New member.....Beginning stages of new theater room. Tips, tricks and best boom for the buck advice?

[Bryce_H]

Ok, I found some of my old stuff.

-------------------------------------
Here is a dissertation I wrote about 6 years ago (wow - its been awhile).

I started this quest about 2 years ago. We were building a new house and got an unfinished basement so I could design and build the dedicated HT myself. I started by subscribing to a bunch of magazines and cruising through old issues I already had. Frankly most were not helpful, maybe once every six months they would have an article about home theater that was NOT product related. These typically dealt with lighting or acoustic treatments, or maybe once and a blue moon something about actual construction. One magazine that was very helpful was Home Theater Builder magazine. I ordered all the back issues and got a 2 year subscription. The magazine is struggling and I believe has gone quarterly, but I would still order the back issues. just google them. I then found this amazing sight called Audioholics The people here have been great in answering questions and providing advice. Another great resource is this thread over at Home Theater Forums

I would read this thread front to back. It helped to prevent a LOT of problems. Basically the thread is a series of responses of things people wish they had done or things they are glad they did do. It raised a lot of things I never would of thought of, but of course would have realized later.

I can't stress enough the importance of good room design and dimensions. It will prevent an enormous amount of potential problems. Failure to properly design a room will result in very poor sound, requiring lots of effort (and cash) to rectify. Room acoustics are the name of the game.

After I did all my research and drew my schematics for the room I hired a HT designer and installer for a couple of hours ($75 an hour) to come the house and have me walk through everything I had. This was mostly just a sanity check to make sure I wasn't missing something drastic.

www.hometheaterbuilder.com - Home Theater Builder Magazine - I would order all the back issues (I did) and get a subscription. They may soon be going under, but the content of their magazine is second to none. This is the only magazine that actually focuses on planning, designing, and building home theaters. All the others talk about product reviews. I have/had subscriptions to Home Theater Magazine (my #2 magazine),Sound and Vision, Ultimate A/V, Electronic House, and a couple of others that I can't remember.

I did all the electrical work for my home theater. Here is what I did just for my HT. I have 2" conduit running to all the 7 speaker locations. I also have an insane amount of low-watt wiring terminating in my component closet. Here is the breakdown

- 4 coax in from the main structured wiring panel
- 4 Cat 5e in from the main structured wiring panel
- 4 coax out to potential sub locations (L/R main, right wall 1/3 way back, left wall 2/3 way back)
- 2 coax out to the front screen wall
- 2 Cat 5e out to the front screen wall
- 2 4-conductor shielded 22ga wire out to front screen wall for IR and other future control needs (drop down screen??)
- 2 coax out to front of second row riser
- 2 cat 5e out to front of second row riser
- 2 4-conductor shielded 22ga wire to front of second row riser
- 2 4-conductor shielded 22ga wire to main light switch box

The coax can be used for sub, cable, or sat systems. Cat5e is for networking or control needs. The 22ga shielded is strickly for control needs.

Also don't forget to run some wires to a potential front projector location (electrical and video).

When we had the house built we had structured wiring put in every room (but no audio). Every room has a 4 jack plate with 2 RG6 F-connectors and 2 Cat5e jacks. The office actually has 2 of these. I also got the living room pre-wired for a 5.1 in-ceiling to set up as a second system for casual viewing in the future. Just some ideas of what I have done.

Good luck and keep asking questions.
------------------------------
Home Theater Design_Blank_Correct - is the spreadsheet I pulled off Sound and Vision Magazine ages ago
HT Layout - is the dimensions of my old theater that I built from bare concert and joist (we have since moved)
Wish I'd Done - a summary of the thread I mention above.
Picture - my old theater

 

[TheWarrior]

Enough subwoofer amplification might cause that equipment closet to add its own soundtrack...

If so, I would recommend change the door to a simple frame with a mesh or 'acoustically transparent' cloth screen instead of solid door.

 

[MTSound]

Ok, I found some of my old stuff.

-------------------------------------
Here is a dissertation I wrote about 6 years ago (wow - its been awhile).

