Home theater redo

[Old Onkyo]

So I am going back to a surround sound setup. The room is 16’6” W x 19’10”L x 8’6” H. Television mounted on the north wall, East wall has window and sliding door. West wall has dorm opening to the garage, south wall opens to the kitchen. No attic space above, Garage on the other side of west wall, patio off the east wall.



1. speaker wire, I have monoprice affinity braided wire 14awg Across the front. Will that suffice for surrounds? Should I go thicker gauge. I think I need about a 25’ run. I plan on sitting 10’ from the tv.

2 barn door to be installed on the rear wall

3. May replace vertical blinds on the patio door and companion window with blackout drapes. Ceiling fan update, or remove?

4. Most importantly is seating. I am thinking searing for six. Pre Covid we were not big on entertaining large groups. Usually just the wife and me.
the rug is 10’ 9” wide, rug to be replaced, but it is a template for how wide I want the main seating to be. options are:
a. Sofa loveseat.
b.sectional with recliners/chaise built in.
c. Theatre recliners in a group of four for the mlp, one single recliner On each wing.
d. any other ideas you all might have

5. speaker stands, currently using old B&W stands, they work but ehh....

any and all suggestions welcomed..and appreciated

 

[Old Onkyo]

Anybody...

 

[NINaudio]

I'd definitely do blackout curtains and 12 gauge wiring.

I love our reclining sectional for watching TV/movies.

What exactly is your issue with the speaker stands?

 

[Old Onkyo]

I'd definitely do blackout curtains and 12 gauge wiring.

I love our reclining sectional for watching TV/movies.

What exactly is your issue with the speaker stands?

Thanks for the tips.

The B&W speaker stand are too big a
No bulky for the JBL surrounds, but they work.

Really debating mounting them on the wall in brackets. I think it is a cleaner look , but I would lose the ability to move the speakers.

I guess I could use the stands until I am sure about placement, then wall mount.

BTW I really admire the system you have created.

 

[NINaudio]

Thanks for the tips.

The B&W speaker stand are too big a
No bulky for the JBL surrounds, but they work.

Really debating mounting them on the wall in brackets. I think it is a cleaner look , but I would lose the ability to move the speakers.

I guess I could use the stands until I am sure about placement, then wall mount.

BTW I really admire the system you have created.

Thanks! I look forward to my speakers' completion. lol

Once you have the seating in place there shouldn't be much need for moving the surrounds around much.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Hey young fella! Glad to see you’re looking at going back to a surround system. Just to hit a few things in no particular order. I like the wall mount idea for surrounds. I would recommend that you use some articulating ones so you have the option of pointing them. If you’re NOT doing Atmos I’d mount them so the tweeters are around 6’ high, a foot behind the LP and pointed down and forward so if the tweeter was a laser they’d cross just in front of the face of the person centered in the MLP. Then experiment from there whether yours work better firing just above, behind, or directly at the MLP. I spent countless hours moving mine(before doing IW side surrounds) and found that each adjustment provided different results. Fun!!!
If Atmos IS in your future, you’ll want them mounted lower, but that’s a side road in this rabbit hole that I’m not sure you’re interested in. So...
For seating, I wouldn’t be able to NOT have a seat in the center. In fact I was twitching looking at the first pic. It’s just my AudiOCD and the fact that I’m my system, the money seat is MINE! Unless I’m demoing it, or kids are sitting with me etc. For example right now I’m all by myself listen to music in MY sweet spot and can’t imagine sitting off to the side. Regression, sorry... Also, imo 6 seats in a single row is too many in a room that wide. The outside seats will probably hot spot the surrounds, and the front stage will be unbalanced. There are ways around that but you might be better off with a riser for the second(back) row. Not sure how to advise there. Other than I would personally do theater recliners. A group of 5 so there’s one money seat, and possibly 7 seats overall to accommodate 3 couples but again outside seats... Best option might be the sectional. Then you don’t have to worry about armrests taking up space and can fit more butts. Idk...just typing out loud while working on coffee... lol

 

[Old Onkyo]

Hey young fella! Glad to see you’re looking at going back to a surround system. Just to hit a few things in no particular order. I like the wall mount idea for surrounds. I would recommend that you use some articulating ones so you have the option of pointing them. If you’re NOT doing Atmos I’d mount them so the tweeters are around 6’ high, a foot behind the LP and pointed down and forward so if the tweeter was a laser they’d cross just in front of the face of the person centered in the MLP. Then experiment from there whether yours work better firing just above, behind, or directly at the MLP. I spent countless hours moving mine(before doing IW side surrounds) and found that each adjustment provided different results. Fun!!!
If Atmos IS in your future, you’ll want them mounted lower, but that’s a side road in this rabbit hole that I’m not sure you’re interested in. So...
For seating, I wouldn’t be able to NOT have a seat in the center. In fact I was twitching looking at the first pic. It’s just my AudiOCD and the fact that I’m my system, the money seat is MINE! Unless I’m demoing it, or kids are sitting with me etc. For example right now I’m all by myself listen to music in MY sweet spot and can’t imagine sitting off to the side. Regression, sorry... Also, imo 6 seats in a single row is too many in a room that wide. The outside seats will probably hot spot the surrounds, and the front stage will be unbalanced. There are ways around that but you might be better off with a riser for the second(back) row. Not sure how to advise there. Other than I would personally do theater recliners. A group of 5 so there’s one money seat, and possibly 7 seats overall to accommodate 3 couples but again outside seats... Best option might be the sectional. Then you don’t have to worry about armrests taking up space and can fit more butts. Idk...just typing out loud while working on coffee... lol

The exact help I am looking for. No plans for atmos ever.
Seating just the wife and I.
Dedicated 5.2 I enjoy the 590’s so much.
What manufacturers should I look to for dedicated theatre seats?
If it is a sectional ~132”

Can really put surrounds that high? The theory sound incredible William.

