common drivers across multiple speaker lines, so the lines should sound somewhat similar especially in the midrange region, but the cabinet has some influence on how the driver will sound.

 

[bigkrazy155]

That makes sense. How about the tweeter sound? I'm especially curious about that given the mix of tweeter types. If they will he highly comparable too, I'll compare only bookshelves so I can buy just one set of towers in the end. Cheers!

 

[shadyJ]

I started a quick list...JBL Studio 5, Klipsch RP, Polk LSiM, SVS Ultra. I'm wondering if I can audition bookshelves only to avoid buying tons of towers. Will a bookshelf in a given line adequately represent the sound quality of a speaker series for the purposes of comparison?

Bookshelf speakers can often have similar performance targets as tower speakers across lines, except in terms of low-frequency extension and dynamic range. The speaker lines that you mentioned are all very good. To that list I would add Infinity Reference speakers when on sale, Monoprice Monolith THX speakers, Hsu CCB-8 speakers, Paradigm Premier speakers, just to name a few more great choices.

 

[2channel lover]

That makes sense. How about the tweeter sound? I'm especially curious about that given the mix of tweeter types. If they will he highly comparable too, I'll compare only bookshelves so I can buy just one set of towers in the end. Cheers!

I don't know if that's a good idea. I think understand what you're trying to do (streamline the demo process).

I think a better way to say this is I wouldn't assume the towers will sound like the book shelf speakers even though they may share some similar drivers. The cabinet can make a bigger difference than my earlier post indicated.

An example of this is the Martin Logan Motion series...the 40 is the smaller tower and the 60 the larger tower...the drivers they use are from the same manufacturer if they're not in house drivers.

The two speakers sound considerably different...the midrange in the smaller 40 is much cleaner, vocals sounded better. Whereas the larger 60 was more "muddy" thru the midrange, something was not quite right with the crossover imo. but a room with 5 people listening we all came away with the same feeling...the 40 sounded better.

There is a saying that 80% of content in music comes thru the midrange region, but it's the tweeter that brings the sizzle. For a mostly movie system I wouldn't be too concerned about the tweeters matching.

I'm not a huge fan of Klipsch horn tweeter for critical music listening, but in a HT system, I would have no problems with a full array of Klipsch or across the front.

 

[bigkrazy155]

Thanks @shadyJ ! I kinda have my heart set on lineups with matching towers for the front. Do you think I should let that go and consider all bookshelf? That would certainly open up options. (Not that options seem to be much limited.)

 

[shadyJ]

Thanks @shadyJ ! I kinda have my heart set on lineups with matching towers for the front. Do you think I should let that go and consider all bookshelf? That would certainly open up options. (Not that options seem to be much limited.)

Matching towers is fine, but what is really being sought after here is dynamic range. Bookshelf speakers can have similar dynamic range so long as they give up low-frequency extension. Some of the speakers that I mentioned do that. Since you will be using subs, you won't really need extension beyond what those bookshelf speakers have. In fact, with the kind of subwoofer system you are looking at, I would suggest experimenting with higher crossover frequencies than the typical 80 hz.

 

[bigkrazy155]

Well, thanks to @2channel lover , @shadyJ and NewEggFlash, I've purchased the JBL front sound stage (Studio 590, 520) and Infinity Reference r253 towers to demo. Hopefully the return process won't be too painful!

 

[2channel lover]

Well, thanks to @2channel lover , @shadyJ and NewEggFlash, I've purchased the JBL front sound stage (Studio 590, 520) and Infinity Reference r253 towers to demo. Hopefully the return process won't be too painful!

Congrats! You have some activity going now. IIRC your system was more movie oriented with some music interests...I think you have a win, win situation.

Good luck with it!

 

[bigkrazy155]

Congrats! You have some activity going now. IIRC your system was more movie oriented with some music interests...I think you have a win, win situation.

Good luck with it!

Yes sir, that's correct. Now to find some good content to test out high and mid ranges as I will be pairing with subs eventually. Suggestions are always welcomed!

 

[sven1olaf]

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):


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Two things stick out at first glance:

1. the drop ceiling is going to make cable runs much easier.
2. the tiled floor (I'm assuming thats a laminate, but if it is real wood...good for you it looks great) and clean walls will be issues for reflectivity, but the rug will help.

I agree that it may be best to flip your plan to the other way direction.

All in all, you are well on your way to a very nice room!

 

[bigkrazy155]

Two things stick out at first glance:

1. the drop ceiling is going to make cable runs much easier.
2. the tiled floor (I'm assuming thats a laminate, but if it is real wood...good for you it looks great) and clean walls will be issues for reflectivity, but the rug will help.

I agree that it may be best to flip your plan to the other way direction.

All in all, you are well on your way to a very nice room!

Thanks! It's a wood look porcelain tile. I definitely foresee the acoustics to be well on the lively side and will have to come up with some treatments at some point. I guess I'll have to come up with a quick and dirty plan when auditioning the speakers. But dang...I really don't want to have to flip the room! The drop ceiling makes wires easy to run, but those built in shelves and the stairs along that wall make it tough to get into. Plus I'm not sure I can center a wall mounted TV on that will with the bottom of the steps.