I started this quest about 2 years ago. We were building a new house and got an unfinished basement so I could design and build the dedicated HT myself. I started by subscribing to a bunch of magazines and cruising through old issues I already had. Frankly most were not helpful, maybe once every six months they would have an article about home theater that was NOT product related. These typically dealt with lighting or acoustic treatments, or maybe once and a blue moon something about actual construction. One magazine that was very helpful was Home Theater Builder magazine. I ordered all the back issues and got a 2 year subscription. The magazine is struggling and I believe has gone quarterly, but I would still order the back issues. just google them. I then found this amazing sight called Audioholics The people here have been great in answering questions and providing advice. Another great resource is this thread over at Home Theater Forums

I would read this thread front to back. It helped to prevent a LOT of problems. Basically the thread is a series of responses of things people wish they had done or things they are glad they did do. It raised a lot of things I never would of thought of, but of course would have realized later.

I can't stress enough the importance of good room design and dimensions. It will prevent an enormous amount of potential problems. Failure to properly design a room will result in very poor sound, requiring lots of effort (and cash) to rectify. Room acoustics are the name of the game.

After I did all my research and drew my schematics for the room I hired a HT designer and installer for a couple of hours ($75 an hour) to come the house and have me walk through everything I had. This was mostly just a sanity check to make sure I wasn't missing something drastic.

www.hometheaterbuilder.com - Home Theater Builder Magazine - I would order all the back issues (I did) and get a subscription. They may soon be going under, but the content of their magazine is second to none. This is the only magazine that actually focuses on planning, designing, and building home theaters. All the others talk about product reviews. I have/had subscriptions to Home Theater Magazine (my #2 magazine),Sound and Vision, Ultimate A/V, Electronic House, and a couple of others that I can't remember.

I did all the electrical work for my home theater. Here is what I did just for my HT. I have 2" conduit running to all the 7 speaker locations. I also have an insane amount of low-watt wiring terminating in my component closet. Here is the breakdown

- 4 coax in from the main structured wiring panel
- 4 Cat 5e in from the main structured wiring panel
- 4 coax out to potential sub locations (L/R main, right wall 1/3 way back, left wall 2/3 way back)
- 2 coax out to the front screen wall
- 2 Cat 5e out to the front screen wall
- 2 4-conductor shielded 22ga wire out to front screen wall for IR and other future control needs (drop down screen??)
- 2 coax out to front of second row riser
- 2 cat 5e out to front of second row riser
- 2 4-conductor shielded 22ga wire to front of second row riser
- 2 4-conductor shielded 22ga wire to main light switch box

The coax can be used for sub, cable, or sat systems. Cat5e is for networking or control needs. The 22ga shielded is strickly for control needs.

Also don't forget to run some wires to a potential front projector location (electrical and video).

When we had the house built we had structured wiring put in every room (but no audio). Every room has a 4 jack plate with 2 RG6 F-connectors and 2 Cat5e jacks. The office actually has 2 of these. I also got the living room pre-wired for a 5.1 in-ceiling to set up as a second system for casual viewing in the future. Just some ideas of what I have done.

Good luck and keep asking questions.
------------------------------
Home Theater Design_Blank_Correct - is the spreadsheet I pulled off Sound and Vision Magazine ages ago
HT Layout - is the dimensions of my old theater that I built from bare concert and joist (we have since moved)
Wish I'd Done - a summary of the thread I mention above.
Picture - my old theater

Thank you for the great info. I will definitely be reading through the pdf file with my morning coffee tomorrow

Today I was able to audition a few speakers

We auditioned the Klipsch reference and reference premier series r620f rp6000f
Paradigm monitor 9
Sony don’t recall the series
And Polk s55’s

I am not an expert on this and it is all subjective but both Klipsch series and the paradigm were much better than the Sony. The Sony sounded good for the price point but there was a definite separation to me in what I heard. The only thing I will mention about the Polk is that they are off the list for sure.

As for the Klipsch vs paradigm. The paradigm had a more even sound is the best way to put it. Where the Klipsch highs were very strong and the sounds didn’t seem as balanced. The quality of the sound to me was better out of the Klipsch. My wife and I both thought that the Klipsch speakers were both a better overall sound for our tastes even with the very strong high range. IMHO it would be perfect if you could blend the sound quality of the Klipsch with the balance of the paradigm and for the highs to be somewhere between where the Klipsch is and where the paradigms were. We did hear a difference between the reference series and the premier series. The premiers to me sounded much cleaner. All were run off of an Onkyo nr686 receiver so it was good to hear them with same power and set up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[daddyora]

Hello all,

New to the forum (great forum by the way). I have basically been out of the audio video game for about 15 years and wow has the technology. I’ve been reading and researching and there is almost too much information/disinformation out there so I am hoping to get some tips, tricks and advice on a new set up for an unfinished room.