The only mistake I made was buying too small a subwoofer. I probably should have got 2 pb2000 pro from SVS. I don’t think it makes much sense to from pb1’s to 2’s.

Is there a distinct sound between say SVS and Hsu all things being equal, or is quality bass quality bass?

Is there a sweet spot for seating in this room? 8’, 9” etc?

 

[Old Onkyo]

Ordered 2 SVS PB-2000 Pro subs, utilizing the upgrade program. As usual SVS customer service is great.
they have shipped. It will be about 110 degrees this weekend. I cringe when I think of them on a truck.

i have been reading a lot about the isolation feet. Does anyone here actually use them?

I spent the day looking at furniture. I forgot how much I hate shopping.

 

[Old Onkyo]

Ordered 2 SVS PB-2000 Pro subs, utilizing the upgrade program. As usual SVS customer service is great.
they have shipped. It will be about 110 degrees this weekend. I cringe when I think of them on a truck.

i have been reading a lot about the isolation feet. Does anyone here actually use them?

I spent the day looking at furniture. I forgot how much I hate shopping.

Not gonna lie, last night I had a dream of keeping all four subs!

 

[Movie2099]

Ordered 2 SVS PB-2000 Pro subs, utilizing the upgrade program. As usual SVS customer service is great.
they have shipped. It will be about 110 degrees this weekend. I cringe when I think of them on a truck.

i have been reading a lot about the isolation feet. Does anyone here actually use them?

I spent the day looking at furniture. I forgot how much I hate shopping.

regarding the isolation feet for the subs, what I've read say's that if you have carpet you won't need them, but if you are putting them on any hard surface you should probably use them. I have the PB16 Ultra and it sits on carpet and I have no issues.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Not gonna lie, last night I had a dream of keeping all four subs!

Again, congrats. IMO you’ll be very happy with the upgrade. Of course you’ll be back with a full review right? Lol
Also, on the feet. For some reason I feel like your room is carpet on concrete. If that’s the case, no I can’t see how they’d benefit you at all. As far as keeping all four, well it’s a nice idea but the phase relationship of those two subs are very different and could make the system worse in some frequency bands.

 

[Verdinut]

I'd definitely do blackout curtains and 12 gauge wiring.

I love our reclining sectional for watching TV/movies.

What exactly is your issue with the speaker stands?

12 AWG wire is not necessary for the required lengths of speaker cable. The 14 size is amply adequate. See following site:

Speaker Wire

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

The exact help I am looking for. No plans for atmos ever.
Seating just the wife and I.
Dedicated 5.2 I enjoy the 590’s so much.
What manufacturers should I look to for dedicated theatre seats?
If it is a sectional ~132”

Can really put surrounds that high? The theory sound incredible William.

The only mistake I made was buying too small a subwoofer. I probably should have got 2 pb2000 pro from SVS. I don’t think it makes much sense to from pb1’s to 2’s.

Is there a distinct sound between say SVS and Hsu all things being equal, or is quality bass quality bass?

Is there a sweet spot for seating in this room? 8’, 9” etc?

Yep. Surrounds can definitely go that high. Iirc my pre-Atmos surround tweeter height was 72” but as I mentioned I spent countless hours pointing them. That’s the fun right?
For sweet spot, REW will be able to help find that, wrt bass. Usually 1/3 or 1/5 from the back depending on the length. Definitely NOT the center. However this could interfere with viewing distance, or other placements so... I’m no acoustician, just going off memory, what little there’s left lol!
For seats, I would browse around around and see what fits your budget/preference etc.

 

[Old Onkyo]

Went with Lazy Boy reclining sofa and two independent recliners.
Subs scheduled to be delivered tomorrow!!!!!
It’s going to be a great weekend.

 

[Old Onkyo]

Does anyone get deliveries in the mornings? I sit around waiting for FedEx all day, but if I run to the store this guy will show up.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Does anyone get deliveries in the mornings? I sit around waiting for FedEx all day, but if I run to the store this guy will show up.

Haha! I feel that pain... every time.
Just remind yourself, in 24 hours this will be just a bad memory. Replaced by happy bassness.

 

[Verdinut]

Does anyone get deliveries in the mornings? I sit around waiting for FedEx all day, but if I run to the store this guy will show up.

If Fed-Ex has access points close to your home similar to those with UPS, then you can get the packages shipped to one. I do this with UPS, so I'm not obliged to stay home and wait. Unfortunately, I don't know what king of service you get with UPS in the US, but the one we're having in Montreal is crappy and very badly organized..

 

[Old Onkyo]

Two different Fedex trucks drove by my street in the last hour!

to quote the great Tom Petty...”The waiting is the hardest part.”

 

[Old Onkyo]

Well... repositioned my speakers to a traditional 5.2 setup, ran Audyessy and lost my sweet spot! I heat the lead vocalist combining from the front right instead of the center of the soundstage. Any ideas what could cause this? I will have to run calibration again I am sure

 

[Verdinut]

Well... repositioned my speakers to a traditional 5.2 setup, ran Audyessy and lost my sweet spot! I heat the lead vocalist combining from the front right instead of the center of the soundstage. Any ideas what could cause this? I will have to run calibration again I am sure

You didn't connect the center channel speaker to the right channel amp and vice versa, did you inadvertently?