Basement Theater Design

[G-MO]

I'm currently in the final planning stages of my basement and wanted some trained eyes to take a look before I get started. Thanks in advance for any suggestions/ideas.

 

[jostenmeat]

The first thing that comes to mind, if I were trying to criticize, is the back row against the rear wall. Now, a lot of people do that, when in a living room, etc. But, if a dedicated HT designer saw that, that might be the first thing they mention as well.

Also, I would not only try to mount the center speaker as close as you can to the display in that setup, I would also try to see if there was a possibility in having it angled upward. Mine is worse off, on the floor, but at least sitting on an acoustic panel, on top of rug, on top of carpet, angled up. Its flush with the display, and is the best I can do. For now, anyways.

Next, I would recommend room treatments. Bass trapping in the corners, etc, and treating of first reflection points.

Oh, yeah, since this is a truly dedicated setup, I think white is the worst color to pick. Darker is better. Black is best. Ideal is to immerse yourself in a sea of black, where the ONLY thing you see is the video. Hard to pull off.

FWIW, those are my comments. You can do only what you can do . . .

 

[G-MO]

Thanks for the insight. I will definitely be going with a black color. My designer had everything in white when he rendered this from auto cad. How close do you think I could comfortably have the rear row to the wall?

 

[mtrycrafts]

Let me bounce this off you.
Can you swap the screen location? I just don't like looking into a tube type of room with a smaller section in front than where I sit. Speakers are almost in the corner.
I presume this is a front projection system? Placing the projector that far back may not be a good idea, plus, some projectors need a good bit of space behind all around so they don't recirculate the hot exhaust.
Is this a dedicated room for movies, not other activities? Then a first row seating about 10ft-12ft may be preferable, depending on screen size, of course and if you don't give so much space between the 2nd row, just comfortable, that would get you off the back wall? Then you could do a 6.1 or 7.1 setup? Also, if the first row will be the most used, the side speakers could come closer to the first row?

 

[G-MO]

I'm ok with the tube room because I don't want to sit directly next to the door. Standing in the back corner of the room provides a clear view of the screen area. The projector will have about 1 foot of space between the projector and the rear wall. This is a dedicated theater room for sure. I've planned on doing a 7.1 setup so the back seating will be moved up. Thanks!

 

[ParadigmDawg]

In a dedicated HT room, I would not dream of using in-wall speakers. Is this an option you are going with?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Take a good look at what David did; this is HT done right.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43033

 

[G-MO]

In a dedicated HT room, I would not dream of using in-wall speakers. Is this an option you are going with?

Whats wrong with good in wall speakers?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Give me an example.

Whats wrong with good in wall speakers?

 

[bpape]

I would agree with the seating spacing. I'd try to get a minimum of 3' from ears to wall behind or you'll have all kinds of bass buildup/boom for the rear row, poor dialog intelligibility, and basically zero rear surround field.

Inwalls can be OK if you purchase good ones - they're just not inexpensive. You can get much better sound for less money with non inwalls in most cases.

Revel makes some decent inwalls that are moderately priced if you must go that way.

Bryan

 

[AVRat]

Whats wrong with good in wall speakers?

Nothing. It's all a matter of perception/preference. Which brand/models were you thinking of using?

One thing that I see, is that it looks like your gear rack is vertically aligned with where you may want to position the multi-polar side-surrounds.