The canvas is blank......

The room is in an unfinished basement with plans of finishing within the next 6-8 months so it’s the best time to plan the set up and wire it. It is also a good time to do some pre buying of equipment with Black Friday and model year closeouts happening

Dimensions of the room are 16’ long by 12’ wide by 8’ flat sheet rocked ceiling. Overall viewing area will be approximately 12’ x 10’ with most of the viewing being 8-9’ from the screen

Tv is inexpensive Samsung 4K 65” for temporary use until it can be upgraded down the road to a projector or OLED.

Now my overall budget will be $2-3k for the sound system. I want to be a little flexible for the budget but would prefer to be on the lower end of it. I just want to make sure I’m spending money the right way though. Buy once, cry once but be smart about it. I plan on buying the system over time during the next year or so

The plan is to start out with a receiver and 2 towers and possibly a center channel. Then add rears and sub later on to go to 5.1. Finally at the end will be another set of rears and another sub to go to 7.2

I also like the new options of second zone. With this I would go with a wireless set up for the second zone. This will not be included in my initial budget

System needs to be all around use. Movies and music. Everything from Chris Ledoux to Metallica.

Looking at what is out there and based on my research the Denon avr x3500h seems to fit my needs and the budget and right around $600 give or take. I would prefer to not go with a refurb on the receiver since warranty runs out at a year and have read some horror stories about a4l
I am not set in stone on anything

Speakers, I believe is where I will need the most advice. Is my setup idea and progression sound? What speakers should I be looking at to match with a receiver in that mid price range?

I do not have any place within a 2 hour drive to test drive anything so going to have to make the best educated guess on what to get.

Thanks anyone for the input and taking the time to help. So please help me spend my money......but wisely.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Since you are building from scratch, suggest that you wire in 4 ceiling speakers for ATMOS use. In future, 5.2.4 might be better for HT as more movies in ATMOS become available. Best deal in speakers are probably the Elac Debut 2.0 and especially so when the 5.2's are on sale. Another economical choice is Emotiva B1 and C1 combo. You can spend a lot more on speakers but, especially for HT, unlikely to get a noticeable improvement in sound quality. For music, depends upon your ears.

 

[MTSound]

So here is the equipment update.

Ordered jbl studio 590’s for fronts 520c for center and 530’s for the rear. After rakuten cashback and Black Friday sale total was $1228 shipped

Now on to the receiver. Need some help on this one

Rakuten has a deal going right now with 20% cashback on certain electronics. This deal has the x4500h at $889 net after cash back. The x3500h at $462 after cash back and the Ported svs sub ad $400 after cash back. I won’t see the cash back for a couple of months but I’m okay with that

My question to everyone is which way would you go.....

X4500h now and possible subs later down the road

Or

X3500h and one svs sub?

There are other receiver options at the discounted price but like the Yamaha 2080 and 1080 for $950 and $770 but the Denons seem to be the better value


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[MTSound]

I stand corrected on the rakuten. If it is bought through the rokuten store they are loyalty points redeemable for a future purchase.

So the x4500h would be $1111 with $222 to future purchase
The x3500h would be $599 with $137 to future purchase
Svs sub would be $499 with $99 to a future purchase.

All with 1% cash back
The jbl since it was ordered through jbl was 7% cash back.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[zieglj01]

The Denon 3500 would be a good option

 

[shadyJ]

So here is the equipment update.

Ordered jbl studio 590’s for fronts 520c for center and 530’s for the rear. After rakuten cashback and Black Friday sale total was $1228 shipped

Now on to the receiver. Need some help on this one

Rakuten has a deal going right now with 20% cashback on certain electronics. This deal has the x4500h at $889 net after cash back. The x3500h at $462 after cash back and the Ported svs sub ad $400 after cash back. I won’t see the cash back for a couple of months but I’m okay with that

My question to everyone is which way would you go.....

X4500h now and possible subs later down the road

Or

X3500h and one svs sub?

There are other receiver options at the discounted price but like the Yamaha 2080 and 1080 for $950 and $770 but the Denons seem to be the better value


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I don't think that SVS sub will scale well with those speakers. It's a sub that has very good extension but doesn't get really loud. Those speakers, on the other hand, have a very wide dynamic range. I would be looking at much more powerful subs to go with those speakers.

 

[MTSound]

Thank you both J and Z for the insight

So cross the svs sub off of the list. Does the hsu still come in play or will I need to look beyond that?

I have to say that there is almost too much info out there and easy to get lost or distracted while researching. The info on this sight and the advice from the experienced is very helpful and appreciated both for knowledge and to get me back on the right track.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[shadyJ]

Thank you both J and Z for the insight

So cross the svs sub off of the list. Does the hsu still come in play or will I need to look beyond that?

I have to say that there is almost too much info out there and easy to get lost or distracted while researching. The info on this sight and the advice from the experienced is very helpful and appreciated both for knowledge and to get me back on the right track.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would be looking at the ported 15" woofer subs from Hsu or the PB-3000 from SVS. The Outlaw Audio Ultra-X13 is also a great choice and also the ported 12" or 15" THX subs from Monoprice.

 

[Truthslayer]

Bryce, I'll only give you the same recommendation I give all my friends before embarking on your same adventure.
Before you begin listen to- I'm gonna hire a wino to decorate, by David Frizell

 

[Bryce_H]

Bryce, I'll only give you the same recommendation I give all my friends before embarking on your same adventure.
Before you begin listen to- I'm gonna hire a wino to decorate, by David Frizell

Sorry, not tracking...I finished my from scratch theater 14 years ago. I just dug up old posts. I have since moved and modded an existing room for my new theater.

 

[MTSound]

Regardless of what anything looks like the ideas I have received are great. For example, the thought of building an Ethernet hub in didn’t even cross my mind. And I am sure whatever mine turns out looking like there will be a critic or two.

Now equipment update

Jbl studio’s as listed above on the way
Yamaha a1080 is now on the way.
Monoprice speaker wire is now on the way
Just hit the 2k mark in overall investment


Still more planning to do before I have an electrician come in

Torn on a couple layout ideas. Since this will also be used as our main viewing area, it will be a little more tv room like than theater like but going to try and combine the best of both worlds

We have enough length for 2 rows of seating or 1 row of seating with a bar. This is where the debate is and not sure which is the best way to go. Leaning towards the 2 rows of seating but I have to,have this figured out before I have an electrician here. So,that way I know where the power sources need to go.

As for lighting the plan is to have 3 rows of recessed lights in the ceiling all on separate dimmer switches along with led rope lighting in the crown also on a dimmer switch.

The equipment rack will be under the stairs. It will be reframed to accommodate any future needs. This space is non intrusive, easy to ventilate and should shorten/balance the distances of many if the cables. It will be wired for both tv in the front and projector towards the rear. Each hdmi cable should be 20’ or less
I will put an access panel from an adjacent room so that the wiring for the front area is easy to access for future needs.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Danzilla31]

I would be looking at the ported 15" woofer subs from Hsu or the PB-3000 from SVS. The Outlaw Audio Ultra-X13 is also a great choice and also the ported 12" or 15" THX subs from Monoprice.

Shady is spot on I have 3 590's as my front in my home theater and 3 580's as my front 3 in my bedroom setup.

There dynamic range is very very impressive
I'm going to need to upgrade the bedroom sub just to keep up with the 3 580's I have in the bedroom

All of his recommendations are excellent choices.

Also Rhythmik has an excellent 15 sub that could be put in that group of suggestions

 

[Truthslayer]

Sorry, not tracking...I finished my from scratch theater 14 years ago. I just dug up old posts. I have since moved and modded an existing room for my new theater.

Not your fault, that post you replied to was meant for MTsound. Don't know why I wrote Bryce.

 

[Bryce_H]

Not your fault, that post you replied to was meant for MTsound. Don't know why I wrote Bryce.

Well that makes a lot more sense